The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[BCH]

3 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

I had the white one of these for a while - extremely impressed, honestly couldn't fault it, maybe should have kept it!  Moved it on for no other reason than it was my third bass (i.e. backup to my two custom-built gig bass keepers), which I change whenever I spot something else I fancy trying.

Never stop spotting..ha...I cant 

[ezbass]

I've had the SS 'Ray a few days now and have put it through its paces, playing along to songs from my old '80s band set list, plus a bunch of other favourite play alongs (Jamiroquai, Steely Dan, Robert Palmer). Conclusion - it's great. Between the 'Ray and the Mustang I have a short scale bass that covers all the tonal variations that I require, with the exception of a fretless. I'm now looking at my long scales and thinking do I really need those?  Dilemma aside, it's all good news on the new bass front and I'm another step further down the road to becoming a full on SS convert. Hmm, EB3...

[Ander87]

4 hours ago, ezbass said:

've had the SS 'Ray a few days now and have put it through its paces, playing along to songs from my old '80s band set list, plus a bunch of other favourite play alongs (Jamiroquai, Steely Dan, Robert Palmer). Conclusion - it's great. Between the 'Ray and the Mustang I have a short scale bass that covers all the tonal variations that I require, with the exception of a fretless. I'm now looking at my long scales and thinking do I really need those?  Dilemma aside, it's all good news on the new bass front and I'm another step further down the road to becoming a full on SS convert. Hmm, EB3...

Hmmm I can see you’re not the only one in this transition. I’m intrigued…!

 

I don’t think I can do away with my Limelights but I was very torn between the SR and JMJ, now you’ve got both! Where do you stand with them if you gotta pick one?

 

Ander. 

[ezbass]

32 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

Hmmm I can see you’re not the only one in this transition. I’m intrigued…!

 

I don’t think I can do away with my Limelights but I was very torn between the SR and JMJ, now you’ve got both! Where do you stand with them if you gotta pick one?

 

Ander. 

Hmm, well, they both do different things. The Mustang is that super solid P, whereas the ‘Ray adds that slightly, but not quite J, honk where a P type isn’t cutting through. I suppose you could whack up the low end on the ‘Ray and make it fit. Conversely, you could cut a bit low mids and pluck nearer the bridge on the JMJ. They both dovetail nicely and can cover so many genres, it’s hard to choose. If one were playing mostly pop, then I think the ‘Ray probably wins and the Mustang is probably more rock but, as I said above, judicious eq with either can make them fit equally well. However, if we look solely at ergonomics, the ‘Ray wins as it’s lighter and has those comfy contours.

 

As you can tell, I pretty much have the fence firmly wedged between my cheeks . I don’t want to choose and you can’t make me 😂. Anyway, one should have a spare bass in case one fails at a gig  and if you had both had both of these on a gig and one failed, the other would work just as well.

[scrumpymike]

5 hours ago, ezbass said:

I've had the SS 'Ray a few days now and have put it through its paces, playing along to songs from my old '80s band set list, plus a bunch of other favourite play alongs (Jamiroquai, Steely Dan, Robert Palmer). Conclusion - it's great. Between the 'Ray and the Mustang I have a short scale bass that covers all the tonal variations that I require, with the exception of a fretless. I'm now looking at my long scales and thinking do I really need those?  Dilemma aside, it's all good news on the new bass front and I'm another step further down the road to becoming a full on SS convert. Hmm, EB3...

That's a great combination you've got there.

[Dood]

On the subject of shorts scale ray-alikes, this review has just gone live:

 

I really enjoyed this one. Quirky, fun and a bit different!

 

Please sub to my channel too

 

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

3 hours ago, ezbass said:

Hmm, well, they both do different things. The Mustang is that super solid P, whereas the ‘Ray adds that slightly, but not quite J, honk where a P type isn’t cutting through. I suppose you could whack up the low end on the ‘Ray and make it fit. Conversely, you could cut a bit low mids and pluck nearer the bridge on the JMJ. They both dovetail nicely and can cover so many genres, it’s hard to choose. If one were playing mostly pop, then I think the ‘Ray probably wins and the Mustang is probably more rock but, as I said above, judicious eq with either can make them fit equally well. However, if we look solely at ergonomics, the ‘Ray wins as it’s lighter and has those comfy contours.

 

As you can tell, I pretty much have the fence firmly wedged between my cheeks . I don’t want to choose and you can’t make me 😂. Anyway, one should have a spare bass in case one fails at a gig  and if you had both had both of these on a gig and one failed, the other would work just as well.

 

Also the Ray got a few more frets, namely 22, whereas the Mustang only got 19, I think, if that matters to you.

 

Would to me.

 

Oh, and I think the fretboard radius is bigger on the Ray too, meaning flatter fretboard.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

Also the Ray got a few more frets, namely 22, whereas the Mustang only got 19, I think. if that matters to you.

Good point, one of the Mustang’s shortcomings (no pun intended) as is the upper fret access. 

[zapp]

Just bought Ash's Sterling by EBBM Shortscale Ray and it's a revelation.  Light weight, easy to get around, well built (for the money).  What's not to love?  Already thinking about a couple of mods, just because.

 

Thanks again Ash.

[Ander87]

23 hours ago, ezbass said:

Hmm, well, they both do different things. The Mustang is that super solid P, whereas the ‘Ray adds that slightly, but not quite J, honk where a P type isn’t cutting through. I suppose you could whack up the low end on the ‘Ray and make it fit. Conversely, you could cut a bit low mids and pluck nearer the bridge on the JMJ. They both dovetail nicely and can cover so many genres, it’s hard to choose. If one were playing mostly pop, then I think the ‘Ray probably wins and the Mustang is probably more rock but, as I said above, judicious eq with either can make them fit equally well. However, if we look solely at ergonomics, the ‘Ray wins as it’s lighter and has those comfy contours.

