Short scale string advice

[Swills]

Chatters! 
 

I’ve just picked up a lovely Sandberg Florence short scale bass. I have a question about string gauge. They come with 40-100 which for me is too light for a standard scale bass. 
 

Can anyone advise what string gauge I should go up to? I’m looking at flats if that makes a difference. 
 

TYIA

Matt

[three]

Personally, I'd go for TI Jazz Flats (JF324) - gauges are: 43, 56, 70 and 106.  Many find the string to have low tension/high compliance - this is something that I find attractive, though others may not.   

[fretmeister]

I like TI Flats on my Sandberg Lionel (Same scale and hardware as the Florence) but it is light. If 40-100 rounds are too light then I fear the ti flats would be too. They are slightly bigger gauges but they are also a lot more flexible.

 

I have 2 other shorties.

 

On one I have La Bella Deep Talking Flats at 45-105 and they suit it - they are quite stiff - by way of comparison, I would have the 39-96 on a long scale, so I have the 45-105 on a short. If you would have 45-105 La Bella flats on a long scale then you might need the 49-109

 

The other has 50-110 Dunlop roundwounds.

 

If you want some flexibility then La Bella do their own Low Tension flats. There's only one choice of gauge. They are quite a bit higher in tension than the TI Flats but not like the DTF ones. They sound quite similar to the DTF though - so a trad flat rather than the mid pushed ti flat sound.

 

La Bellas are a lot cheaper than Thomastik or Dunlop flats too - might find a used set to try in the classifieds.

 

Also - the Florence has big tuners so you don't have to use specific short scale strings even for flats, so pick whatever you can find cheapest. Bass Direct is often cheapest for La Bella, Amazon for Ti Flats, and Dunlops are just mad everywhere.

[HeadlessBassist]

40's work well on a short scale bass. Fender puts 40-100 as standard on the American Performer Mustang I have, and I use cut down Elixir 40-95's which suit it down to the ground.

 

I do have a set of nearly new LaBella deep talking flats for short scale bass that I took off my previous Vintera II Mustang if you'd like me to send them to you to try, @Swills?

[shoulderpet]

You typically want to go up a gauge for short scale, going up 2 gauges will give you the same tension as long scale however you want to avoid that as the same tension on a shorter scale bass will feel stiffer.

[fretmeister]

2 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

You typically want to go up a gauge for short scale, going up 2 gauges will give you the same tension as long scale however you want to avoid that as the same tension on a shorter scale bass will feel stiffer.

 

That's entirely dependent on staying with the same brand.

 

Some strings have far bigger gauges but are lower tension than other brand smaller gauges.

I suppose we are all used to relying on gauges for tension but it really is a useless way of judging tension when swapping brand or string type.

 

DR hexcore strings are much higher tension than their roundcore even when the gauges are the same.

DR Hi-Beam 45-105 are more flexible than D'addario Pro Steel 40-100 and so on.

 

Tension isn't the same as flexibility either.

 

There has to be a better way! Would save us all loads of cash in failed string experiments over the years.

[TheLowDown]

Personally I would stick at 40-100 or 40-95 for short scale. I find that the higher the gauge the quicker the notes start to sound ill-defined on the E string

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

That's entirely dependent on staying with the same brand.

 

Some strings have far bigger gauges but are lower tension than other brand smaller gauges.

I suppose we are all used to relying on gauges for tension but it really is a useless way of judging tension when swapping brand or string type.

 

DR hexcore strings are much higher tension than their roundcore even when the gauges are the same.

DR Hi-Beam 45-105 are more flexible than D'addario Pro Steel 40-100 and so on.

 

Tension isn't the same as flexibility either.

 

There has to be a better way! Would save us all loads of cash in failed string experiments over the years.

Yes this is assuming you are staying with the same brand and that one gauge up is available for short scale

[RichT]

On 06/08/2025 at 15:38, Swills said:

Chatters! 
 

I’ve just picked up a lovely Sandberg Florence short scale bass. I have a question about string gauge. They come with 40-100 which for me is too light for a standard scale bass. 
 

Can anyone advise what string gauge I should go up to? I’m looking at flats if that makes a difference. 
 

TYIA

Matt

 

How do the stock 40-100 feel to you? If they're feeling too flexible or you're getting some other kind of problem then go up a gauge. If not, stick with them for a while. You don't mention whether the stock strings are flats, but generally flats are likely to feel stiffer than rounds of the same gauge (TI flats being the obvious exception). 

 

It's true what TheLowDown says about how higher gauges on short scales can cause notes on the E string to sound ill defined, however if you're finding the tension of 40-100 is too low then I haven't had any issues going up to 45-105, but I personally wouldn't go higher than that. I'm happy with the tone and feel of 45-105 short scale EB Cobalt flats.