The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[Count Bassie]

18 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

They are great, and very fun, instruments, for sure.

 

If you are going cheap Harley Benton's take on it, the GuitarBass, is pretty freaking awesome, I got one, though while the stock Strat style pickups do sound genuinely great, they are way too noisy, so expect a pickup upgrade being necessary.

 

Otherwise mine was pretty much perfect, even with perfectly leveled frets right from factory.

 

One thing you need to be aware of though, regardless of which Bass VI like instrument you end up buying, the really narrow, guitar like, string spacing will take some practice to get used to, to not stumble over the strings, both on your fretting and picking hand, constantly.

 

Using a pick does make it a bit easier to handle though.

 

Also be aware that the stock low E string is crap on most of these instruments, usually gauge .084, which is way too floppy to work properly, I would recommend a set with a gauge .095 low E string. 

 

Newtone makes amazing affordable custom sets: https://newtonestrings.com/

 

They do sell a readymade custom Bass VI set, but personally I prefer to put together my own, with my own preference in gauges, via their custom string set creator/specificator (or whatever such a thing is called, online app?). 

 

Good comprehensive info, thanks! 

[Obrienp]

That H-B 6 looks good for the money! Plus it has a distinct advantage over the Squier/Fender offerings in not having a tremolo bridge.

[miikebass]

23 hours ago, ajkula66 said:

Swede is a solid body instrument, shape similar to Les Paul. Are you thinking of Hagstrom Viking ?

It’s more the shape I guess.  Not necessarily semi hollow. 

[Paul S]

7 hours ago, miikebass said:

It’s more the shape I guess.  Not necessarily semi hollow. 

 

I once owned at the same time a Hofner Ignition Club and a Danelectro '56 SS single cut, which is chambered,  The Dano blew the Hofner out of the water in every way so maybe consider adding one of those to your shortlist?

[scrumpymike]

22 hours ago, Count Bassie said:

Greetings all. I haven't been through the entire thread, but I'm the house bass player for a local open mic once a week run by a band mate. We'll open the night with four or five tunes, and when there's no guitar player I inherit the guitar solos. I've been doing a lot of string bending, and have considered looking for one of those Squire Bass VI things. Jack Bruce, one of my formative mentors, had a stint with one. Anyone here have an experience to share?...

Thanks!

Eric Haydock, the original bass player in the Hollies, played a Fender Vl to very good effect too 🙂 

[msb]

23 hours ago, Count Bassie said:

Greetings all. I haven't been through the entire thread, but I'm the house bass player for a local open mic once a week run by a band mate. We'll open the night with four or five tunes, and when there's no guitar player I inherit the guitar solos. I've been doing a lot of string bending, and have considered looking for one of those Squire Bass VI things. Jack Bruce, one of my formative mentors, had a stint with one. Anyone here have an experience to share?...

Thanks!

I picked up a used Squier several years ago , and wound up spending a surprising amount of time goofing around on it. Not suitable for the gigs I do , but a great guilty pleasure. After a bit I decided that I needed a little treble/reverb for it , then someone suggested some drive might be good. Next thing I needed was some delay , then chorus …  
My pedalboard wound up being considerably more expensive than the Bass VI was.

Go for one. 
… serious potential for fun.

[msb]

And I have to add , Baloney Balderdash was dead on with the suggestions. I put the heavier Fender set on my Squier. Big difference. The string spacing is tight , but if you put the time in it becomes comfortable. I’ve had no reason to change the pickups.

[Owno]

On 18/03/2025 at 09:45, LeftyJ said:

 

It only just struck me that "Owno" and "Owjeej" are in fact the same guy. Hi Tim 

 

You’ve got the wrong guy, I’m just a random Swedish basist and my name is not Tim.

[Owno]

On 17/03/2025 at 10:26, miikebass said:

Looking for a short scale semi hollow.

I’ve narrowed it down to a Hofner Contemporary Club bass and Hagstrom Swede bass. Love the look of both and that’s the type of body shape I want.
Considered a Hofner Verythin and Guild Starfire but prefer the smaller bodies of the other two. 
 

Are there any others I should consider?
We’re a rock/country rock band. 

 

Please help me decide. 

 

I would suggest looking for a 70’s Hagström bass, but not perhaps the Swede as it weighs a lot, but rather the HIIbn which got the very same pickups. I’ve had a HIIbn from 74 and while not the lightest bass as it was made of Swedish birch (3,8kg or so), it had the fastest neck of all basses I’ve ever played and the sound was great. They rarely pop up for sale at BassChat, but try and post in the Swedish equivalent PrataBas and you will find used Hagström basses “en masse” as the French say.

 

In case you want to buy newer basses, I would suggest the Guild Starfire with bisonics. It is a great bass and the craftsmanship is way better than the chinese made Hagström basses.

[LeftyJ]

37 minutes ago, Owno said:

 

You’ve got the wrong guy, I’m just a random Swedish basist and my name is not Tim.

