The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[BassApprentice]

20 hours ago, BCH said:

A pair of Short Scale MM

Looks ace! Are they custom jobs or standard EB?

[BCH]

3 hours ago, BassApprentice said:

Looks ace! Are they custom jobs or standard EB?

The S'burst is a standard passive short scale, which I have added active pre amp. The natural is a ltd edition of 50 (#14) Tim Commerford short scale, active, mute bridge...both smaller bodies & lightweight...the scratch plates are custom to celebrate my bands 50th anniversary ! Fynnius Fogg

[Clarky]

On 24/07/2022 at 15:35, ezbass said:

Unfortunately, the anticipated delivery date for the LPB, P/J, Player series, Mustangs at Guitar Guitar of the 23rd of this month, seems to be optimistic and is now just 'available to order', with no projected date . To be fair, I'm not surprised, disappointed yes, but not surprised. However, I see that they have a Gibson SG bass with a few quid knocked off for a scratch on the neck. I've just listened to good few demos on YT and those, plus the great tone Andy Fraser achieved with one (Jack Bruce and Felix Pappalardi too, of course), has me wondering if this tardiness from Fender isn't a sign to cast my net further afield. They appear to be quite light by all accounts, so all good there, although there is the neck dive issue of course. Hmm...

I had a ponder about that ex demo SG bass but decided against it. In case you are interested, it weighs 7.46 pounds and I have some pictures of the scratch I could send you?

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, Clarky said:

I had a ponder about that ex demo SG bass but decided against it. In case you are interested, it weighs 7.46 pounds and I have some pictures of the scratch I could send you?

Having trouble justifying spending twice the money(ish), but thanks for the offer, I may still take you up on that. What changed your mind on it?

Edited July 25, 2022 by ezbass

[Clarky]

12 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Having trouble justifying spending twice the money(ish), but thanks for the offer, I may still take you up on that. What changed your mind on it?

If spending over 1k on a new/nearly-new bass I want something pristine! 

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 22/07/2022 at 23:59, Baloney Balderdash said:

I'm still impressed with the quality of the Harley Benton GuitarBass I bought a few months ago, love this instrument.

But in an attempt to upgrade the middle pickup, which is what I use exclusively, for a quieter stacked hum free pickup I bought an EMG S3, passive pickup with Alnico 5 pole pieces, like the stock one (I am fully aware that there are much much more factors in play when it comes to the tone a pickup produce), but only had it installed for a couple of days before switching back to the stock pickup, which I by the way loved the tone of all along, was just hoping I could get that or even better, but hum free.

The EMG just wasn't as articulate and as sensitive and responding to picking dynamics as the stock one, and overall just not sounding as great as the cheap stock pickup, though I realize that might just be how it is with stacked coils hum free "single coil" pickups in general, but point being the stock pickups do actually sound really great, and I've kind of given up on attempting to upgrade it, as said I do love the tone of it, and I honestly have a hard time imagining how it could possibly sound any better, apart from maybe being quieter, though again that might just be the deal with single coil pickups.

I did swap out the stock pickup wires with a shielded wire while I had the chance anyway, but there isn't really a noticeable change in the noise levels, so guess I will have to shield the cavities if I want it any quieter, though I do also realize that even then a single coil pickup in it's nature will never become completely noiseless.


Most recent, completely fresh, shot of my Harley Benton GuitarBass (with a bit of creative artistic PhotoShop shenanigans going on in the background) :

 

And yet another, even never shot, of my beloved Harley Benton GuitarBass (Bass VI).

 

Now with knobs, with respectively green and red electrical tape (also known as insulating tape) cut to shape and stuck on the top of them, and expanding further on the artistic background PhotoShop shenanigans. 

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[ots]

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

[Merton]

5 minutes ago, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

That is lovely, it’s pretty much exaclty

what I’d go for in a Lionel too. Enjoy (when it arrives!)

[Adee]

33 minutes ago, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

You will not be disappointed, if you have bought blind and never played one, you are in for a treat!! Punchy, articulate, very resonant and sound great ... ENJOY

there's a couple knocking around on here @Osiris has one as well 

[ots]

Thanks - and it's arrived. It is a thing of beauty. I took a punt on it, but initial impressions are excellent.

