Baloney Balderdash

Stickers on my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass:

So how long have you been playing bass, and why did you start? I think I started playing bass around when I was around 16 or so, a couple of years after I had started to learn how to play guitar, which makes the time I have played bass about 27 years by now, most of that time having had bass as my main instrument of choice, although having continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. It all started one day at band rehearsal where I by pure incident picked up the bass players bass and started playing, fell in love with the sound and feel of playing it, right there on the spot, and soon after answered an add by a drummer and a guitarist/vocalist seeking a bass player for their original band. After an audition session I got accepted as their new bass player, and even got a lot of praise for my capabilities on bass from the drummer, who happened to be a, for his age at that point, really skilled musician that knew how to sight read music, and who beside drums, played both piano and guitar on the sideline (that drummer and guitarist/vocalist being the same two people, though in a new different original band, that I much later since recorded a 2 track Single and a 4 track EP with, which were released on a small independent record label that some of our mutual friends owned, before I eventually decided to leave that band, much to my later regret, though I did get to contribute to a few of the compositions of their later full length album, even if not recording anything for it). The first few months with that first original band I didn't even own my own bass yet, but had to borrow one. Though soon after I decided to put my primary focus on playing bass over playing guitar. For some reason playing bass just came much more natural to me than playing guitar, like the instrument just felt exactly right in my hands, and as if I must have been thinking much more like a bass player than a guitarist all along, like apparently I just had a natural understanding for how the instrument worked and talent for coming up with and playing just the right bass parts for songs relatively effortlessly, that I for some reason just didn't possess on even just remotely the same level and same degree on guitar (even if eventually I have gotten quite good on guitar too, but ironically mainly from the experience I have acquired playing bass).

I guess it's really a matter of having some measurements as guidelines, rather then set in stone rules, and then make fine adjustments according to feeling and verifying with your own ears.

Great. I wish you the best of luck. As for adapting, at least I hadn't that much of a problem with it. Think it might seem more of an issue than it in reality is. Way back I personally switched from having guitar to having bass as my main instrument of choice, and I didn't experience any major issues, I actually think it is really mostly a matter of attitude, turned out I had really been thinking more like a bass player all along, and I felt sort of a relieve when I started to play bass, playing bass just came much more naturally to me than playing guitar ever had, and I also started out on a 34" scale bass, and stuck to that for over 10 years, before I eventually had yet another revelation when I first discovered, and then later switched to almost exclusively playing, short scale basses. Also please read my edit/update of the post you quote me for.

Well, Stanley Clarke's main electric basses are actually short scale basses, which means referring to him it would be 30" scale length. So that's a thing to consider too. Especially since it might make the transition easier for you coming from guitar. Personally I converted first from guitar to mainly playing 34" scale bass, then to almost exclusively playing short scale basses, though I have continued to play guitar on the sideline all along. The, fortunately less and less common, myth goes that short scale basses are beginner/amateur instruments (what ever that is even supposed to mean (no such thing as beginner or amateur instruments, only beginner/amateur players)), and that they are somehow lesser than regular 34" standard scale length basses, and while there might have been some truth to the latter notion in the past, seen from the perspective of the general quality of the options for short scale basses the market used to have to offer people who wanted to play such an instrument (and how they used to be, and in some cases unfortunately still are, marketed), there are now tons of high quality short scale basses available to chose from, from a wide variety of brands, and absolute top of the game players like Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Mike Watt mainly playing short scale basses ought to be more than plenty evidence in the first place that before mentioned myth in fact has always been nothing but a myth, made up and passed on by ignorant people. Anyway, welcome to the dark side!

It's just an amazingly great piece of music period, regardless of the amazing technical level it also displays.

While Victor Wooten is one of my absolute favorite bass players, but while I am not into a lot of his music, but still really dig his bass playing on that music, this particular piece is just beautifully amazing on every possible level:

