PatrickJ Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) I've been toying with giving fretless a go for a while now I also fancy trying a 32" scale bass so I figured why not try and combine those into a single bass for 2021. I'm really struggling to find anything other than a Warwick. Are shorter scale fretless basses just not a thing? Edited January 1, 2021 by PatrickJ Quote
DiMarco Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 Yep, you don't see them a lot. May I ask why your mind is set on a 32" rather then 34"? Quote
AndyTravis Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Aria Cardinal? Fretless might have to be a defret? or, like I said before, an Ibanez Mezzo is a couple of hundred quid and a decent defret is about £100. Edited January 1, 2021 by AndyTravis 1 Quote
PatrickJ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Posted January 2, 2021 31 minutes ago, DiMarco said: Yep, you don't see them a lot. May I ask why your mind is set on a 32" rather then 34"? Not hard set, shorter scale and fretless were both on my mind to try so if it was possible to get them both in a single package then it seemed like a cute idea. I'm now looking at 34" scale fretless basses, still not as much of a range as I thought . They must be out of fashion. Quote
PatrickJ Posted January 3, 2021 Author Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) @TheGreek has kindly lent me a long scale fretless to try. After having a bit of play last night I think jumping into a shorter scale would be a mistake - since I'm comfortable with 34" scale already I have a bit of a feel for where the notes should be. Changing scale I suspect will present more challenges. Edited January 3, 2021 by PatrickJ 1 Quote
Maude Posted January 3, 2021 Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, PatrickJ said: @TheGreek has kindly lent me a long scale fretless to try. After having a bit of play last night I think jumping into a shorter scale would be a mistake - since I'm comfortable with 34" scale already I have a bit of a feel for where the notes should be. Changing scale I suspect will present more challenges. Very kind of @TheGreek 👍. Another thing to consider when going shorter scale fretless, is that the shorter the scale, the less margin for error there is. Obviously spot on intonation is the aim but a fraction out on a 34", give it some vibrato and it's acceptable, to a degree. That same amount out on a 28" is just plain old out of tune. 1 Quote
DiMarco Posted January 3, 2021 Posted January 3, 2021 Great! Plenty of 34" scale fretless basses on the market. How very kind of @TheGreek! 1 Quote
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