Paolo85

Back to the OP's question, I found myself in a similar situation lately with backache issues, on days when I was practicing hard in view of starting to play with other people.

Much like the OP, I have realised that "normal" short scale basses do not work for me.

But I have found, at good prices here on the classifieds, two alternatives that do work

-Ibanez mezzo 32 scale. It is just a good compromise. Plus, like most soundgears, it has an extremely comfortable shape, it is very light, and has a great balance

-Harley Benton HB60.. and I imagine other short-scale semihollow could be even better. Unlike normal short scale basses, these are not small. They are as long as a P bass, because the body extends way after the bridge. So you get the short-scale comfort for the fretting hand, but the bass is positioned somewhat similarly to a P in terms of where the hands fall.

The bass is light, but it is a neck diver. However, because of the very wide body, the plucking hand's forearm can rest on the body when the bass is on the strap, without resulting in a funny angle for the wrist. This keeps the bass in position. To be honest, I still think the HB does not feel amazing. I use a dual strap to make it work smoothly. But I tried an Aria semihollow in a shop last weekend, and the neck was so light that holding the body as described was a breeze. So I guess there are certainly options available (I imagine for example a guild starfire, which has a smaller nut width, and tuners, while big, could be replaced with hipshot licensed ultralight. But that's just a guess)

Hope this helps

I had one, I thought good but stupidly heavy. If I was to go for a 5-string again I'd probably try a HB B550 or something Ibanez

Lord, forgive them; they don't know what they're doing.

11 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I suppose my pet hate is the way straight eighth root notes with a few other passing and grace notes have come to dominate so much popular music - does that mean I should suggest Adam Clayton? The thing I enjoy in 60s and 70s pop music in contrast is that so many songs have creative bass lines that make use of so much more than root-third-fifth-seventh, for me it even makes some 'bubblegum' songs of the sixties worth hearing.

I hear you! While I can't say I hate that, it is a pity. I suppose part of the "problem" is how much the sound of rithmic guitar and keyboards has changed since the 60's. Guitars shifted from being thin, limited in dynamics but charming to a beast that can make all imaginable noises. The bass had to take a step back as guitars go centre stage..

...of course that's not the only reason. It's also, quite simply, a style that seem to work. Unfortunately, in a way

1 hour ago, JJTee said:

Everyone* in this video:

*In reality, I do appreciate their technical ability, and musical knowledge. But the vast majority of this video leaves me stone cold…!

I have watched the first two (25th and 24th) and number one. I think, and this links to other comments in here, there is a problem in assessing a virtuouso bass player by isolating a moment in which they show off. This is something they do. It is not a summary of what they do.

Number 24 was Victor Bailey. I did not like the solo in the video. I happen to love Victor Bailey and he is not a showoff. He is very expressive, emotional and measured

As for number 1, Wooten, it's not like he's spent his career doublethumping flat out. He's not one of my favourites I think as I am not much into slap. But you can hear him here supporting Bela Fleck's band

And you can hear him being a powerful presence but always interacting with the band in my favourite album of his

I tend to sell a bass after a few months I don't play it. I have decided that I don't want to keep more than 2-3 basses in total so one in one out pretty much

15 hours ago, SamIAm said:

Fender do one at £1 less than your budget.

https://www.fender.com/en-GB/squier-electric-basses/other/limited-edition-paranormal-rascal-bass-hh/0377107556.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk6SwBhDPARIsAJ59Gwf-Sw-3f8h2VW0e20Kp3kiW_UQ9CwxI-kz44XbA8PijWVR76Th3Fw4aAjfsEALw_wcB

 

Sam x

I heard that this, while short scale, is actually big and heavy?

I am not an expert but to me your wrist looks fairly straight. The problem though is that in order to achieve that you keep the bass very much on your side. Not sure there is anything wrong with that per se but a big problem I'd see is that if you play standing with a strap the difference in terms of where the bass stands relative to you is must be huge.