I'm a big fan of budget instruments, the quality might be rather inconsistent, but it is totally possible to find diamonds in the rough. My main bass, that I really love, to the point where I named it, something I usually don't ever do with my instruments, "Dud Bottomfeeder", is a 4 string Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass from December 2010 production, so one of early ones.that were made in China and not Indonesia, where production later was moved to. Even though it had what must be the worst factory setup on ever on a bass, with the strings hovering 20mm or something like that over the fretboard at 12th fret, the fretwork actually turned out to be close enough to perfect to get the action exactly as low as I prefer it, without any fretbuzz whatsoever, which is about 1,9mm at 12th fret low E strings side and about 1,3mm high G string side (though currently it is actually tuned 2 half steps above ragular 4 string, E standard, Tuning, so that would actually be respectively F# and A. For some songs I am working on for a work in progress solo progressive psychedelic stoner rock project, which main primary instrumentation will consist of just bass (always run through a polyphonic octave up effect, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respective bass and octave strings), drums/percussion (which will be both physically recorded and programmed), and vocals). This bass also have the most stable neck I ever had on any guitar or bass and holds tuning exceptionally well, and as good as ever requires truss rod adjustments. I guess it is not as cheap as some of the basses displayed in this thread, and have had quality pickups installed, first a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups, and now just a Di'Marzio model P, wired directly to the output jack socket, with the J pickup from the GEezer set still sitting there, filling out the bridge pickup cavity, but disconnected and lowered considerably. Really love the tone the Model P pickup alone wired directly to the output hack socket gives me. The bridge is taken from another Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, the version with black hardware from stock, that I wasn't as lucky with, as it buzzed all over the neck, and I suspect not only the fretwork but also the actual neck/fretboard being of just terrible quality was at fault, previously to that my main Mikro just had a cheap black clone of a standard Fender bridge installed though. Mahogany body, exceptionally stable maple neck, with a 22 medium fret rosewood fretboard and a just 28,6" scale length, and the instrument I ever owned that I might have personally bonded to the most, love it to pieces (even if I have treated it a bit carelessly through time, the blemish on the body, near the neck (just above the P pickup), is a filled out failed attempt to drill an extra neck pickup cavity, which I later have dropped all plans about, as I actually love how it sounds, as it is): Of other cheap budget instruments I also own a 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, with exceptionally great fretwork from factory, from last year, 2019, production and an Epipnone SG Special electric guitar, from the 2012 production, both truly great instruments, the 5 string Mikro I just wired the 2 stock J pickups in series, though I am probably going to upgrade the pickups at some point, even if I will likely still wire them in series, as well as done some visual mods on it, the Epiphone SG guitar I done some visual mods on as well, and upgraded it's 2 stock humbucker pickups, swapping them out for some great budget IronGear ones just recently.

The standard kind of fretboard conditioner you can buy from just about every music instrument and gear related shop of several different brands, sometimes called lemon oil, but really not containing any real lemon oil whatsoever, but predominantly mineral oil, as organic oils can go stale and mess up your freboard, like caking up or beginning to smell bad, will do that for you. I can attest it's effectiveness to shine up dry looking rosewood from personal experience. It usually comes with a cloth too, otherwise get a special guitar polisher cloth too, or use a soft cloth that won't lint up of some kind, the micro-fiber kinds would be perfect, or similar types of cloths made for wiping off television and computer screens, only applying a few drops really, a little goes a really, surprisingly, long way, and you don't really want your fretboard wood to get totally soaked, as too much too often can soften the wood, which you wouldn't want to happen. Personally I use PRS Fretboard Conditioner, and 1 small flask for all my basses and guitars has lasted for years, but most brands will be equally good, and as said all mostly be of more or less same formula, which is predominantly consisting of mineral oil, same as one of the main ingredients in most furniture polishers.

I once owned the 60W B15-S, 1969 version of this classic amp, really regret selling, loved how it sounded, and it was just loud enough to be used in a loud playing rock band. And got to be about the most cool looking amp ever made as well. Got it amazingly cheap in the mid 90's from a local 2nd hand music instrument and gear shop. Regret so much selling it. Unfortunately I can't help you though, since I have no idea which speaker unit my flip top cab was actually equipped with.

By one of my absolute favorite bands, Coil:

