Strings for short scale basses - short, medium or full scale?

[Yorkshire Bottom End]

Bit of a newbie to SS basses and I've been cleaning my strings up to now (flats and rounds in cleaning vinegar) and reffiting them. 

Now it's coming up to Christmas gig time I thought I'd treat myself to some D'Addario EXL170S, which are on the way.

For future reference though, and for more choice, how do you get on with full scale or medium scale strings on a shortie?

Sire U5 bridge is string through as well as 'top loading'. Stingray is a Stingray. 

[Lozz196]

I use regular long scale on my Fender Mustang basses which have thru-body stringing. 

[spyder]

I use Newtone Shorties ( medium scale ) and La Bella low tension flats ( short scale ) on my Serek SS basses. 

[snorkie635]

I string both SS Gibsons with Rotosound SS - strung the EB3 that way since 1975 - don't use long/medium scale on these basses. 👍😎

[fretmeister]

For me it all depends on the tuner size.

 

For small tuning posts like on an Ibanez then getting the right scale is important as otherwise the fat bit of the string has to bend loads to get round the post and can snap easy - this is especially important for flats.

 

But with big post Fender types almost anything will work as the bend radius is a lot more gentle.

 

This is why it's dead easy to get strings for my 30 scale shorties with big posts and a nightmare to get strings for my 32 inch medium 5 string Ibanez with tiny posts.

 

I think both your basses have traditional big posts so you should be able to fit most strings. That being said, for some brands the short scale ones cost the same as the others.

 

Carefully search for prices though. Some places really take the piss with shortscale strings. Strings Direct charge £20 more than Bass Direct on La Bella strings!

[three]

I tend to use light (or very light) rounds and find Fender 5250XLs (40-95) to be good value - they're usually around £20 a set but I've found some at real bargain prices.  I don't have them on my Sire U5 at the moment but suspect they'd work well.  I have shorties with a separate tailpiece and bridge (and 2+2 headstock) and generally find 30-90s work well.  I ordered specifically for these basses from Newtone, and with precise measurements - the results have been very pleasing 

[naxos10]

Another Newtone user here. They can offer short scale strings from their standard ranges by specifying you want a 30"/30.5"/32" etc scale length on the order page, or go for the Shorties which are 30" scale length but on request they have wound 30.5" ones for me.

[LeftyJ]

I use shortscale strings (currently LaBella flats) on my Sandberg Lionel which is top loading, and medium scale (DR Sunbeams) on my Atelier Z Baby Z-4J which can go either way, but I chose to string it through-body. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

My short scale Squier jaguar and Fender Mustang have top loading bridges so I use short scale (30") strings on those for the best fit. My Other Mustangs with thru-body stringing have medium scale (32") strings as does my Guild starfire which has quite a lot of string behind the saddle.

[ajkula66]

Short scale strings - various brands - on all of my five shorties. I've used long scale strings out of necessity in *very* distant past but would prefer not to resort to that route again.

[bassist_lewis]

I've played SS exclusively for almost 10 years now, and I've always used 30" scale strings. LaBella make a special Mustang set for through-body stringing, which I  guess are similar to 32" scale strings. In terms of winding round the post, it doesn't matter too much with the D and G, but make sure that only the narrower part at the top of the string (where the silk is/would be) goes around the post for the E and A.

 

[RichT]

I buy short scale strings when they're available, but to be honest I've never actually had a problem fitting long scale strings on my SS basses. Sometimes I'll cut them down (e.g. Elixirs, which have no silks), and sometimes I'll just wrap the full silk length around the tuning post. Nothing's broken on me (yet).