All thumbs

Many thanks! Yeah - it comes across favourably! :-). Incredible how the price has increased since 2010 though!!! :-O

Hi! I'm buying me a double bass and am getting snow blind very quickly. I like the look of this - http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Archer-3-4-Size-Professional-Double-Bass-by-Gear4music/8UV Here's a video of the same bass... https://youtu.be/GChtRjv9-fM It sounds great to my ears. The action looks way higher than I'd like, so I'd be removing some material from that bridge. Anyone got any thoughts on the pros and cons of this bass? Thanks in advance...

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1501189370' post='3343282'] What you need is a Bass Bar towel.. [/quote] Fabulous! I should advertise and sell these at the end of the vid lol!! :-D

Here's another 'un for you. Might sound crazy, but it really can help... :-) [media]http://youtu.be/mhkI8exB-Oc[/media]

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1485414440' post='3223720'] [color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]What is the best way to get an even attack and tone from playing rapid consecutive notes.[/font][/color] [color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I only play with my fingers and for most things my right hand technique uses the side of my fingertips of my index and middle fingers similar to Stanley Clarke rather than the tips which I see most bass players doing. This means effectively I have my fingers brushing the strings rather than plucking in towards the bass. I find this gives me a warmer tone and for faster passages there is an even tone between notes. However some tracks I play require a more pronounced attack such as Sweet Tooth by Victor Bailey and What is hip? But to get the right tone for that I have to play with the tips of my fingers having my palm facing the bass which means my fingers are basically 90 degrees to the strings and because my index and middle fingers are different lengths I find that I have problems with getting an even note tone between alternating fingers. Any advice to offer for getting this technique better. [/font][/color] [color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Cheers[/font][/color] [/quote] My advice would be to start playing VERY SLOWLY and with a metronome/drum machine/app (even though you can probably play fast already). At this very slow speed you can listen to the difference in timbre between the two fingers as they alternate. Make micro adjustments until the tone and volume is as equal as you can get it. Because you're working so slowly at this point (40 bpm say/4 in a bar) you'll have bags of time to really think about, and look at what's happening. Once you feel you're 'there' increase tempo by say 10-15 bpm (keep it fairly random). Then do the same at this new speed. Repeat until you max out. Do this every day for a week and I guarantee you'll see positive results! :-) Hope that helps... Scott.

[quote name='Mcgiver69' timestamp='1500650998' post='3339406'] Nice that's a proper shed!! Lovely playing [/quote] Haha - proper shed indeed!! :-D Many thanks :-)

This video I short for fun when the sun was out the other week has been getting lot more love than I expected on YouTube so I though I'd share it on here. Slap-haters look away now! :-P [media]http://youtu.be/WPRHOREILgw[/media]

Hi people of basschat - it's been a while... I'm just getting back into providing free bass lessons on YouTube so though I'd share this one to begin with. It's an interesting concept (I've not heard anyone mention this idea before) so hopefully it'll help some of you clean up your technique a little - works for me! :-) Scott. [media]http://youtu.be/t11u8kPqclM[/media]

Just thought I'd mention the rest of the run arrived last week and there are actually a handful of mahogany fretted and fretless available for immediate (ish as I have 34 basses to ship out lol) dispatch. Here's the link - http://www.shortscalebass.co.uk/product/swb-1-standard-mahogany/ Use the basschat code - [b]bc5xyz[/b]

They're all here at Short Scale Bass HQ safe and sound...