About 2mm at 12th fret for the low E string side (slightly more for 5 or 6 strings with low B), and slightly less for the highest/thinnest string side of the fretboard, seems to be a pretty standard medium/lower medium kind of string action. I have a feeling that that's about the consensus for what might be the most common kind of action for people to prefer on a bass, though the official Fender guide states slightly higher numbers (even if not really by that much though), and also depending on fretboard radius, the lower radius the higher action is recommended. When that is said though I have actually found that surprisingly small differences in string action height can have a surprisingly big impact on how it will feel to play, relatively speaking. Other than that, beside of course personal preferences for what feels and sounds right to each individual bass player, frets that haven't been perfectly leveled will require higher action to avoid fret buzz, as well as the higher tension the strings are under the lower they will go too, since the tension to some extend will limit the maximum vibration curve of the strings. My personal preferred setting actually happens to match pretty closely to what the general consensus of preferred string action seems to be too, I seem to prefer almost spot on, perhaps ever so slightly bellow, 2mm at 12th fret, low E string side (which is actually an F# at the moment, but that's really irrelevant for the point of this), and with my main bass that's actually pretty much the same measurement as for 17th fret, as the corresponding angle between the strings and the fretboard happens to be pretty flat on that one, for the thinnest/highest string on the opposite side the number is about 1,3mm or so (I think that might actually be a bit bigger difference between thick/low and thin/high string side than usually recommended, but I didn't actually measure anything when I set up the bass, just went by what felt right for me). I actually prefer pretty much the same kind of action for electrical guitar as well. Seems to give me just a slight hint of resistance, since I'd like to be able to actually feel when I fret a note, while still making it a pretty effortless action, and just exactly high enough for relatively heavy emphasized picking not too easily resulting in choking the picked string(s) against the frets, while still allowing for a certain degree of controlled fret clank. So, yes, a bit above 2mm low/thick string side at 12th fret is usually what the standard guides says, and then about 4mm or so lower for the high string side, I have a feeling though that most people actually go for slightly lower than those standard recommendations, but in the end it is really a very personal thing for the individual player, and even individual bass, some people would actually prefer what most would perceive as insanely way too high action, and other's what most would consider as insanely way too low action, without for that matter anyone really being wrong. Lower is not always better, what feels and sounds right to you, fits your way of playing and your particular bass the best, is the only thing that is truly just the absolutely perfect right string action. I guess one universal thing that will almost always be true though regarding string action is that ideally the action of the individual strings should follow a curve corresponding to the radius of the fretboard, but tilting ever so slightly towards the side of the fretboard with the highest/thinnest string. Edit!!!: Forgot to mention that neck relief will influence on how low action you can get as well, more relief will allow for the strings to vibrate more freely, usually allowing lower action without fret buzz, though more relief will also cause the action of the strings around the middle of the neck to feel higher. My main actually got a really minimal amount of relief, and as said pretty spot on 2mm action, perhaps even ever so slightly bellow, at 12th fret, low E string side, and about 1,3 mm high G string side, without causing any issues for me whatsoever, I could probably even go slightly lower, if that was what I truly wanted and how I liked it (though that doesn't actually happen to be the case), and that is a super cheap budget bass, an Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass to be exact, and, believe it or not, but the fretwork on my 5 string Mikro is even more perfect, not to say actually absolutely dead on perfect, you would think they had pleked it at the factory, though I am quite sure that didn't happen, as I bought it from new and wasn't charged any extra money, if I wanted I could get insane low action on that one without any issues, guess they were just exceptionally lucky with the fret applying procedure on that neck. I guess I have just been lucky with those two basses though, quality control is usually all over (or rather more or less completely absent) with these kind of cheap budget basses, so you might get a truly great bass, that by cheer luck and accident got the best pieces of wood out of the random pile they happened to have in stock at the factory at that particular point and for that particular production, assembled by a guy who just happened to get particular lucky with doing a great job on this particular one, and for some reason payed particular extra attention to just that bass, and the fret applying procedure just by a strike of luck first shot turning out perfect, and miraculously staying that way too, or you might get the exact opposite, a piece of pure utter useless crap, which actually did happen to me as well, when I took the risk buying me a second brand new 4 string Mikro, one of the GSRM20B ones, with black hardware and in the Weathered Black finish, from Ebay, cause while it did in fact look awesome it was right out unplayable, there were buzz all over the neck, no matter how I adjusted it, unless I would have found it reasonable to live with a 10mm high string action at 12th fret or something totally ridiculous like that, makes me think it might not only had been that they had been terribly unlucky with applying the frets on that neck, but that there by all likelihood was something horribly wrong with the neck and/or fretboard it self in the first place, that one should definitely never had left the factory, and wouldn't if proper quality control had actually been a real thing with these basses. Ironically the factory setup on the two really great Mikro Basses I got was absolutely horrendously bad and ultimately completely useless, whereas had the horribly malfunctioning hack job one actually worked as it was supposed to the setup done on it from factory would actually had been surprisingly decent, which, when you begin to think the implications of that properly though, makes it not only ironic but also really really odd and hard to make any sense of whatsoever, though I guess it does support my point about the randomness of the production of these basses. Anyway, to round off this whole off topic escapade and derailing line of stray thoughts I somehow got myself intertwined with, actually most of the time when buying cheap budget instrument in fact you will most likely get a quite decent one, but once in a really rare while you can get exceptionally lucky and hit a truly great one, that could be turned into a genuinely awesome instrument with an upgrade of the pickups and perhaps some of the electronics and hardware as well, or you could get really unlucky and get a truly pure utter crap one that isn't even really capable of actually playing, and with no way of fixing it that will be worth even half the effort, just being an absolute ultimate waste of wood, time and money.