Oh, lol! I'm on a Dutch bass forum too, and there's a guy there with the username Owjeej which would more or less translate to Owno (oh no) phonetically, who just bought a Mullarkey too. Quite the coincidence! 

 

The only thing off was your mention of a Serek, when he compared his to a Mustang instead on our Dutch forum 

Edited March 19 by LeftyJ

[Count Bassie]

1 hour ago, Owno said:

 

You’ve got the wrong guy, I’m just a random Swedish basist and my name is not Tim.

I'm sorry, I just thought this was an amusing reply! Brought a country song to mind, which was pretty funny...

Don't mind me, carry on... 😁

[Count Bassie]

The fun thing is noted! 😁

Heavy strings too. Thanks mang!

 

(I meant to quote two posts... See next post... Sorry!

Edited March 19 by Count Bassie

[Count Bassie]

6 hours ago, msb said:

I picked up a used Squier several years ago , and wound up spending a surprising amount of time goofing around on it. Not suitable for the gigs I do , but a great guilty pleasure. After a bit I decided that I needed a little treble/reverb for it , then someone suggested some drive might be good. Next thing I needed was some delay , then chorus …  
My pedalboard wound up being considerably more expensive than the Bass VI was.

Go for one. 
… serious potential for fun.

 

6 hours ago, msb said:

And I have to add , Baloney Balderdash was dead on with the suggestions. I put the heavier Fender set on my Squier. Big difference. The string spacing is tight , but if you put the time in it becomes comfortable. I’ve had no reason to change the pickups.

See post above... 🤪

Edited March 19 by Count Bassie

[Owno]

2 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

Oh, lol! I'm on a Dutch bass forum too, and there's a guy there with the username Owjeej which would more or less translate to Owno (oh no) phonetically, who just bought a Mullarkey too. Quite the coincidence! 

 

The only thing off was your mention of a Serek, when he compared his to a Mustang instead on our Dutch forum 

Haha, I see. What a coincidence! I actually sold my 78’ Mustang to fund the Mullarkey. No regrets, as it is one of the best basses I’ve played. It is a superior instrument in every way. The Serek is however on par in terms of both playability and craftsmanship. 

Edited March 19 by Owno

[BabyBlueSound]

NBD! I have been longing for a more high-end instrument for a while, never really owned anything more expensive than £500 (that is my used Sterling shortie).

 

I have considered various Fenders for a while, but then... things happened out there in this volatile world and I rather decided to buy something made this side of the pond for that price instead.

 

I wanted to design my own Sandberg shortie, but there's like a 1-year wait time for manufacturing the custom design... Enter Thomann, who happened to sell EXACTLY the config I was after! Blue-burst, matte, short scale, black hardware, precision, passive! AND it was like £600 cheaper than if I do the very same custom config myself. Only thing I'm missing is the roasted neck, but hey you can't have everything. 😁

 

And the wait time was "only" 3-4 months, they estimated an early April delivery, so I reserved it and started saving up.

"Unfortunately" it already became available in late February and got delivered since... Before I could sell the Sterling that was supposed to partially fund this. 😅

 

So it's here and I just can't get enough of it. I don't even know what's so good about it, it just works. Everything feels perfect to the touch, everything is consistent and controlled, the neck is just incredible. The setup is lovely, although I prefer a lower action, this somewhat higher one still works for me... so for now I keep using what the experts decided on. They plek these things, and it shows and feels!

While I always believed "an electronic instrument has a feel too that effects your playing", I never really experienced this myself until now, even though I have briefly tried expensive basses before. Seems like something in this Sandberg really connected with me. 😄

People say this feel is (at least partly) due to body resonance. I am not sure that's true in this case, I would say the Sterling is a more resonant bass, it resonates to a level that actually starts to bother me. It's more like the overall, smooth and close to perfect feel for me in this case. 

 

It's got a very very bright, modern P sound, so I sometimes have to roll down the tone a bit, which is very unusual for me. Planning to put some flats on later.

 

The passive pickups are ridiculously loud. I got a VU meter in my compressor which shows the incredible volume difference compared to my passive EMGs in the Ibanez. It's almost like an active pickup. My pedals react completely differently due to the volume being that much louder (like a touch-sensitive Prunes and Custard). Previously my Ibanez and Sterling could run with relatively the same pedal settings to get to a similar sound, but I need a complete redial for the Sandberg! 🤯

 

The only ❓ in the whole package is that weird, overcomplicated Sandberg bridge. I am already dreading a bit when I decide to lower the action... 😅

 

Now I just need to sell the Sterling, that's still available 😅

[martthebass]

Great review BBS. I know some change out the pups to something more old school, to be honest I quite like the extra bite and have no intention of doing a swap out. My Lionel is alder with a rosewood fb so there might be some slight tonal differences. Do change the Sandberg strings I found them harsh on mine and got rid quickly, it’s wearing EB hybrid slinkies Shortscale no (50-105) which seem to suit it. The bridge isn’t too tough, and one positive certainly with mine is once I’d set the action nothing has moved in 6 months.

