Medium Scale buying advice.

[DynamicK]

I looking for some advice on buying a medium scale bass. From what i have found these are quite rare to find and my options seem to be:

 

A : Buy a new ish medium scale:  MTD Kingston Lynn Keller,  Fender Player Mustang, Maruszczyk ( if I could find one ) Max budget would be around £1000 so other boutique offerings would be too expensive

B: Buy a "Vintage" 32in bass. Aria Pro II RSB, Ibanez Roadstar II RB830, Fender Aerodyne, etc etc. Seems like I can get something for around £700. I'm a little nervous about this as it will be a 30+ year old bass and would it require more money to sort out any problems.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[Merton]

Love a medium scale. Lots of options if you look. And, erm, #shamelesplug 👀

 

 

[neepheid]

Have you played a 32" scale before?

 

[miles'tone]

The Fender Player Mustang is short scale btw. The Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar is medium scale which could be worth looking at.

[pete.young]

I had an Aria Pro II RSB for a while and it was definitely 34" scale.

 

@kristo has a nice looking medium scale Jazz for sale. 

 

 

[pantherairsoft]

In my experience, Alan at ACG makes some of the best medium scale basses in the world. For your £1000 ‘new’ budget, you can pick up a pretty decent spec ACG 2nd hand. In fact, there is one for sale on BC right now… 

 

[Paul S]

I am selling off all my basses except for three, two of which are 32" scale - I just find them so comfy.  But it has to be said that I dwell down in the depths of the budget end of the market.  That said my budget basses have kept me gigging for the past couple of decades.

 

Aria Pro II CSB range are medium scale with models at different price points.  They are all good.  I have the top end of the range model CSB 450 Black n Gold for sale in the classifieds for a giveaway £300 but, perhaps, not after tomorrow as someone is coming to look at it. 

 

Hondo II H1015 are medium scale.  Necks on these are utterly superb lumps of maple.  Heavy basses, mind.  Known for the 3-point bridges to lift but that is an easy fix, often fitted with DiMarzio pickups as stock.

 

Some Westone Concords are medium scale, some long scale.  They are excellent and go for very little money, pickups in these are tremendous, very powerful.  I believe there are one or two medium scale Westone Thunder basses, too.  

 

Fender do medium scale Precisions and Jazzes, usually MIJ for the domestic market, but they pop up fairly regularly.  MIJ Squiers, also.  I've had several over the years, notably an A series Squier Precision that was one of the best basses I've owned.  Should never have sold it.

 

The best of all the 32" scale basses I have tried/owned is the Yamaha SB-15.  Superb.  Rare, though, but you never know.

 

Any of the above are pretty straight forward things and not scary to take a punt at second hand.  There isn't much to go wrong and, if it does, it is usually easily and inexpensively corrected.

 

I've not tried one but Ibanez Mezzo also gets a lot of love on here.

Edited 3 hours ago by Paul S

[Elfrasho]

Get an ACG. Mine was easily the best built instrument I've ever owned. They come up 2nd hand for under a k easily.

[DynamicK]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I did order an Ibanez Mezzo SRMD205 from Gear 4 Music to try out the 32in scale. Really nice bass and the scale is perfect. Just my hands are too small for the 5 string. 

I do have an old Yamahe BB404F which I found was making my wrist hurt. So I bought a couple of short scale basses 2 years ago: a U5 Fretless and a Warwick Rock bass. After trying out the Ibanez, it seems like the perfect scale. 

 I've seen the mediums that are for sale on here, look nice, but are too far away from me. I will revisit and see if anything is worth the trip to go and see.

Edited 2 hours ago by DynamicK

[Obrienp]

Absolutely no connection with the seller but there is this in the BC listings: 

I have a Maruszczyk Elwood 4a 32”” and I can safely say it is the best playing bass I have ever owned. This price looks like a bargain.

 

I have several medium scales now. One problem is the limited range of strings available for genuine medium scales but some people say they do fine using full scale strings. I happen to like D’Addario nickel rounds and chrome flats, so I am catered for at reasonable prices for medium scale strings but if you prefer other brands, their medium scale strings can be hard to find and seem  to command a price premium over standard scale.

 

BTW: Gretsch now do a medium scale for around £500. There is also the Hartwood Satellite for £199 (Gear4Music), if you like slightly off the wall designs. I also picked up an 80s Greco P/J for just over £200. Various similar Yamahas, Arias, etc come up occasionally for much less than your £1K max. 
 

Happy hunting!

 

P.S. Warwick do a few medium scale variants including the Star Bass that comes in under £1K.

Edited 1 hour ago by Obrienp

[joeabass]

2 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

Absolutely no connection with the seller but there is this in the BC listings: 

I have a Maruszczyk Elwood 4a 32”” and I can safely say it is the best playing bass I have ever owned. This price looks like a bargain.

 

I have several medium scales now. One problem is the limited range of strings available for genuine medium scales but some people say they do fine using full scale strings. I happen to like D’Addario nickel rounds and chrome flats, so I am catered for at reasonable prices for medium scale strings but if you prefer other brands, their medium scale strings can be hard to find and seem  to command a price premium over standard scale.

 

BTW: Gretsch now do a medium scale for around £500. There is also the Hartwood Satellite for £199 (Gear4Music), if you like slightly off the wall designs. I also picked up an 80s Greco P/J for just over £200. Various similar Yamahas, Arias, etc come up occasionally for much less than your £1K max. 
 

Happy hunting!

This is mine, cheers for sharing. I’ve just got normal strings on there now and they’re absolutely fine.

[DynamicK]

Yes I saw that Elwood, but I've just tried out a medium scale 5 string and my hands are too small . It's pity cos that one is near me.

@ Obrienp thanks for the heads up on the string availability.

Edited 1 hour ago by DynamicK

[Fishfacefour]

I love my Warwick star bass, I'm always keeping an eye out for medium scales but then realise I don't need another bass as this does everything I need.