So I am pondering on replacing the stock 8 Ohm Fostex 25H273 tweeter horn (no idea how many watts it actually is) in my SWR Triad I 4 Ohm 400W bass cab with a small regular 4" speaker with good higher frequency reproduction, though still with a considerably lower roll off frequency than the current horn, like something like at about just past 10kHz, as while I really like having some higher frequency content above 5kHz, I don't really need anything much higher than 10kHz, and I don't like the way my current horn reacts to the higher frequencies of a distorted signal. I would think the mointing hole for the Fostex Tweeter in the Triad I cab could relatively easily be modded to fir a 4" regular speaker instead. Not to give you all the information I have on the Triad I cab, it is as said a 4 Ohm 400W bass cab, equipped with a 15" speaker unit that recieves the full frequency content of the signal it is fed with, then an internal crossover filter sees to that the 10" speaker unit in the cab only gets the frequency content of the fed signal that is between 100Hz and up to 5kHz, and then the high frequency speaker will get any frequency content of the fed signal that is above 5kHz, but with a build in attenuator that allows you to adjust the level of the part of the signal above 5kHz that the tweeter actually receives, and thereby the level of the tweeter and the treble of the cab. However I don't think my problem is the current tweeter being too loud, cause I like that way it is set with the attenuator now on my clean tone, however I seriously dislike how it at the same setting reacts with distortion (it kind of sounds like the horn it self overdrives, even if definitely not blown as it sounds perfect with clean tone however you set the attenuator, and you can hear a clear different in the treble content of the signal as you turn it up), and was thinking a speaker that is less sensitive to the highest frequency content area above 5kHz, as said maybe something that begins to roll off at about just past 10kHz or so, would solve this, and make for a better balanced distorted tone, while still reproducing enough high frequency content to make the clean tone sound the way I like it. I want to do as few modifications to the cab as possible, preferably just modding the mounting hole for the stock Fostex tweeter horn perfect for fitting something like a 4" regular speaker unit in it instead, seems to be pretty close to somewhat similar measurements/dimensions already. I was thinking something like the Eminence Alpha 4-8, which is a 4" 110W 8 Ohm speaker that has a fairly broad frequency range, but doesn't start to roll off seriously before about just past 10kHz, rated usable frequency range says 105 - 12000 Hz. The question is would that work for my purpose, would 110W be sufficient power for driving everything above 5kHz of a signal that should be able to handle up to 400W overall, would the stock 5kHz crossover of the cabinet make sense, even if I realize I will miss out on a lot of the speakers full potential frequency range, would the reflex box or whatever you call that (really not familiar with the correct term, but I mean the internal enclosure for that particular unit in the cabinet) made for the tweeter in the Triad I cabinet being of a fitting size for this speaker, used the way I plan it to be used, or are there any other obvious reasons why this wouldn't work, work poorly, or why it even might work perfectly great the way I have it imagined? Here's the link to the speaker in question on Eminence's homepage, with all sort of information, including a frequency response curve: https://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Alpha_4_8 (I know the link says speaker pair, but I can get a single unit of those here: https://www.thomann.de/dk/eminence_alpha_4a.htm) Other suggestions on how to possibly solve this issue is very welcome, but I just really like the idea of relatively few modifications, and a small regular speaker replacing the tweeter horn, so preferably a solution where that would be the case, without messing with the cabs internal crossover filter either. Here's the frequency response charge from the Eminence Alpha 4-8 speaker: And here's how my cab looks (not my paticular one, but a better overlook picture of a SWR Triad I cab from Google): Also I should stress that I actually otherwise really like the tone this cab reproduces.

Well in defense of Steve Bailey, despite having the potentially most extended range instrument, and theoretically therefor the best possibilities for cutting it totally loose, it's not like Victor Wooten and Carol Kaye actually leaves him that much of a musical room to do so. Amazing jam though regardless, by 3 absolutely top world class bass players and musicians as such. Victor Wooten being among my personal Top 11 all time favorite bass players, despite most of his music not exactly being my cup of tea (though I still do love a few of his composition like for instance his massively impressive and astonishing beautiful melodic "The Lesson", and I always appreciate the masterly executed truly virtuous display of his bass playing, no matter what actual music he is then playing), and Carol Kaye, despite generally, in diametrically opposition to my impression of the very humble and kind hearted Mister Wooten, coming off to me as a bit of a bitter old jerk personality wise, shows she still got her chops down at absolutely full top functionality, got to give her credit for some truly amazing classic and by now legendary bass lines, as well as her superb bass chops, especially impressive at her age, being a jerk or not. Sticking to a lowly Ibanez as her main instrument, despite being a world class big time truly legendary player, earns Carol some extra credits in my book too, despite her sometimes coming off to me as a world class jerk as well in some of her official utterings.

So, I performed some pretty nasty satanic necromantic rituals, among other obscure artifacts, and a fair deal of hours after hours, what seemed to make up eternity it self, forbidden sacrilegious utter balderdash nonsense and pure baloney utterings of gloomy forlorn and esoteric mystic chanting, involving the heart blood of the last known to exist 3 horn unicorn and the private parts of an albino hermaphrodite satyr, sacrificed in a clearing of a cursed wood in the eternal emerald nightmare of the infant Antichrist's subconscious private hell, located at a top secret confidential location, allegedly said to be the headquarter of the Illuminati shadow government intelligence service, to raise this thread from eternal oblivion of Death it self, just to give my dearest bass abomination, going by the name "Dud Bottomfeeder" more truly deserved bright shining ever lasting spotlight exposure on this top modern information age marvel of technology, the so called "world wide inter webs". So here it is, my one and only, forever to be mine truly, chad bad boy Dud Bottomfeeder, for whom I shall forever repent not having treated with the care such a brilliancy of an instrument of God's true primordial will and might, yes, the pure primal force of creation it self, is entitled to: Seriously, this 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, from the December 2010 production, mine since bought from new April 2011, since having received several, admittedly not all equally well executed or successful mod attempts, though to name the absolutely massively successful ones, having had a pair of P/J EMG Geezer Butler pickups installed, just quite recently replaced with a DiMarzio Model P wired directly to the output jack socket, with the old Geezer J pickup not connected anymore, and which I love the tone of, so full and punchy, yet greatly defined and articulately clear sounding, on this mahogany body, bolt on, extremely stable, maple neck, with a 22 medium fret rosewood fretboard, is my 2nd most favorite bass I ever owned, only beaten by just a hair by the Jerry Jones Longhorn bass, sort of a higher end, high quality, one might even call it boutique, version of the original Danelectro one, that I once owned, but unfortunately was stupid enough to sell, now discontinued and used to be made by a fairly legendary now retired guitar maker/company. But have grown very attached and fond of this little cheap budget wonder bass machine. Sounds so good and feels as a true joy and just like home to play for me. To me the short scale only has advantages. Currently tuned in regular E standard tuning and strung with D'Addario gauge 1.00 to .045 nickle roundwound strings, but soon to have a .095 D'Addario NYXL bass string, and 3 D'Addario NYXL guitar strings, of respectively the gauges .076 - .058 and .043, threaded through the cut off ball ends of bass strings in order to seat properly in the bass bridge holes, specifically picked for retaining about the same average string tension as with the current set in it's current E standard tuning, but with much improved tension balance across the strings, when tuned 2 half steps above E standard tuning, as in F#1 to D3, that I am going to use for this, my favorite bass, to be giving the lead role in a work in progress progressive psychedelic stoner rock, predominantly bass/drums and percussion/vocals (with some much more flavor oriented instrumentation and various ambient effects used for certain parts), solo project of mine, where the bass signal will also be run through an always on octave up effect, giving an effect similar to that of an 8 string "octave" bass, with pairs of respectively bass and octave strings, and with an always on fairly subtle high definition hall reverb effect in combination with some fairly subtle real spring reverb from my Peavey amp, generous use of heavy thick, ballsy and raunchy fuzz-esque distortion, consisting of a vintage Rat clone going into a Joyo California Sound (clone of the now discontinued Tech 21 California, analog Mesa Boogie type amp emulation preamp pedal), acting as distortion boosted overdrive and additional EQ, mixed with some clean signal via a parallel effects loop, using my Boss LS-2, a fair deal of parallel processed analog phaser/flanger effect, again using my Boss LS-2, as well as some additional use of digitally emulated Boss CE-1 chorus, and analog tremolo, and might possibly be some delay effects ends up getting incorporated as well.

