The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[ped]

1 minute ago, Obrienp said:

At first I thought the pickups were aligned “by eye”, rather than measurement but then I thought, was it to make the pole pieces more centred on the strings, given the narrow string spacing of the standard bridge?

 

I shouldn't think so (many early mods to cheaper basses like this are fairly poorly executed) - in any case it makes little difference if the strings are centred between the poles. Sometimes it can be because of pick guard shrinkage which pulls the pickup in one direction. For a fretless mod I'd probably put it near the bridge pickup and fill the gap with a ramp.

[Chienmortbb]

On 13/02/2025 at 18:24, MoonBassAlpha said:

That's really flippin' odd! 

Suits Wyman then.

[Obrienp]

43 minutes ago, ped said:

 

I shouldn't think so (many early mods to cheaper basses like this are fairly poorly executed) - in any case it makes little difference if the strings are centred between the poles. Sometimes it can be because of pick guard shrinkage which pulls the pickup in one direction. For a fretless mod I'd probably put it near the bridge pickup and fill the gap with a ramp.

I think I would start with one of the new Squier Broncos as the modding platform though. It seems a shame to be doing this to a genuine old Musicmaster but then, in the 70s and 80s it was probably cheap and unloved. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Obrienp

[ped]

Just now, Obrienp said:

I think I would start with one of the new Squier Mustangs as the modding platform though. It seems a shame to be doing this to a genuine old Musicmaster but then, in the 70s and 80s it was probably cheap and unloved. 

 

The way I see it, it's already been modified so why not keep going and improve it? That's what I did with my 66 mustang which turned out to be one of the best bass decisions I ever made!

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Obrienp said:

I think I would start with one of the new Squier Broncos as the modding platform though. It seems a shame to be doing this to a genuine old Musicmaster but then, in the 70s and 80s it was probably cheap and unloved. 

 

The musicmaster wasn't touched by most people. I remember seeing one in the shop in the late 70s, and it was basically the kids budget bass. Modifying basses was also very common back then, you just had one, you modified it how you wanted, there wasn't the fear of modding that there is now.

Sure couldn't pay over a grand for a musicmaster!

[bassist_lewis]

On 25/07/2025 at 11:28, fretmeister said:

Slightly changing the subject...

 

Is there a good 51 style shorty P bass? I seem to be watching a lot of ZZ Top vids and Dusty's various 51s look and sound excellent so I'm quite tempted.

Viv Wilcock makes a short scale with a 51P pickup. I believe he calls it the 51-P!

[ezbass]

1 minute ago, bassist_lewis said:

Viv Wilcock makes a short scale with a 51P pickup. I believe he calls it the 51-P!

And there’s one for sale on BC right now…

 

 

[Aidan63]

if you wanted non standard string spacing Jazz pickups it wouldn't be that expensive to have them made, and you could use closed covers to mask the fact - or in this case use them to prevent ocd triggering