The neck is a narrower jazz style than a P IMHO but that works for me.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

56 minutes ago, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

 

I could never own a Sandberg, beacuse I would always be fighting the urge to peel off the dots*.

 

*Which appear to have missed the fretboard by a comfortable margin. Today's QC eh?

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Stub Mandrel

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

I shall be keeping out a sharp eye in case you decide to move that one along, you're just down the road from me . In the meantime, enjoy. 

[Osiris]

5 hours ago, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

 

That's a beauty. I was originally after a maple fretboard but I managed to pick mine up for a steal so couldn't refuse, it's all black with a black scratch plate and matching headstock. But @Stub Mandrel will be relieved to hear that mine came sans the 4 dot stickers on the body, although Sandberg have promised to send me some so I'll have to post some before and after shots! 

[BassAgent]

Both my short scales go "fomp":

[jimmyb625]

A question about short-scales, specifically the Harley Benton p-bass version. Are the pickups full-size, or are they scaled down as well?

Asking for a friend, who definitely didn't just order one, despite having not the slightest need for it... 

[BabyBlueSound]

2 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

A question about short-scales, specifically the Harley Benton p-bass version. Are the pickups full-size, or are they scaled down as well?

Asking for a friend, who definitely didn't just order one, despite having not the slightest need for it... 

 

I don't know about the HB, but the Ps in my Talman are full size, new EMG P fit perfectly. The factory J was just 1mm smaller, OR the EMGs I bought are just a little bit larger, but I had to file off like 1mm from the EMG J's side.

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, jimmyb625 said:

A question about short-scales, specifically the Harley Benton p-bass version. Are the pickups full-size, or are they scaled down as well?

Asking for a friend, who definitely didn't just order one, despite having not the slightest need for it... 

Full size, yes.

 

But there should be no need to upgrade that pickup, it sounds no short (no pun actually intended) of amazing.

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[naxos10]

Have the pickups in the HB p-bass shorty always been decent or were earlier versions not so good?

I only ask as I purchased a highly modified one from the classifieds some years back where the stock one had been replaced with Delano's so I always assumed the standard pickups were not so good.

Edited July 31, 2022 by naxos10
Grammar

[Baloney Balderdash]

 

4 hours ago, naxos10 said:

Have the pickups in the HB p-bass shorty always been decent or were earlier versions not so good?

I only ask as I purchased a highly modified one from the classifieds some years back which had replaced the stock one with Delano,s so I always assumed the standard pickups were not so good.

 

Not everybody got that same taste and preferences, or the person who owned it previously might have had a specific thing for Delano pickups, that doesn't mean the stock pickup necessarily was bad, just that the person owning the bass had other preferences, also some people modify instruments just for the sake of it, what you suggest could of course still be the case though, I honestly wouldn't know.

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[bertbass]

13 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

A question about short-scales, specifically the Harley Benton p-bass version. Are the pickups full-size, or are they scaled down as well?

Asking for a friend, who definitely didn't just order one, despite having not the slightest need for it... 

I bought one, a great bass, very well made and finished, however, I am disappointed with it.  The neck, for me, is too thick front to back.  I've thinned it down and it's a lot better, but this is only personal preference.  The hardware is good, especially for the price but what I'm really disappointed with, is that while the neck is shorter, as you'd expect with a short scale, the width and string spacing are the same as on a 34" scale, the hardware is also normal precision size.  The body is smaller which means the bottom cutaway is too small for my not especially large hands to get to the top few frets, yes I do play the dusty end occasionally. 

 

I wanted a short scale bass to be smaller all round. Narrower string spacing, narrower bridge and pickups, I'd be happy if the pickups were slanted to make the pole pieces fit under the strings.  If you're happy with the, to me, down sides, it's a great bass for not a lot of money.