 

As you can tell, I pretty much have the fence firmly wedged between my cheeks . I don’t want to choose and you can’t make me 😂. Anyway, one should have a spare bass in case one fails at a gig  and if you had both had both of these on a gig and one failed, the other would work just as well.

 

Aha! You do make sense on that pickup/setting assessment - I'm happy with the JMJ's 41mm where I wouldn't as a long scale, 38mm has to be interesting!

 

Made me chuckle with the fence comment but I totally get you!

 

I think my only grip on why I wouldn't go full on short scale is a) the string spacing, I love my 19mm and can't seem to find that on the JMJ or other Fender/Classic styles, and b) I would miss the piano-like statement-y tone definition of my long scales.

 

Having said that, I've found my JMJ (my first foray into short scales) a great lot of fun (that thing does grrrrooove!).

 

Ander.

[Obrienp]

On 03/02/2022 at 18:43, Dood said:

On the subject of shorts scale ray-alikes, this review has just gone live:

 

I really enjoyed this one. Quirky, fun and a bit different!

 

Please sub to my channel too

 

 

I was interested in that. Thanks for the review. My fist bass as a teenager was a Vox. I forget what the model was but it had two lipstick style single coil pickups and a vaguely Fender shape. Short scale with a terrible action and intonation. I didn’t touch a bass again for about 40 years but these new Vox basses look altogether more competent. 

[Ander87]

Now that I have 3 basses, one P on rounds, the other on flats… thinking whether I should try nylon tapewounds on the JMJ…! The 760F-MUS labellas are great but they’re greater yet on my P bass, I may fancy a change. 
 

Any experiences on shorties with tapewounds? The medium scale would do for the trick for the thru body strings on the Mustang. 
 

Best,

 

Ander. 

[BabyBlueSound]

On 04/02/2022 at 20:34, Ander87 said:

Now that I have 3 basses, one P on rounds, the other on flats… thinking whether I should try nylon tapewounds on the JMJ…! The 760F-MUS labellas are great but they’re greater yet on my P bass, I may fancy a change. 
 

Any experiences on shorties with tapewounds? The medium scale would do for the trick for the thru body strings on the Mustang. 
 

Best,

 

Ander. 

 

I had black D'addario tapes on my Ibanez Talman (finally some tapes that come in short scale version), and just recently I've been thinking about putting them back on. My favourite tone is still the regular D'addario / Elixir round sound, but the D'addario black tapes come very close with their characteristic woody thumps. I haven't tried Labellas but I was told the D'addario is much brighter and sounds less like flats, which is very important to me. With the Behringer amp modeler pedal I can enhance the highs further if I want to, and get a round-ish sound, so I feel they're very versatile as a whole. And for me, nothing beats the FEEL of these blacks, they're just soooooo smooth and fun to play. Plus they look great on my black&blue bass  

[scrumpymike]

Just pulled the trigger on one of these puppies! I love quirky stuff and this sits right at the top end of the quirkiness scale.

 

Vox Starstream S2

Edited February 9, 2022 by scrumpymike

[Badscrew]

29 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Just pulled the trigger on one of these puppies! I love quirky stuff and this sits right at the top end of the quirkiness scale.

 

Vox Starstream S2

 

You're dressing perfectly well for this bass!

That's you, right?

🤣

[scrumpymike]

5 minutes ago, Badscrew said:

 

You're dressing perfectly well for this bass!

That's you, right?

🤣

In my next reincarnation, hopefully!  I'll certainly be able to have some fun playing with myself 😉

Edited February 9, 2022 by scrumpymike

[scrumpymike]

On 02/02/2022 at 12:45, BCH said:

Never stop spotting..ha...I cant 

Hi Bernard, as you can see from my last two posts, I've been and gone and done it again! ☺️

[BabyBlueSound]

8 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Just pulled the trigger on one of these puppies! I love quirky stuff and this sits right at the top end of the quirkiness scale.

 

Vox Starstream S2

 

Your link says S2 but on that video, it's the H1 with the Humbucker. Which one did you get?  

[scrumpymike]

10 hours ago, whave said:

 

Your link says S2 but on that video, it's the H1 with the Humbucker. Which one did you get?  

Dohhh! I was so hooked up by the playing and the player that I didn't even notice it was the H1.  Here's a much less entertaining video of the S2.

 

Vox Starstream S2

[Badscrew]

Can't blame you 🤣

[BCH]

On 09/02/2022 at 15:37, scrumpymike said:

Hi Bernard, as you can see from my last two posts, I've been and gone and done it again! ☺️

That why we were put on this earth ...great choice

[BassApprentice]

Got a Squier Bronco hanging on the wall and it's not quite working for me. It has one of those cheap rail pickups and it's a bit limited. 

 

I want a good rock and roll bass so would you go for and 51 style pickup or get routing for a proper P pickup? 

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

I want a good rock and roll bass so would you go for and 51 style pickup or get routing for a proper P pickup? 

 

 

Would a jazz pickup not fit there with a lot less work?

[BassApprentice]

59 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

 

Would a jazz pickup not fit there with a lot less work?

Very probably, but I think it would look odd, and not sure I like the idea of a jazz neck sound without a bridge pickup to balance it out? 

[Woodinblack]

I suspect it would look a little odd because of the size, but not as odd as a P pickup.

 It wouldn't sound the same as a jazz pickup on a jazz as it would be in a different position, probably more like an original P.