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Scale lenght


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Short, 30".  I am a little guy with small hands so it makes the first 5 frets much easier. String tension is reduced when using the same gauge strings and short scale basses are often lighter so its a win win situation for me. Tone wise I have never noticed any difference between long and short scale basses, others may argue that point.

Edited by mikel
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34" because that's what the manufacturer deemed to be best, mainly.

I have had a 36" Jazz Bass (Bacchus) before, felt fine, doubt I' have noticed if it didn't say.

I also have a 17" bass which is just tons of fun.

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17 minutes ago, thepurpleblob said:

Don't know.  Not shot scale.   I genuinely have no idea what the scale length of my three basses are. I've never thought about it. Am I mad?

No, as the vast majority of basses are 34" scale 😀

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1 hour ago, ped said:

34" because that's what the manufacturer deemed to be best, mainly.

 

This. I am in discussions with a fine luthier to have a custom bass built soon which will have a 33.25" scale, but that's because it will be 'paying homage' to a very particular instrument...

I do own a couple of 30" basses, which are glorious, but are the exception to the norm for me.

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I have a 23.5" scale Taylor Mini-e bass that changed the way I think about basses forever. I went from struggling to play (small hands, smaller talent) 34" scale basses straight down to the little Taylor and found myself able to do so much more on it than I thought myself capable of, the realisation set in that I'd not been playing longer basses for thirty years but I'd been fighting them. Now I don't play anything over 30" scale.

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No short scales for me, though many moons ago, i owned a Yamaha Motion B MB2 (  the best IMO of the Motion basses ) which i think was 32 " Was a fab bass too

I've also owned a couple 35" scale basses, namely a Yamaha TRB ll  and a De Armond Pilot Deluxe and when using the same tension strings as those on a 34", the longer scale 35's  tend to give a bit more ' piano '  tone, if yoo knaw wot i min

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34"

I sometimes think I'd like a go on a longer scale but it remains a notion of fancy.  I don't want to change scale as I have a better choice of strings at 34".

Although 34" scale, both of my headless basses require double ball end strings.  It's sometimes hard to get the ones I want in DBE though.  I wouldn't want to add another layer of complication by going extended scale on my conventional bodied stuff.

I find that five stringers are a mixed bag when it comes to the low B.  Some B strings feel quite different to the E A D and G.  My Steiny for example took a bit of getting used to as I'd tend to push the string over the fret ends until I refined my fretting.  I managed to get a set of SS flatwounds for it off a fellow BC member and it improved the feel of the low B against the frets.  My Ibby on the other hand feels consistent across all five strings.

Some say the answer is to go to a longer scale.  I couldn't say because I've never had the pleasure of trying one long term.  I'm none too bothered.  You can't miss what you've never had.

Piano tone can be achieved on standard scale basses by using superwound strings.  These aren't as common as in the eighties but I'd recommend you try them if you like a lively zing and that well defined tone characteristic of piano strings.

606SuperwoundStrings.png.30744eecb8c9693e4aecf516f77e9e7c.png

The key is in the detail below.  Only the core of the string sits on the saddle.  The string windings start on the neck side of the saddle where they don't add stiffness at the bridge contact points.

SuperwoundStrings.png.b72ae89d4f3e2495969b9f7324c4b508.png

 

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34 at the moment. I did have a 35 inch Skyline 55-01, but realised it was about more than scale length when I got my first Maruszcyck. The Lakland went when the 2nd Maruszcyck came.

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I have three 34” 4 strings, a 35” 5 string, a 33” 6 string on the way (have had a few 33ers before) , and am looking out for a shortscale (30”).

They’re all great for different things, no bother swapping between them all.

Si

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34" all the way for me, but I've very very keen to get my hands on a 30" Fender Mustang at some point (the old style, not the PJ version) as the shorter scale and lighter weight really appeals to me. 

The various things on YouTube dont really give me clear idea whether a 30" has the same amount of thump as a 34" tho. 

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