Hi all. Thanks for Stephen helping explain the situation here. My apologies go out to anyone waiting for their bass!! I'm humble enough to admit I'm still learning here, and if I had delays in future I would be much more immediate in my approach to keeping everyone informed. I should point out that I'm first and foremost a professional bassist and the transition into 'bass manufacturer' was almost by accident. I received hundreds of enquiries about the SWB-1 I designed and had hand-built after being seen/heard in my YouTube videos. As the £2,200 price tag for a hand-built bass is beyond the reach of most (especially students etc) I approached countless guitar brands including Richwood, Dean, Vintage, Farida, Carvin to name but a few with my design and demo video/photos to see if they'd consider building a budget version of it. At this point I honestly would have given them the design for free just to be able to point people to a place they could buy their own SWB-1 at a price they could afford. After 2 years of getting no-where with these companies, most simply not even returning my emails, the rest saying a short-scale bass like this was too 'niche', I finally gave up, even though I was still receiving emails daily about the bass. All I could do was apologise and explain no-one would build the bass. Frustrating to say the least. Then one day, almost out of nowhere as I was looking at the CHB-1 bass I'd purchased from Stephen Chown a few months previously, the thought, "I wonder if I could do that" popped into my head. I immediately emailed Stephen and after an hour long phone call with him, I decided I just might be able to. Fast-forward nearly 18 months and 70+ SWB-1 Standards have sold all over the world, and the 2nd production run is here tomorrow. I still pinch myself daily as it seems unreal that what I'd given up on, is in fact now a reality and folks are actually out there playing my little bass!! Has it been easy? - No (not one bit lol)! Have I made any money? Not yet! BUT the fact that people are thanking me from around the Globe for, "building their dream bass" counts for a hell of a lot, and now I've proved there IS a market for a professional, modern-sounding, affordable short-scale bass, I'm sure the above will turn round soon enough. :-) Sorry if the above went a little deep :-o and I guess it doesn't really have a whole lot to do with the questions raised lol. But I do think it's important people know who they're dealing with and that my motives are genuinely to do a little good for the bass community. I've learned a TON from these first two production runs - a real 'baptism if fire'. I'm striving to provide the best customer service I can, and will certainly continue to learn and improve from customer feedback and suggestions. Cheers, Scott.

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1452000752' post='2945341'] Thanks, in that case I may try a long scale 40-100 set instead and cut them down, hopefully they will not be too high tension, the long scale version is notorious for high tension but hopefully the short scale should combat this a little. The other option would be to buy the heavy gauge set, discard the e and order a separate .40 gauge flat [/quote] You could do that (I've done it many times), but, there is a risk of damaging the string as the wound part ends up going round the tuning post. :-( No guarantees, but I've not had any issues doing it yet. :-)

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1451993832' post='2945248'] Hi All Am considering a set of these, I have avoided the long scale set for a while due to the high tension but the gauges on these are lighter (90-75-50-40) , was just wondering if anyone has used the short scale set and if so how is the tension on these? how does the tension compare to other flatwounds? also how is the tone? Roto flats are on some of my favourite albums (Pink floyd, Thin lizzy) so would like to give these a try if the tension is not too high, for reference my currennt string are labella 760fl short scale flats [/quote] Hi! They are pretty low tension I would say, I've used them a lot (mainly due to them being the only short-scale flats my local shop stocks) and have them on my Chowny CHB-1. I'm not personally a huge fan of Rotosound's short scale strings, although I like their long scale ones. The reason is that they produce their short-scale strings in thin gauges (40-90) but try to pull the tension up a little by using huge central core wires. This leaves them sounding very overtone-y (not in a good way). They also rise in pitch very easily if you play them even slightly too hard. I have to tune my e-string pretty flat to compensate for it! Having said all that, some people like the 'dirty' or 'earthy' quality of them. Here's a video of the Chowny with Rotosounds on - https://youtu.be/vjlip2IpbcI

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1451136803' post='2938481'] Hey Scott, I saw the demo vid you did of your DC with Di Marzio Model 1 neck pick-up / EMG BTC control mods - very nice!! I'll probably do the same when I get round to it. These are really nice basses, although a mint example hung around on this forum for ages at £450 before selling recently. [/quote] I did find the mods useful. :-) I got mine for a great price I remember - my guess is that Pelham Blue is a 'Marmite' colour...

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1450964727' post='2937436'] So far, the best bass I've found for offering the short-scale benefits without any of the perceived look/sound/feel disadvantages is my Fender Rascal. The icing on the cake is unusual styling and pup/switching configuration - I really like both. [url="http://[URL=http://s1149.photobucket.com/user/scrumpymike/media/007_zpsapwoedu4.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/scrumpymike/007_zpsapwoedu4.jpg[/IMG][/URL]"]http://[URL=http://s1149.photobucket.com/user/scrumpymike/media/007_zpsapwoedu4.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/scrumpymike/007_zpsapwoedu4.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/url] Just a bit heavy for me though at 9 1/2lbs. Looking forward to getting the SWB-1 I've ordered from Scott in the New Year [/quote] Love the Gibson DC Pelham blue you have there too! I owned one of those - very cool!