A small update: As most of what I have written for this project so far can actually be played on 4 strings, and the one riff that ventures beyond that can be adapted to work on 4 strings, and as further more the update of my beloved battered old 4 string Ibanez Mikro Bass, with the P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups swapped out with a single DiMarzio Model P P pickup, wired directly to the output jack socket sounds no less than awesome through my current rig, much better than my 5 string Mikro with it's 2 stock J pickups wired in series directly to the output jack socket, and that I just overall feel much more at home and comfortable with playing my old 4 string Mikro, beyond it's physical form, but simply as an instrument I have come to love dearly, almost as an old friend (even came up with a little flattering name for it, something I normally otherwise don't do with my instruments, "Dud Bottomfeeder"), I have decided to do a serious attempt to adapt my current songs in the working and setup for the "all I nil" project to work with my dear 4 string pal "Dud", and for that purpose have ordered a gauge .095 NYXL D'Addario bass string that is going to be tuned F#1, like the lowest string on my 5 string Mikro, 2 steps above standard E tuning, and 3 D'Addario NYXL guitar strings that I will thread through the cut off ball ends of old bass strings to not fall through the bridge, gauge .076 - .058 and .043, to be tuned respectively B1, E2 and A2, as the gauge 1.00 to .045 set on it now, tuned in E standard tuning is just not going to work well for the material I wrote, but the new strings, checked through D'Addario's String Tension Pro online app online app, is pretty much on an average going to match the tension of it's current strings in their current tuning, just with much improved tension balance across the strings. Probably have to do a proper shielding job on Dud Bottomfeeder at some point though, as the DiMarzio pickup's open housing and 4 minutious absolutely unshielded wires, unlike the absolutely and complete noiseless EMG pickup's totally sealed housings with the ground wires working as a braided shield all along around the hot wire on the pickups, that I was used to, makes it a bit noisy when not touching any metal parts on the bass grounding the electronics. Really in my opinion all pickup manufactures ought to do as EMG and shield their pickups internally, didn't even need a bridge ground connection, and even Ibanez decided to learn from them, my new 5 string Mikro from last years production being wired like that, despite being a cheap budget model, which after I wired it's 2 single coil J pickups in series made it utterly and completely noiseless as well. Really if it can be done on cheap budget instruments, surely one of the leading pickup manufactures of what is considered at pretty good quality pickups can do it too with their pickups. The noise is fairly tolerable though, and in every other aspect the DiMarzio Model P is an amazing sounding pickup, so full and punchy, but at the same time perfectly clear, well defined and articulated, just absolutely beautifully sounding on it's own, at least in my 4 string Mikro Bass wired directly to the output jack socket. And unlike the EMG Geezer P I didn't even have to make use of the Model P P pickups otherwise nice individual adjustable pole pieces feature to make the strings balance perfectly, something I had great dificulties with with the Geezer and only really could achieve when used in conjunction with the J pickup, adjusted carefully to even string balance working together. Here's the chad bad boy Dud Bottomfeeder himself, who has taken his fair share of abuse from me (.... ...Uhm.... ... Well.... That definitely kind of came out sounding all wrong...: ... .... You know... I am not really swinging that way ): And here's the rig I am going to do it with, pretty much with some minor updates planed: For one the high gain distortion setup, mixed with some slightly dirty "cleans" from one of the Joyo Orange Juice pedals, my Joyo California Sound has taken over from the American Sound as the medium gain kind of overdrive and additional EQ that is being fed with my Mosky Black Rat, Rat clone, set on the Vintage setting (classic, not LED Turbo Rat type) feed it's raunchy fuzz-esque high gain distortion stacked in front of it: My EHX Black Finger, tube driven optical compressor, as always delivering the secret tone gourmet sauce: And the smug looking pretty boy Mikro 5 has been removed from the construction site (at least for now, and if all works out as planed):

