riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I'm thinking about selling my Custom Shop 1964 relic precision bass, for a 1970s fender mustang bass. My reasoning behind it is that I'm mostly a guitar player, so I'm expecting it to be easier to play with decent tone. Any experience with both basses or opnions are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Is it just the short scale thing that you like about the Mustang? If so there are quite a lot of short scale basses in production these days, you !ay find something you like better than the Mustang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 I really like the tone , look and feel of fender basses in general, yes. In particular something growly like the precision. But I'm open to hearing about other options, but in short, no it's not just the short scale. I do prefer fender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Is there anything about the Precision you find difficult? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 The scale length, my hands are not small. But still I struggle quite a bit, especially if I play standing. It's quite a stretch, which sometimes ends with pain on the inside of my wrist joint, near the thumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 As a general rule, short scale basses tend to be more "thuddy" than long scale. If you like that (and I do) then that's great, but I've never yet owned a shortscale bass that actually sounded like a Precision. Certainly you'll need to put some effort into making a Mustang "growl". Could be your string choice, could be a smallish (say 15W) valve amp, could even be a pedal. Given that Mustangs are not exactly cheap, I suggest that you either try before you buy or buy a really cheap shortscale to try out first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjames Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 [quote name='riscado' timestamp='1481638375' post='3193918'] The scale length, my hands are not small. But still I struggle quite a bit, especially if I play standing. It's quite a stretch, which sometimes ends with pain on the inside of my wrist joint, near the thumb. [/quote] *Possible simple solution* How long is your strap? If the bass is significantly lower standing than when you are sitting, your strap's too long. It's fine on guitar if you play with your thumb over the top of the neck but on a bass, not so much. Also, how much do you practise? If you never play bass except on gigs, it's gonna be somewhat of a struggle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1481639564' post='3193927'] As a general rule, short scale basses tend to be more "thuddy" than long scale. If you like that (and I do) then that's great, but I've never yet owned a shortscale bass that actually sounded like a Precision. Certainly you'll need to put some effort into making a Mustang "growl". Could be your string choice, could be a smallish (say 15W) valve amp, could even be a pedal. Given that Mustangs are not exactly cheap, I suggest that you either try before you buy or buy a really cheap shortscale to try out first. [/quote] I definitely agree with you, in regards to trying it first. I'm going to try to find one in London, maybe even the new offset series with the PJ configuration. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the shorter scale basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 [quote name='Jazzjames' timestamp='1481639944' post='3193932'] *Possible simple solution* How long is your strap? If the bass is significantly lower standing than when you are sitting, your strap's too long. It's fine on guitar if you play with your thumb over the top of the neck but on a bass, not so much. Also, how much do you practise? If you never play bass except on gigs, it's gonna be somewhat of a struggle... [/quote] Hi James, I wear the strap and higher then waist position. I like to be comfortable when I play, don't care so much about how cool it looks. You're absolutely spot on, when it comes to playing time. I'm a guitarist mainly, so the time dedicated to bass is substantially shorter. I've been playing for a while though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 The best thing you can do for yourself when learning to play bass is avoid one-finger-per-string at the lower end of the bass. Have a look at Simandl fingering for double bass and adopt that to electric bass. I'm a guitarist and play Fender-scale basses as well as Dingwalls (32-35"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I'll take the P off your hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 [quote name='therealting' timestamp='1481641212' post='3193942'] The best thing you can do for yourself when learning to play bass is avoid one-finger-per-string at the lower end of the bass. Have a look at Simandl fingering for double bass and adopt that to electric bass. I'm a guitarist and play Fender-scale basses as well as Dingwalls (32-35"). [/quote] Cool, yeah I'm sure I'm also doing something wrong technique wise, will have a look into that. Thanks [quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1481644991' post='3193985'] I'll take the P off your hands [/quote] Quite happy to talk about that as long as you pay for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 [quote name='riscado' timestamp='1481647503' post='3194022'] Cool, yeah I'm sure I'm also doing something wrong technique wise, will have a look into that. Thanks Quite happy to talk about that as long as you pay for it [/quote] Damn, you saw through my plan. Back to the drawing board... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 I've had a selection of Precisions and a few short scale Fenders - A 70s Fender Musicmaster, a Squier Vista Series Musicmaster and a Squier VM Mustang. None of the s/s Fenders sounded like Precisions, they sounded like their own thing. For example the Musicmaster I had modded with a Precision Wizard Thumper pickup in it - it ended up sounding like a Mustang, not a Precision. However, I would say that all three of them were pretty aggressive in tone in a way that the Precisions aren't. Here is some early Average White Band with, unusually, Hamish on bass using a Mustang - this is what they sound like, even the Squiers. http://youtu.be/bSq93Hsn0Bg For my money the Squier VM Mustang was the nicest instrument out of the three to play - it was the lightest and had the slimmest neck - and had the best tone. It was also the cheapest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riscado Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 (edited) Yeah, I can tell it sounds honkier than precisions. That might not be a bad thing, but I do like the precision sound a bit more. I'm going to try and find a mustang with the old configuration (not the new ones) to test it out. If it's not my thing, just going to adapt to the precision, because it is a confortable bass with the sound I like. Just need to adapt to playing longer time and standing. thanks guys Edited December 14, 2016 by riscado Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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