I have to agree these are superb basses! Tried one in PMT Manchester. The two outer pickups setting is a killer. :-)

Good afternoon people of basschat, and Season's greetings! Anyone who knows me will know I'm something of a short-scale 'nut', but few really seem to grasp exactly why lol?! Well I just wrote an article for my Short Scale Bass website that covers this very topic. I'd previously have copied the link but as I recently seem to have almost accidentally become a bass 'manufacturer', it's probably not allowed. So for anyone interested, here's the meat of the text from the article without any links etc.. I hope it helps explain why short-scale does really make a lot of sense for many players... [b]A lot of people ask me why I'm so dedicated to this whole short-scale thing, so let’s start be looking at the most obvious advantages…[/b][list] [*]Lightweight (less back fatigue) [*]Faster & easier to play [*]Smaller (easier to transport) [*]Shorter (less stretching meaning less shoulder strain) [/list] [b]Lightweight[/b] Due to everything being scaled down on a short-scale bass, this usually translates to lighter too. Any bassist who plays long 90-120 minute sets will know the strain wearing a heavy bass can put on your back and shoulders. I often have developed cramping in my lower back after standing for long periods with a bass which is no fun at all!! Most short scale basses will allow you to stand for longer without any huge sense of back fatigue. [b]Faster & easier to play[/b] My first encounter with short-scale was when I picked up a Danelectro Long Horn bass in Forsythe’s Music, Manchester back in about 1993. The first two things that hit me were a) how unbelievably comfortable and easy 1-finger-per-fret playing was, even right down the bottom of the neck and how awesomely pure and bell-like the tone was coming from the bass acoustically. At that moment I KNEW short-scale made 100% sense, all I needed to do was find a short scale bass in production that fitted the bill in terms of pickups, electronics, number of frets, balance, looks etc – that, as it turned out, was a different story… [b]Smaller[/b] As I said above, short-scales are generally smaller basses and as such will often fit into guitar gig bags and cases. This means they’ll fit in the boot of most small cars etc., and are a doddle to carry about on your shoulders in a gig bag. [b]Shorter[/b] The bass being generally shorter means everything is much more within reach. Having to stretch your fretting hand out to reach the 1st fret on a long-scale bass can really leave your arm and shoulder aching, particularly if you’re playing a part that hangs around that area of the neck for some time! With a short scale, everything is just that bit quicker and easier to get to. Coupled with the lighter weight of a shorty, it’s a compounded ‘win-win’ combination! [b]Are there any disadvantages to playing short-scale?[/b] Generally no, but there are some pitfalls to avoid!! You have to be much more careful about which strings you use on short-scale basses, bad strings sound REALLY BAD! The good news is there are lots of excellent options that make your shorty sound in no way inferior to long-scale basses. Cases can be a little awkward to source, but after a lot of digging around on the web you'll find there are some great options that are easy to obtain. A lot of the off-the-peg short-scales are a little quirky or vintage-sounding; or they have fewer frets than a long-scale. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, and they should be embraced for what they are. But if you want to get the same pure tones you’re getting from your current long-scale bass in a short-scale format without spending a small fortune, it gets a little trickier. This is why I designed my own bass. BUT there are options, and the best affordable (and available), versatile shorties imho include the Squire Jaguar SS, the Hagstrom HB-4, The Dean EVO, Chowny's CHB-1, as well as the SX stuff from the States. I hope this article is a bit of an insight into the whole Short Scale thing. Please PM me if you think I could help you with any other SS questions.. :-)

Here's a quick bass play-along video I just made of Big Country's 'Flame of the West'. [media]http://youtu.be/Ygk6amjgjoU[/media]

Here's a beautiful tune I had the honour of playing bass on earlier this year at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool. Her vocal is outstanding, and producer/drummer Justin Johnson has excelled himself. Also features Scott Poley & Roo Walker on guitars, Davy Adams on pedal steel and Richard Chance on keys. Engineered by Chris Taylor. I used my passive SWB-1 Standard on this one, really chuffed with how it sits. [url="https://youtu.be/7WVFDHtzKXw"][media]http://youtu.be/7WVFDHtzKXw[/media][/url]

Here's a beautiful tune I had the honour of playing bass on earlier this year at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool. Her vocal is outstanding, and producer/drummer Justin Johnson has excelled himself. Also features Scott Poley & Roo Walker on guitars, Davy Adams on pedal steel and Richard Chance on keys. Engineered by Chris Taylor. I used my passive SWB-1 Standard on this one, really chuffed with how it sits. [url="https://youtu.be/7WVFDHtzKXw"][media]http://youtu.be/7WVFDHtzKXw[/media][/url]