The bass is a bit boring, look like a standard P pass pretty much, and I have slight aversion for tortoise pickguards, but I wouldn't call it ugly by any means. I also prefer headstocks with the tuners balanced on each side, instead of in a long row, but other than that I actually think it looks truly beautiful, maybe it's a bit odd for exactly that kind of bass, but at least in it self it look great, whereas the rest of the bass just kind of looks mediocre.

Might seem like an odd choice to some, but this bass just feels so much home at this point, despite being a cheap budget 4 string 28,6" scale Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass, and looking pretty messed and battered up by all the mods I impulsively haphazardly done, I am almost tempted to say against it, rather then to it, by now, not least the big blemish near the neck, that is a filled up failed attempt to drill an extra neck pickup cavity at some point. With a just all freshly installed all new DiMarzio Model P pickup wired directly to the output jack socket, the J pickup from the previous P/J EMG Geezer Butler set it had installed previously still sitting there, but not connected anymore, tuned in regular 4 string bass, E standard tuning, here equipped with gauge 1.00 to .045 D'Addario strings, though the plan is to have it strung up with a set of gauge 1.00 to .045 coated stainless steel Elixir strings soon, mahogany body and bolt on maple neck with a 22 medium fret rosewood fretboard: I tend to call him Dud Bottomfeeder. I do still have a great 34" scale white Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic which was my main bass for many years, but I've gone almost exclusively to playing short scale now, just enjoy it much more, the effortless playability, and in my opinion with no disadvantages either, only advantages, beside that I never really liked it's white finish. Also own a much prettier black 5 string GSRM25 Mikro with a poplar body and a jatoba fretboard, but that I have stringed with .090 to .030 strings and tuned in F# standard tuning, as in 2 half steps above E standard tuning, F#1 to D3, and I still feel much more at home and safe on my good old abused 4 string Mikro.

With what might be my absolute number one favorite guitarist Bill Frisell, though Skúli Sverrisson's bass here is fabulous too:

