The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[DanDoesBass]

Hey everyone!
 

I’ve followed Bass Chat for a number of years but only just joined the community properly. My name’s Dan, and I’ve been playing bass for around 20 years.

I’m lucky enough to work in the music industry through my own music studio and events company, and I also play in a few different bands. Earlier this year, I was fortunate to join the artist rosters for both Blackstar and Alpher Instruments, which has been a real highlight for me.
 

Over the years I’ve owned more basses than I can count, but lately I’ve found myself gravitating more and more toward short scales. My JMJ Mustang has actually stuck with me longer than most others, which says a lot! I’m a huge advocate for short scales—not just for their mojo and unique vibe, but also for how playable they are.

One thing worth mentioning is that I developed a tendon issue in my right hand about 3–4 years ago (likely from overplaying). Because of that, longer-scale instruments aren’t always an option for me, but the lower tension of short scales means I can still play comfortably for much longer.
 

So, I’m partly here to say hi, and partly to share my appreciation for short scales. Really looking forward to being part of the conversation!

Edited Tuesday at 08:59 by DanDoesBass

[Lozz196]

Welcome Dan, sounds like you`ve had a very interesting career in music, I`m in agreement, short-scale basses do make life so much easier, not just with the weight but the overall playability due to the scale length and string tension. 

[scrumpymike]

Hi Dan, when I started playing back in the '60s my first bass was a s-s Watkins Rapier that I bought without even knowing that different scale lengths were available. When I found out, I made the conscious decision to play Gibson basses and have been playing s-s basses ever since. Compared to those early days I'm thankfully spoiled for choice now with so many top-drawer s-s basses and string options out there.

 

Welcome to the best topic on the Basschat forum - for me anyway 🙂 

[msb]

Welcome , my first shortscale was a Longhorn , one of the first reissues in the late 90’s. And at first I really did not care for the shorter scale. Somehow the more I played it , the more I liked it. And for many years was my primary bass. My number 1 today is a medium scale. I prefer the shorter scale , but it’s a lovely bass.

[DanDoesBass]

Newest short scale to my collection 😍

[scrumpymike]

I had an Atelier Z for a while, very nice basses.

[DanDoesBass]

Yeah I am super happy with it @scrumpymike ✌️

[Baloney Balderdash]

Just got the ESP/LTD B4JR bass in the door that I bought used Friday yesterday.

It's a just 28.5" scale length short scale, with a Basswood body, and a Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard.

And after a thorough setup, and having the stock pickups, which honestly sounded decent enough, for an EMG Geezer P pickup, it sounds non less than amazing.

Really nice tone, both finger plucked and using a pick, and the sustain is pretty substantial too.

Even the low E sounds great, despite the short scale length.

It's also very light, the body being made of Basswood, which does make it prone to neck dive, but nothing a wide grapy strap can't solve.

Now the bad things, when I got it it had one of the most horrible setups I ever saw, and with loose input jack socket, that was easily fixed though, however the nut slots are cut way too high, and it got some pretty sharp fret ends, that you can literally cut your hand on if you are not careful, and will probably have fixed that too at some point by a proper luthier.

The thin U shaped neck will also take some getting used to, it is not exactly beefy, but it kind of feels that way, because the neck profile is so round.

The frets are not perfectly leveled leveled, but still well enough that I can get it to my preferred string action (about 2mm (~5/64") low E string at 12th fret) without any issues or string buzz whatsoever.

Truss rod works as it is supposed to, and neck seems stable.

Tuners are not the best, but they work just fine.

Here it is (excuse me for my old crappy digital camera):

 

I got it for what equals about 30£, a deal I could simply not pass.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Baloney Balderdash

[Count Bassie]

31 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Just got the ESP/LTD B4JR bass in the door that I bought used Friday yesterday.

It's a just 28.5" scale length short scale, with a Basswood body, and a Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard.

And after a thorough setup, and having the stock pickups, which honestly sounded decent enough, for an EMG Geezer P pickup, it sounds non less than amazing.

Really nice tone, both finger plucked and using a pick, and the sustain is pretty substantial too.

Even the low E sounds great, despite the short scale length.

It's also very light, the body being made of Basswood, which does make it prone to neck dive, but nothing a wide grapy strap can't solve.

Now the bad things, when I got it it had one of the most horrible setups I ever saw, and with loose input jack socket, that was easily fixed though, however the nut slots are cut way too high, and it got some pretty sharp fret ends, that you can literally cut your hand on if you are not careful, and will probably have fixed that too at some point by a proper luthier.

The thin U shaped neck will also take some getting used to, it is not exactly beefy, but it kind of feels that way, because the neck profile is so round.

The frets are not perfectly leveled leveled, but still well enough that I can get it to my preferred string action (about 2mm (~5/64") low E string at 12th fret) without any issues or string buzz whatsoever.

Truss rod works as it is supposed to, and neck seems stable.

Tuners are not the best, but they work just fine.

Here it is (excuse me for my old crappy digital camera):

 

I got it for what equals about 30£, a deal I could simply not pass.

 

That's a little booger! Cool that it's nicely proportioned though. Get those fret sprouts filed though... Not cool to bleed all over the carpet! 😁