As for not resting the arm.. well, if I do not follow "the rules" and bend my wrist and rest the arm, I get pain. The way to avoid it is to lift the arm a bit. Hard work at first, but apparently not as damaging. If you do not have room to lift the arm as your shoulder gets all weird, then maybe that's another downside of keeping the bass on the side. Maybe try to have it pointing more toward your left

10 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Also, do some people have an aversion against solo pieces, or is it just bass solo pieces, if then why is this, and if not, how can a solo piece serve the song, it is the song?

 

 

Yes good point here. Granted, I do think that musicians famous for their chops (including famous bass players) often overindulge in solos that are boring. Unfortunately that's good business for them and I imagine irresistible for their egos. But at the opposite end of the spectrum, famous sessionmen that are celebrated for "serving the song" often overindulge in dull bass lines for cheesy dull songs, which are very good business for all parties involved.

This whole idea of serving the song, while correct in principle, pushed to the extreme, to me, is the death of music.

The problem is, what is the song? If the song is a simple pop song, I appreciate that serving it means doing certain simple things. If the song is of a different nature - god forbid maybe an instrumental song - serving it may mean, at the right time, enriching it with some more complex bass lines. And it may even mean, at the right time, that the bass should take the lead.

Pino Palladino.

I have had a SS Squier Jaguar for a few weeks. I see what you mean.

Neck dive depends on design and relative weigh of neck and body. And I must say on the personal opinion of what level neck dive is annoying. So there is no simple answer to the question but in general, yes, lightweigh tuners help.

My bass was a massive neck diver. I have put hipshot licensed ultralight on, car wheel balance weighs at the back, and I have used Dunlop straplocks to "extend" the top horn. The bass is still neck heavy - which I don't like. But it is not a neck diver.

As for the general feeling of awkwardness, I have realised that, if I try to keep the headstock pretty much at the same height as it would be on a long-scale, the body remains much higher, so my plucking hand is all crimped. Also, the headstock is closer, so even my fretting hand is a bit crimped. Because of that, I am experimenting with just keeping the strap longer and it helps.

It turns out that, while my SS bass is undoubtedly easier on the fretting hand, overall I am not so sure it is more comfortable than my long-scale perfectly balanced P bitsa.

But I don't have arthritis. With that, the SS would win. I'd just shop for one with better balance (or better hopes of balancing with a few adjustments)

38 minutes ago, naxos10 said:

Any reason you went for the 44-100 Newtone Shorties rather than the 46-105 gauge if you liked cut down standard scale 45-105?

Well, they advertised their strings as being unusual, with thick core and high tension. I wasn't sure what to make of it tbh. Also, I didn't know gauge would be so important for me (I use 40-100 on long scale).

In fact, maybe gauge is not that important. It just becomes an issue with the Newtone, which they describe as "bright and punchy" - and they are, I would say very high-mid focused the nickels, but quite at the expense of thump.

Still, this time I am not up for experimenting.

Please someone correct me if any of this is wrong as I am fairly new to that myself. Daw is a software that you install in your computer. It can read the signal coming from musical instruments/microphones, and record it. In order for this signal to reach the software, the sound from your instrument should be converted into a digital signal. For this, you buy an Audio Interface. It is essentially a box, connected to the computer, where you plug the bass or other stuff in and does does the conversion. A DI to my understanding is used to send the signal from a bass to a mixer, if you want to go through that.

A highly reccommended not super expensive AI is the Scarlett Focusrite, which gives you also free access to a basic version fo DAW software Ableton.

Probably Jerry Jemmott in Albert King's My Feelings For The Blues

18 minutes ago, Cato said:

I've seen a few people doing that 2 handed 'piano' stlye tapping on extended range 'basses' over the years.

 

Charles is certainly one of the best I've seen, it's undeniably impressive and it works very well as entertainment in the short video format he excels at.

 

Would I choose to listen to an albums worth of it?

 

Probably not.

Well, that' the typical objection. Subjectively, fair enough. Question though: would you chose to listen to this album?