I thought it would make sense to have a more general thread dedicated to lovers of short scale basses, such as my self. So tell your story of how you got into short scale basses, show off your short scales, and tell their story. The scene is yours fellow short scale bass enthusiast! Inspired by this thread : I started out playing a regular 34" scale bass, a great old Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic bass, which I by the way still own, but as I at some point got involved with a noise rock and hardcore influenced math rock band, called Menfolk, with 2 bass players, where I sort of a had a more lead bass oriented role, I began to wish for a bass with a shorter scale, since a lot of fairly fast complex runs and chording was involved in my bass play with this band, not knowing at that point that such basses indeed already existed, and being made fun of by the, by the way incredible skilled, drummer (multi instrumentalist and musician as such for that matter), who was sort of the unofficial band leader, of Menfolk, and by the way still is one of my friends, for voicing my opinion about such, he apparently not being aware of the existence of short scale basses either at that point. I eventually left that band, something I have regretted many times since, but I just wasn't all that psychologically well off at that time, and I felt like I was not able to give the band the full attention and dedication I felt it deserved, though that's another story, which by the way ended well, by them finding another great bass player, and truly nice guy too by the way, to take over my job, who actually used to be a fan of our band, and after that, among other things, they released their first full length album on a small independent record company some of our mutual friends owned at that point, where I helped compose a couple of the songs on it, though I didn't actually record anything for it (but while I was still in the band I had previously recorded a 2 track single and a 4 track EP with them, also released on the same label), and after that they got a gig at Scandinavian's biggest rock festival "The Roskilde Festival", which is one of the , but by far not the only, reasons I regret choosing to leave. Anyway a while after leaving Menfolk I discovered that short scale basses indeed was a thing and bought my first one, a Jerry Jones Longhorn, which is sort of a higher end, high quality, one might even call it boutique, now unfortunately discontinued, version of the original Danelectro one, from a now retired fairly legendary guitar builder/company. The best bass I have, not only ever owned, but ever had the pleasure to lay my hands on yet, especially with the setting it's stock pickup selector rotary switch offered that put it's 2 lipstick tube pickups in series connection, and going into my Ampeg B15-S, 60W tube amp from 1969, with a 1X 15" flip top cab (same amp I used with my Aria Pro II in Menfolk. And believe it or not, but it was plenty loud to, without any issues whatsoever, compete with a 50W massively distorted Hiwatt guitar tube amp (originally a 100W, modded to work at half power) with a 4x 12" Marshall cab, another bass player with a 100W Carlsbro tube amp and a 2x 15" cab, and a seriously hard hitting drummer, and even to fill up small venues without PA support. Though I am pretty sure it had to do with the kind of really upper mids heavy, overdriven, and very little bass heavy tone of my bass that I used for that band, utilizing the active HPF/LPF circuit of that particular bass's stock preamp, to actually cut some of the lowest bass frequency content out of the signal, before the amp, since as said, I had more of a lead bass role, while the other bass player mainly took care of a bit more traditional supporting bass role. And I did also push that 60W B15-S Ampeg tube amp with the 1X15" cab to it's absolute maximum), me being stupid enough though to later sell both amp and bass (the Jerry Jones one, still own my Aria Pro II), which I still to this day regret. A combo (my Jerry Jones Longhorn with it's 2 lipstick tube pickups in series + my Ampeg B15-S 60W tube amp with a 1x 15" flip top cab), that I otherwise also used in another band, that I joined a while after I had left Menfolk, but that I also eventually left, though this time without any regrets whatsoever, due to it taking a musical turn from originally being a quite noise rock influenced and somewhat experimentally minded band to a much more commercial minded direction, I just couldn't see myself in such a band, even if they did get a record deal and they too played at the Roskilde Festival after I had left, I still have or have had absolutely no regrets about that decision, the way their music eventually turned out just wasn't me at all. A funny story though from that band, after a quite jazzy bass solo I did on one of their tracks (I think one of the only times where I actually utilized the Longhorn's 24th fret), the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist in jest began referring to me as Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, though also meant as a genuine compliment to my bass playing skills, and I guess partially as a comment on the kind of sound that semi hollow body Jerry Jones had, even with roundwound strings and it's pickups wired in series, as well, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, in case you don't know, being the name of an internationally famous Danish double bass jazz player. Anyway, that's where my love for short scale basses started, with that Jerry Jones Longhorn, which is also the most expensive bass I've ever owned (they costed 1200$ from new, I think about 20 years ago, when they were still in production, though I got a discount on mine, since it had been used as a display model). Unfortunately I got no pictures of it. Just love the effortless playability of short scales, and with the right one, to me at least, there is no disadvantages to the shorter scale, only advantages. So a while after having been stupid enough to sell my Jerry Jones Lomghorn bass the cravings eventually came back for owning and playing a short scale bass again, in the meantime mostly having focused on playing guitar, which was actually the original first instrument I started out learning how to play, even if bass then later becoming my main instrument of choice, and really had been for a while at that point too, just all the while continuing to play guitar on the sideline, and in shorter periods of time having guitar take back most of my focus from playing bass. So the first short scale I bought after that was a cheap Höfner Beatles/violin bass knockoff, forgot the brandname, West...something, I think, but never really liked it, so that was a relatively short acquaintance, even if it despite being a cheap budget knockoff actually was quite well constructed and pretty much sounded exactly like such a bass is supposed to, just discovered that that type of bass definitely isn't, or ever will be, for me, after that then I bought a used Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi Bass, that I actually got cheap, relatively compared to what the used prices usually are, and was at that point too, for those basses, which, even if being a considerable higher end bass than that cheap Höfner knockoff, and generally being a highly regarded instrument, wasn't to my liking either, neither liked how it felt in my hands and played or the tone of it, no matter which of the two slide in interchangeable pickups, that it came with when I bought it, I used, so hat became a fairly short acquaintance as well. And like with the Jerry Jones Longhorn I don't actually got any pictures of those 2 basses either. Eventually though I then decided to have a 28 5/8" scale bass made out of Warmoth baritone parts, with a Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker Neck replacement pickup placed in the neck position, and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails guitar Strat humbucker pickup in the bridge. that one I loved, especially how it sounded, a very clear articulate tone, with a quite piano like quality to it. This one (designed the headstock myself, which admittedly I may have went a little over board with ), mahogany body, maple neck, and a 24 fret, rosewood, as far as I recall it, fretboard : Unfortunately I was stupid enough to sell that one too. But currently I am very happy with my two lowly but absolutely lovely Ibanez Mikro basses, one black 4 string GSRM20 Mikro Bass, my main, from the December 2010 production (owned since April 2011, bought new), that I baptized "Dud Bottomfeeder", with various visual mods, and with a just freshly installed all new DiMarzio Model P pickup wired directly to the output jack socket, the J pickup from the P/J EMG Geezer Butler set it had installed previously still sitting there, filling out the bridge pickup cavity, but lowered considerably and not being connected, or planed to be connected at any point, anymore, tuned in regular 4 string bass, E standard, tuning, here equipped with gauge 1.00 to .045 D'Addario nickle roundwound strings, though the plan is to have it strung up with a set of gauge .100 to .045 coated stainless steel Elixir strings soon, and then a black 5 string GSRM25 Mikro Bass, from last year's, January 2019, production (owned since September 2019, bought new), with various visual mods, it's two stock J pickups wired in series directly to the jack output socket, and strung up with the 5 thickets strings of an Ernie Ball set meant for Bass VI type instruments, gauge .090 to .030, tuned in F# standard, 2 half steps above E standard tuning, as in F#1 to D3 : 28,6" scale, 4 string, 22 medium fret, rosewood fretboard, on a bolt on maple neck, with a mahogany body : 28,6" scale, 5 string, 22 medium fret, jatoba fretboard, on a bolt on maple neck, with a poplar body : Both those 2 Mikro basses I have been very lucky with, very well made, especially the 4 string has an extremely stable neck that holds tuning remarkably well, and as good as never needs truss rod adjustments (unless of course the string tension changes significantly, by different tunings or string gauges), even seems quite resistant to seasonal changes, despite living in a country where there can be some fairly serious seasonal dependent weather changes, the 5 string neck being a bit more sensitive, but still more stable than most other necks of the instruments I have owned through time, and both got as good as perfect fretwork from factory, being able to get exactly as low string action as I prefer, without any fret buzz whatsoever, with the 5 string Mikro even having truly remarkably, not only for a cheap budget bass, but really for any mass produced instrument at any price class, absolutely perfectly completely leveled fretwork, to a degree where I would be able to get right out ridiculous low string action on it if I really wanted that, both truly great instruments, despite them being cheap budget ones. Though neither of those 2 basses quite beat the Jerry Jones Longhorn I once owned, but the 4 string Mikro is still one of my absolute favorite basses out of all the ones I've ever owned, in fact a clear, and actually pretty close, 2nd after that fabled Jerry Jones, and I have grown very attached to it and love it dearly, though I kind of would wish I had treated it less carelessly, not exactly a beauty, but damn does it sound great and feels as a true joy and just like home to play on for me. Even went as far as to name it, though that is something I otherwise never do with my instruments, to the, I guess little flattering, but quite punk rock-esque, and fitting for how it has turned out looking and it's status as a low end cheap budget bass, name: Dud Bottomfeeder. Edit!!! (04/09/22): My new main short scale bass, a Harley Benton GuitarBass (a take on the Fender Bass VI concept) : Edit 2!!! (09/03/23): Back on my Ibanez Mikro Bass as my main, which has undergone some changes since I first posted (the latter being the most recent shot, the former being the better) : Edit/Update 3!!! : (22/04/24) And my main instrument of choice currently is now my 5 string Ibanez GSRM25 Mikro Bass, which I named "Mr. Growley - The Noodlemancer" : You can read more about "Mr. Growley - The Noodlemance", and the mods I did to it, here :