[Baloney Balderdash]

5 hours ago, bertbass said:

I bought one, a great bass, very well made and finished, however, I am disappointed with it.  The neck, for me, is too thick front to back.  I've thinned it down and it's a lot better, but this is only personal preference.  The hardware is good, especially for the price but what I'm really disappointed with, is that while the neck is shorter, as you'd expect with a short scale, the width and string spacing are the same as on a 34" scale, the hardware is also normal precision size.  The body is smaller which means the bottom cutaway is too small for my not especially large hands to get to the top few frets, yes I do play the dusty end occasionally. 

 

I wanted a short scale bass to be smaller all round. Narrower string spacing, narrower bridge and pickups, I'd be happy if the pickups were slanted to make the pole pieces fit under the strings.  If you're happy with the, to me, down sides, it's a great bass for not a lot of money.

 

That's perfectly normal though, with a few exceptions (Feder/Squier Bronco and Mustang Bass (17mm string spacing), Nordstrand Acinonyx (17mm string spacing), Danelectro Longhorn Bass (16mm string spacing), Höfner Violin/Beatles Bass (15 mm string spacing), are the only ones I can think of are exceptions to this really), for short scale basses, having regular measurements, as a 34" scale bass, except for the actual scale length of course (and well, most often a sized down body as well).

 

Also the measurements are actually listed on the page for this instrument on Thomann's website (or at least that it's a regular P Bass 42mm nut width, and as said the rest of the measurements follow a regular 34" scale bass, except for the scale length, as for most other short scale basses on the market). 

 

With a bit of work though with that nut width you could turn it into a narrow string spacing short scale 5 string bass (installing an extra tuner, a new nut and swapping the stock bridge for 5 mono rail bridge pieces), which I kind of have pondered on maybe doing myself, once I get one of these basses in the nearest future.

 

I was surprised with how beefy the neck was on my Harley Benton GuitarBass (Fender Bass VI concept) too, but it is actually still surprisingly comfortable, and it does actually say C shape in the spec list on Thomann's website, not modern or slim C shape.

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[bertbass]

Having started playing in the 60s, all the basses that I could afford, apart from one, were short scale and scaled down from 34" scale.  It was only in 1972, when I bought my first precision, that I experienced the wider Fender string spacing.  The only long scale bass I owned before that was an Egmond and that had a narrower spacing too.  I think I was expecting the same with 21st century short scale basses.

 

As an aside, the going rate for a second hand bass in the 60s was about a fiver!

[Baloney Balderdash]

56 minutes ago, bertbass said:

Having started playing in the 60s, all the basses that I could afford, apart from one, were short scale and scaled down from 34" scale.  It was only in 1972, when I bought my first precision, that I experienced the wider Fender string spacing.  The only long scale bass I owned before that was an Egmond and that had a narrower spacing too.  I think I was expecting the same with 21st century short scale basses.

 

As an aside, the going rate for a second hand bass in the 60s was about a fiver!

Well all those short scale basses I listed with narrower string spacing than the standard 4 string 19mm were originally designed back then, including the Nordstrand which is a modernized take of on an old design from back then as well, so I guess that makes a lot of sense.

 

But yeah, as said, by far most short scale basses that was designed more recently pretty much share the same measurements as regular 34" scale basses, except obviously for the actual scale length and then the body size, which by far most often will be down scaled too, to match the relatively shorter length from the end of the neck to the bridge that the shorter scale length results in.

 

Also short scale basses in recent years have now eventually nearly entirely got rid of that stigma of automatically being considered second grade "beginner/amateur" instruments, and several brands now offer higher end options for short scale basses that are as much serious "real"/"professional" basses as any full 34" scale bass.

 

Needless to say way behind high profiled acclaimed professional bass players such as Stanley Clarke, Paul McCartney and Jack Bruce who switched to mainly playing short scale basses decades ago.

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[Musicman666]

Bass vi strings e to e

[fretmeister]

On 29/07/2022 at 12:21, ots said:

Having sold my baby stingray, and my Electra VS I'm sat here waiting for my Sandberg California II VS4 Lionel to be delivered by ParcelForce

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the ad.

 

 

 

 

Lovely!!

 

I have one on order with Sandberg - with Super Light specs. It might even be under 6lb!

 

I have another 8 months to wait for it though. It's going very slowly!