Or is there many recordings of one instrument alone (piano, cello, whatever) that you tend to listen to?

I see what you mean. A lot of tapping stuff (including a lot Berthoud's stuff) is just showing off and entertainment.

This, IMO, is different. It is a musician pouring his soul on a classic song. I don't see it as short-term entertainment - unlike many bands that apparently are shortlisted this year for the R'N'R hall of fame.

Right, so that's absolutely magnificent

Admittedly, I spend a lot of time lately listening to solo fingerstyle guitar recordings so I may be more open to this than many bass player.

This is all magnificent but what stands out is how expressive his tapping is. I believe he is on another level compared to all the other youtube show-offs I am aware of. Not because of his chops, but because even at the frantic pace he has to publish videos in his line of business, he still often makes some great music.

The objection to youtubers is often that their chops won't account for much in a band context. Well I'd rather take this than the mediocre stuff that 99% of bands record.

24 minutes ago, zbd1960 said:

 but it's missing the third so you can't tell if it's major or minor. 

You're right actually. That could also be a minor chord in a melodic minor scale

Yes same, except in the first two the third is played only once. In the last one, however, there is no alteration now. If D is root, A is 5th and C# is major 7th. So it would be a Major 7 with the 3rd omitted.

A couple of side notes: these could likely be seen as inversions of something else, depending on context, but I am not good enough to figure those out. Also, in the first two chords what might have been confusing was that the 5th was missing. But that's pretty common on bass as you don't want to play too many notes as it gets muddy and you focus most on the nores that best define the chords. So mostly you play the 5th only when it is a diminish fifth, else it is implied.

Indeed, those 4-string chords played down the neck would easily sound muddy already on most basses with typical eq IMO

...the third one is a tricky one as C# and D are a minor second so I'd see that as an alteration of a C chord (as G# is the fifth could be maj or min). I think you'd spell it as C# flat 9 or something like that

First two I'd say A major 7 and A major

I don't understand how that sliding harmonic thing works!

9 hours ago, itu said:

I do not have short scale basses, but what is this question of cutting strings? I cut strings every time I attach them to any of my basses (33.8" - 36"). I only use D'Addario or GHS SSRW.

For 30" scale I had to cut the E all the way to the thick part. I was getting a rattle which incredibly seemed to come from the string itself. I am not 100% sure but I did some reading and it seems it is a possibility when strings are cut too short. The rattle is gone with the new strings

Hi all,

Has anybody tried multiple sets of 45-105 rounds for short scale?

I had cut some D'Addario nickels long scale 45-105 to fit my short scale bass. I really loved the sound but they were giving me issues so I decided to buy proper short scale strings. I have replaced them with Newtone shorties 44-100. While I totally get what they are trying to achieve with these strings, that's not what I am looking for and I miss the big short-scale thump I was getting with the D'Addarios

I see there are not a lot of options available for 45-150. Just Dunlop performance+, EB slinkies, and then I could just get some standard Newtone (I was thinking platinum nickel or diamond nickel).

Who knows these and would reccommend for a thumpy (but still more growly than flats') sound, and hopefully some durability?

Thanks

When I was around 18, alongsde my main band I decided to put together a hard rock/glam band with two dear friends. It was 100% to have fun with friends and we were not planning to become an amazing band. We needed a singer though and we put an advert out. A guy calls me, very confident, he says he sings pretty much like early days Bach (the Skid Row guy, at the time possibly my favourite singer). Oh god.. I was just hoping to get somebody with a decent voice who's not tone deaf.. maybe with this guy we we could start thinking a bit bigger?

He comes to reharsal, we start with Youth Gone Wild, there's a pretty iconic scream from Bach there just at the beginning. The singer stops headbanging for the scream...

...well, I had to immediately turn my back to him. I could not stop laughing. I spent the full hour (yes, an hour and he had learnt all the songs unfortunately) looking at my drummer and trying not to laugh.

Poor guy, it wasn't the bad singing per se. It's the fact that he had no clue he wasn't great