As I commented in my OP I owned the plexi version of that bass for a short while, and personally I really hated how it felt in my hand and played, despite me being a big short scale bass fan, and that I know it is a fairly rare and sought after bass,. The one I bought even came with 2 different slide in pickups , but I didn't like the tone of that bass with neither of those 2 pickups either. One of the few basses that I don't feel the slightest remorse about letting go of, even if I sold it way to cheap. Seriously didn't like it, even if I wanted to and think it looked super cool, which is why I bought it in the first place. Just couldn't get along with it, and it just felt and sounded all wrong to me. Similar to how I hated the Rickenbacker 4001 bass that I once owned, even if I thought it looked amazing, which is also why I bought it originally, and even though I actually did like the tone of that one, just couldn't get along with how it felt in my hands and played at all. That one got stolen, but the only thing I really regret about that is the money I lost on a resale, I didn't miss it one tiny bit whatsoever. But hey, we all have different preferences, and the Dan Armstrong Bass no doubt is a seriously unique bass, and I do love the concept of easily interchangeable pickups, and as I said, I did really want to like it, because I think it is an amazing looking instrument, especially the transparent plexi version that I owned. Just to name one fairly famous bass player who uses the Dan Armstrong Bass as his main bass and loves it, and the same plexi version as the one I once owned, there's Jesse F. Keeler from the Death from Above 1979, bass and drums rock duo. I guess my lesson to learn with both the Dan Armstrong and Rickenbacker that I bought, mainly because I was in love with how they looked, is to not spend load of money on an instrument, just because it is generally highly regarded to be a great instrument, and because you think it looks amazingly awesome. If you hate to play it, because it feels all wrong in your hands, no matter how much in love you are with how amazing it looks, and no matter how much you really wish you would have liked it, then what's the point really. To me at least how an instrument feels in your hand and plays to you is almost a more important factor than how it sounds, cause it will be considerably harder to improve the feel of an instrument than it's tone, which often can be fixed, at least if we are talking electric guitars and basses and giving that they actually do sound good played acoustically, by changing some of the electronics, mainly the pickups, or even hardware and/or strings, as well as with how you process the signal coming from them, with different EQ'ing, preamps/amps, cabs e.t.c .

It's an amazing instrument, even if it wasn't even a high end one back when it was still in production (not exactly a cheap budget one either though). But as said, I have never laid my hand on a better electric guitar, high end or not. I would love to buy it from you, but I don't have the money currently unfortunately and kind of have other higher priorities too at the moment. But the plan is definitely to at some point in the future trying to find a similar used one and buy it. (also just noticed the one I posted a picture of had one pot knob missing, mine in fact did had all 4 original knobs, just like yours).

A male hen by the name Richard (my uncle's name is not Richard, but if the naughty filter insists his babtized real name being an offence, so be it, though he might find that interpretation of it insulting) Willy Johnson. Why don't you just introduce a filter that changes all the words you write to something completely different, that sure could be fun, though I realize that would kind of obscure communication quite a bit? You do realize that consequently changing people's real names by insisting on interpreting them as an insult in fact would be a personal insult against said people, right?