The 35" Scale

[parkeriana]

I think I heard that Roger Sadowsky has a strong opinion about 35" scales - he's agin them.

[ead]

Is there any place for the physics of standing waves here

[Al Heeley]

<---Warmoth Gecko in my avatar pic, all models afaik, are 35".

[ejor31]

Hi- IMHO you need a 35" scale to counterract a muddy B-string. I have a Lakland US 55-94 dlx (35" scale)5-string and the low B is quite clear.-the Lakland site's product description does NOT exaggerate! It's a very versatile bass that makes a damn good stab at P- & J-Bass sounds but has its own voice. Ditto for the Skyline-series 5; a shorter scale would have a detrimental effect on that low string. Recommended bass-and built like a tank, really bulletproof.

[JPJ]

My two-penneth is that when playing a 34" B string, I feel a 'lag' between the pluck and the note developing its full bloom. On my 35" I don't feel this. This might sound daft but I spend a lot of time listening to my bass through headphones and I can definately hear this lag

[chuck_stones]

I've been searching for the perfect 5 string for years now and I'm still yet to find it, but having played Yamaha's, Ibanez, Fenders, Spector and various others, I have to say that the only one which had a 35" scale was the Spector, and that clearly had the best clarity to the tone on the B string. It was nice having a B which sounded punchy and tight, instead of loose and flappy like that of the 34" basses.

I think when it comes to a tight and punchy B string, the longer the scale, the better

[chuck_stones]

[quote name='Dingwaller' post='733706' date='Feb 3 2010, 07:30 AM']Dingwall basses have 37 inch B-strings[/quote]

Wow dude!! Those basses are real beauties! What's it like playing on a Novax fanned-fret system? Does it make it easier to play on the bottom registers or something?

[JPJ]

[quote name='JPJ' post='951814' date='Sep 10 2010, 01:51 PM']My two-penneth is that when playing a 34" B string, I feel a 'lag' between the pluck and the note developing its full bloom. On my 35" I don't feel this. This might sound daft but I spend a lot of time listening to my bass through headphones and I can definately hear this lag [/quote]

Er and now I've bought a MM Stingray V which is 34" and I dont hear a lag Ok so now I think the pickup plays a big part in this as well because:

Fender USA Jazz DLX V (34") = Lag
Home built P V (34") S Hamm'alike = No Lag on the P Pickup variants, Lag on the J pickups (P&J's are Barts)
Overwater J Series V (35") = No Lag
MM Stingray V = No lag, huge authoritative B

[chuck_stones]

This is a topic which I'm really interested in because simply from my own experience, I've found 34" B strings to be really undefined, flappy and generally lacking in tone (particularly 'punch'). In contrast, I've used several 35" scale basses and always found the B strings to be nice and tight, well defined and with a nice punchy tone, so I was completely sold on the 35" scale being superior and have been hunting for the perfect 35" scale 5 strings ever since, until that was, I saw this:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3r6GAqHu4E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3r6GAqHu4E[/url]

Despite the fact that the video sound was recorded on a poor quality mic, you can hear that the tone and tightness of the B string is fairly impeccable. Whether that is mostly down to the Delano pickups and Glockenklang preamp, I couldn't dare to say, but that is one awesome sounding 34" B string. I don't get why on some 34" basses, the B string is physically really loose, and some much tighter seeming?

So, my search continues....

[lazarethbass]

My old fretless 5-string 35" AV bass sounds great with DR strings black beauty. [url="http://www.avbasses.com/5pv.htm"]http://www.avbasses.com/5pv.htm[/url] Jaco inside :-)

AV bass makes 36" basses as well [url="http://www.avbasses.com/5BOSM36.html"]http://www.avbasses.com/5BOSM36.html[/url].

[Dingwaller]

[quote name='chuck_stones' post='984484' date='Oct 11 2010, 07:49 AM']Wow dude!! Those basses are real beauties! What's it like playing on a Novax fanned-fret system? Does it make it easier to play on the bottom registers or something?[/quote]

It takes almost no time at all to become accustomed to the fanned frets. Some people say it's more "ergonomic" because the slant of the frets always matches the angle of your fingers – whether up high or down low. That's especially true with Dingwalls because they are designed to have almost parallel frets around the 7th fret where a lot of playing is done.

But the main reason for the fanned frets goes to the topic of this thread. Dingwalls are multi-scale instruments. The low B is 37 inches long while the higher strings are progressively shorter. The G string is 34 inches and the C on a 6-string bass is about 33 inches. The idea is to create even tone and tension across all the strings. (Think of a piano or a harp.)

Multiple scale lengths mean that the long low strings don't need to be really loose or really thick to be in tune while the high strings don't need to be too thin or too tight to reach their proper pitch.

In addition to the design, Dingwall basses are really well-made.

I discovered Dingwalls about 6 years ago, right after I bought my first 5-string bass, which was a 34-inch Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass. The B-string was very floppy. It sounded completely different from the rest of the strings. It set me off to learn more about what makes a good B-string. Eventually I made the Fender's B-string tolerable with a good set-up and trying different strings. I found that a tapered B-string with an exposed core helped. But by that time, I was a total Dingwall convert. I also have 4-string Dingwall Super J.

[bassist_lewis]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1237285394' post='436976']
I own several 5 strings in 34, 35 and 36" scale and to me the 35" ones sound the least convincing. Admittedly the longer and shorter basses were far more expensive, but it confirms for me that the overall quality of the bass is more important than simply the speaking length of the strings.
[/quote]

I emailed alan at ACGuitars about a short scale 6 and he said that the scale isn't as important as how the instrument is built and what its built from. In my experience I find 35" too big for my hands, i know little guys that use it all the time but its just not for me. i also find that the B is tinnier and clunkier (not always, my ibanez BTB6 had an amazing low

[steve-bbb]

after having two trb's i would deffo say there is a difference in tone with the 35 although my current trb is one of the bolt on necks and whilst the open e and a are quite nice they are not as clear as on the original series trb5/trb6 - if you get hold of trb5/trb6 with the through neck you will definitely hear the improved clarity of the low b and it is playable too and not at all a bit flubby like some low b's