If you can afford to keep the Ray and it’s a good one, I would, it’s always good to have a different tone I tend to alternate gigs with my 2.

[BabyBlueSound]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

Great review BBS. I know some change out the pups to something more old school, to be honest I quite like the extra bite and have no intention of doing a swap out. My Lionel is alder with a rosewood fb so there might be some slight tonal differences. Do change the Sandberg strings I found them harsh on mine and got rid quickly, it’s wearing EB hybrid slinkies Shortscale no (50-105) which seem to suit it. The bridge isn’t too tough, and one positive certainly with mine is once I’d set the action nothing has moved in 6 months.

If you can afford to keep the Ray and it’s a good one, I would, it’s always good to have a different tone I tend to alternate gigs with my 2.

 

Thanks for the kind words and the advice! Good to know the bridge just looks more daunting than it is in practice.

 

The Sterling still has to go, I never connected with it for ~3 years or so. Just doesn't feel right, even though I love a MM-style bass AND it's sounds. It just doesn't work in my hand (and I think I got quite average hands), I rather play the crappy bumpy necked cheapo Ibanez Talman.

 

For that "another tone", I got the aforementioned more classic P Ibanez Talman with the EMGs which I am usually stringing with either Cobalt flats or D'addario black tapewounds.

 

For the Sandberg, I have a La Bella and a Cobalt flat set sitting there ready to be put on, just waiting for the final go-nogo decision 😁 Just want to play the original strings till they're dead, with strings I am frugal like that 😁

[Obrienp]

A friend got hold of a Lionel used last year. He loves it but he changed the pickup set within a few weeks. He said it just didn’t sound like a P. He hasn’t complained about the bridge but he had it set up by our local luthier when the pick up was changed, so perhaps he hasn’t wrestled with it yet. 

[martthebass]

25 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

A friend got hold of a Lionel used last year. He loves it but he changed the pickup set within a few weeks. He said it just didn’t sound like a P. He hasn’t complained about the bridge but he had it set up by our local luthier when the pick up was changed, so perhaps he hasn’t wrestled with it yet. 

Quite a few have made the mistake of thinking because it looks a bit like a P it’ll sound like one. I’ve never been too keen on the P bass sound on stage and prefer a hotter set up (hence my other basses being EBMM and Status) so I appreciate the more aggressive take in the Lionel. 

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, BabyBlueSound said:

Good to know the bridge just looks more daunting than it is in practice.

Actually it's a lot more intuitive than it looks. Once you've loosened the locking grub screw, it's just as easy as any other bridge really, maybe just a bit more fiddly. 

[scrumpymike]

That's a great review BBS. My Sandy story is pretty much the same as yours. I agree that these great basses just immediately feel 'right', kind of like they're made to measure rather than off the peg. As you say, much of that must be down to the Plek'd neck.

 

I'm on my second one now after selling the exact same bass you've just bought, immediately regretting it, and buying the gorgeous Cali II SL TM as pictured below. Just like you did, I had designed my perfect bass on the Sandy configurator, choked over the cost and the 12-month wait, then found that Thomann had a much cheaper one in stock with everything I wanted - except for the roasted maple neck!!

 

First thing I did was to fit my fave La Bella flats, decide that a slightly lower action would probably suit me better, note the complexity of the bridge - and put the job on the back burner 🙂. Luckily, when I drop-tuned to Eb to suit the band I was in, everything felt spot on so I stuck with the original set-up. Now I'm back to standard tuning though, I probably will lower the action a bit.

 

I've also been considering a pick-up swap to the superb Aguilars that are OE on my Vox Starstream but not sure it's worth throwing over £400 at what's already such a good bass. If I ever did sell it, I wouldn't get the money back.

[Obrienp]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Actually it's a lot more intuitive than it looks. Once you've loosened the locking grub screw, it's just as easy as any other bridge really, maybe just a bit more fiddly. 

I think it is the same bridge as used standard on Maruszczyk basses. I hated it immediately on my Elwood, partly because I wanted to experiment with strings and action. I found it really difficult to move the bridge saddles accurately with the strings in place to get the intonation right. I then spent ages trying to find a direct replacement with the four hole retaining screws (why don’t they go for standard Fender style 5 hole!?). I eventually found a Gotoh bridge with reasonable mass, plus screw and spring intonation adjustment. It also has quick load for the ball ends, which is an added bonus. It wasn’t cheap though for what it is: it’s not really in the Babicz league but nearly the same money.

 

I bought the Elwood used. If I ever spec a Maruszczyk on the configurator (unlikely),  I would definitely go for a non-standard bridge. However, if you are lucky enough to get the intonation and saddle height absolutely right, then the standard model is probably more stable in the long run than the conventional screw and spring intonation adjustment.