Post by grayn on Jan 1, 2020 8:06:55 GMT
I'll be honest, even I've got fed up with my endless NBD and NGD posts.
But I have been wanting to go short scale, on my basses, for some time now.
Trouble was, every time I went out to look, I came home with another standard/long scale bass.
Over the last few decades, I've owned a couple of cheap violin basses and a couple of Fender Mustangs.
Well, over the Xmas period, I managed to sell off all but one of my basses.
My pink Jazz Bass is staying.
So I had a fair wad of cash and have been scouring the 'net for everything short scale.
It's surprising how many there are out there.
Hofner, Epiphone, Spector, Supro, Fender, Chowney, Elwood, Serek, Gibson etc etc.
I decided against a semi-acoustic, for one reason.
One of the many benefits of a short scale bass, is that the neck ends closer to your body.
No big stretch for that bottom F.
But that effect is a lot less on a semi.
For they, more often than not, have a large distance between their bridge saddle and the rear end of bass, extending it's overall length somewhat.
So if you are playing standing up, with a strap, like I do 97% of the time, that low F gets further away.
I do hope you are follwing me on this.
So that cuts down my choice a fair bit.
The second difficulty is that not many main stream shops stock any short scale basses.
And if they do, it's almost certainly a Fender Mustang or Bronco, or a Hofner semi (Violin or Club).
But I do really like to try before I buy.
So I rejected the order over the phone option and the 6 hour, round trip option too.
I decided to give the trusty Fender Mustang another try and headed to a shop that stocked the Fender American Performer series version, in a lovely aubergine finish.
More recently Fender have taken to adding a Jazz Bass, bridge pickup to the traditional split-coil, Mustang pickup.
This is the case on this American performer and I have to say it's a welcome addition.
In fact this aubergine bass is pretty much spot on in every department.
Beautifully finished, well constructed, a real pleasure to play, with great sounding pickups and a variety of very useable tones.
So it came home and has become my go to bass, for superb tone and ease of play.
So this is set to be my band bass but I also wanted to try out flatwound strings on a short scale, for that full on sixties tone.
With plenty of thump and click.
I'd previously played a Fender Vintera Mustang bass at my friend's shop, in keighley.
So that's now sitting in my music room, awaiting some flats to be fitted.
It sounds very nice with roundwound but I'm on a mission to get that vintage tone.
So there you have it.
Short scale basses have the benefit of less finger stretching, less string tension and overall, a lot less bulk.
It used to be argued that their bottom E lacked definition or clout.
But with modern construction and pickups, that isn't so much the case.
They do have a slightly different sound.
Well they're bound to by just having a 30 inch scale, instead of the standard 34.
It took me about half an hour to get used to the short scale but now I just love it.
But I have been wanting to go short scale, on my basses, for some time now.
Trouble was, every time I went out to look, I came home with another standard/long scale bass.
Over the last few decades, I've owned a couple of cheap violin basses and a couple of Fender Mustangs.
Well, over the Xmas period, I managed to sell off all but one of my basses.
My pink Jazz Bass is staying.
So I had a fair wad of cash and have been scouring the 'net for everything short scale.
It's surprising how many there are out there.
Hofner, Epiphone, Spector, Supro, Fender, Chowney, Elwood, Serek, Gibson etc etc.
I decided against a semi-acoustic, for one reason.
One of the many benefits of a short scale bass, is that the neck ends closer to your body.
No big stretch for that bottom F.
But that effect is a lot less on a semi.
For they, more often than not, have a large distance between their bridge saddle and the rear end of bass, extending it's overall length somewhat.
So if you are playing standing up, with a strap, like I do 97% of the time, that low F gets further away.
I do hope you are follwing me on this.
So that cuts down my choice a fair bit.
The second difficulty is that not many main stream shops stock any short scale basses.
And if they do, it's almost certainly a Fender Mustang or Bronco, or a Hofner semi (Violin or Club).
But I do really like to try before I buy.
So I rejected the order over the phone option and the 6 hour, round trip option too.
I decided to give the trusty Fender Mustang another try and headed to a shop that stocked the Fender American Performer series version, in a lovely aubergine finish.
More recently Fender have taken to adding a Jazz Bass, bridge pickup to the traditional split-coil, Mustang pickup.
This is the case on this American performer and I have to say it's a welcome addition.
In fact this aubergine bass is pretty much spot on in every department.
Beautifully finished, well constructed, a real pleasure to play, with great sounding pickups and a variety of very useable tones.
So it came home and has become my go to bass, for superb tone and ease of play.
So this is set to be my band bass but I also wanted to try out flatwound strings on a short scale, for that full on sixties tone.
With plenty of thump and click.
I'd previously played a Fender Vintera Mustang bass at my friend's shop, in keighley.
So that's now sitting in my music room, awaiting some flats to be fitted.
It sounds very nice with roundwound but I'm on a mission to get that vintage tone.
So there you have it.
Short scale basses have the benefit of less finger stretching, less string tension and overall, a lot less bulk.
It used to be argued that their bottom E lacked definition or clout.
But with modern construction and pickups, that isn't so much the case.
They do have a slightly different sound.
Well they're bound to by just having a 30 inch scale, instead of the standard 34.
It took me about half an hour to get used to the short scale but now I just love it.