neepheid Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 25 minutes ago, Dan Dare said: Ignore the "real men play 34" scale" talk What "real men play 34" scale" talk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 3 minutes ago, neepheid said: What "real men play 34" scale" talk? See above - exercise your fretting hand, don't give up, you'll be better for it in the long run, etc, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Just now, Dan Dare said: See above - exercise your fretting hand, don't give up, you'll be better for it in the long run, etc, etc. Sorry, I'm not getting it. Besides, "real" men play 35" scale, everyone knows that, instead of us fake men who simper around with our puny 34" scale basses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Have a good think as to why you are struggling. Pooptube and the like have plenty of videos of young lasses playing mid scale basses or even 34" Fenders without issue. Is it physiology? Is it technique? Is it something else? Identify the issue before thinking about trying to fix it. A scattergun approach probably won't be helpful. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 2 hours ago, SamIAm said: I'm not petite (But sadly I'm not young!), I find short scale more comfortable; weight and no cramping in my fretting hand. Sam x Larger people can have small hands too, or reduced stretch 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asingardenof Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 22 minutes ago, Geek99 said: Larger people can have small hands too, or reduced stretch Yep, I'm 6'2" and I can't really do a frets 1-4 stretch because of my tiny hands. I make up for it by shifting a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Look at Donald trump 6’2” and he has the hand dimensions of a six month old baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) 1 hour ago, asingardenof said: Yep, I'm 6'2" and I can't really do a frets 1-4 stretch because of my tiny hands. I make up for it by shifting a lot. 7 minutes ago, Geek99 said: Look at Donald trump 6’2” and he has the hand dimensions of a six month old baby 😱 I would never had thought Asingardenof to actually be Donald Trump... What a reveal... Edited January 27 by Baloney Balderdash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I wasn’t suggesting it, merely agreeing with @SamIAm that people don’t scale attachments in line with their height. For all I know @asingardenof might have the handsize of a premature baby or maybe useful surrogate snow ploughs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorris Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 To a large extent the viability of a short scale depends on how hard you play and the degree of string slap/buzz you are willing to tolerate. Common wisdom actually dictates lower guages at shorter scales to give better harmonics but I've always found the greater tension of eg 45-105 strings to more than compensate for that. Maybe a comprise @ eg 32 inch ,? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornetPinata Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) Hello Shiggs. I've never tried a short scale so I can't give any advice on that, so, this may be a bit on the side but I thought body posture and how relaxed one is bodily (strange choice of word maybe) was worth a mention. My experience is it can make a big difference no matter what scale is being played. I don't know how experienced you are so I hope you are not offended by this in any way, I would have liked someone to point this out to me when I was starting. When I took up playing bass/guitar I struggled a bit unnecessarily because I wasn't aware of the fact my shoulder crept up, my back bowed sideways and my whole left arm was too tense. (As was the rest of me and I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath). I was only focusing on "pressing" down in the right place and found the fretting hand position very strange (I still don't think I do anything else in life where my left hand is in a "fretting position" (rubs chin). I think I'd have done that on a short scale too that's why I mention it. Being as relaxed as you can does help. I also find it easier to fret just behind the fret with is a hopeless sentence and may be a personal preference. (What I'm trying to say is if I play a B on the A string I fret quite close to the C, seems to take less effort). If you can, try both the 30" and the 34" and make sure the strap is nice and the basses are well positioned. Good luck and have fun! Edited January 28 by HornetPinata spelling etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 If you can manage a 34" (865mm in real money) bass, you'll have a wider selection of instruments to choose from - something which doesn't seem to have been addressed yet. I'm another smaller-handed person (or at least shorter-fingered) but have 34" or greater basses. See if you can get comfortable with a 34" neck and if you can't, go shorter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay2U Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Distances between frets will only be reduced by a factor 30/34. That's only 6 mm from the nut to the first fret. You probably might be better off with a thinner neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baloney Balderdash Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) 7 hours ago, Geek99 said: Larger people can have small hands too, or reduced stretch Stanley Clarke doesn't, he is a very tall man with huge hands, and a very skilled double bass player as well, yet he prefers to play short scale electric bass, and is even one of the absolutely legendary virtorioses at it too. I advise OP to try out both options and decide based on what feels best to them. Edited January 28 by Baloney Balderdash 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 22 hours ago, Shiggs said: Im in Stoke mate. Hi Shiggs, I am not that far from you, I live just outside of Lichfield. If you want to try you are welcome, Stoke or Lichfield no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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