sjh53 Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 I am currently playing a Fender P Bass but would like to switch to a short scale bass. I have been looking at the Guild Starfire and the Lakland Skyline short scale basses. Has anyone played both and what do you think the best choice is? Playability is one of my main concerns. Any other suggestions. Looking for something with at 38 mm nut width. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 (edited) Do you particularly want to go semi-hollow? Seems like a big change all at once in addition to the change of scale. If you want things to stay familiar as a P bass player, then I'd say the obvious place to look would be a Mustang. The Player Series Mustang has a 38mm nut width (the rest seem to have 41.3) : https://www.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/mustang-bass/player-mustang-bass-pj/0144052547.html Edited July 16, 2021 by neepheid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 My main short scale has been a JMJ mustang for a few years but I got a long-desired starfire II (a gorgeous flamed maple one with ebony fingerboard) a short while ago. I've not played the lakland semihollow so I can't comment on it, but I can confirm that going from the mustang to the starfire isn't a problem and going from a long scale like a precision or thunderbird doesn't present any problems either. It is very comfortable to play the guild both sitting and on a strap. The tone from the bisonics is huge and there's a lot of variation in tone available even with flats - status 32" stainless steel ones are my favourite on it. When recording these days its usually a difficult choice between whether to use the mustang or the starfire and my other basses hardly get a look-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 From what I gather, the HB-30's are quite rare at the moment, not many about at all (none I can see in the UK anyway). Certainly they're a much smaller body to the Starfire, more akin to the Mustang, but obviously deeper. I kinda see the HB-30 sitting directly in between the Mustang and the Starfire..... I'd probably buy the HB-30, because i'm a Lakland fan, but the Starfires are very cool Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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