Does anyone gig with a shortscale?

[Gray C]

Yes, an Aria TSB 400 in the pic attached.
 

My first bass bought second hand in 1988.

[beely]

My regularly-gigged MIJ Fender Mustang.

 

I like it because it is light, sounds great and is easy to play.

Had it for about 8 years.

Unintended benefit of a short-scale: it takes up less room on a tight stage.

 

I occasionally get out the guitar it has replaced; a 1978 Ric 4001, play it for a wee while and then put it away again.

[JazzLobster]

I used to gig often with my G&L Fallout, before I thinned the herd.
Now my 32" Pbass with a Jaguar Squier neck gets played out frequently.

[AlexDelores]

Yes, lots.

 

Gretsch G2220 for me. Cost me £245 from BassBros. Has £100 of Gotoh hardware on. It’s my #1 now and helps pay my mortgage.

 

Sounds and feels so good to me that it made me sell my Vintera Mustang.

 

 

[BigRedX]

To expand on my original post.

 

In my current band, I use a 30" Eastwood Hooky 6-String Bass. Our band doesn't have a guitarist so myself and synth play alternate between playing the melody and bass parts:

 

[Marky L]

I have a Retrovibe LP style shorty that came with some hi-gain (forgot the brand) Ric style pick ups. Yes it has a great Ric sound to it. I like to gig it BUT it's essentially a slab body and I find that uncomfortable on my wrist. It just needs a little bit of relief on that top right edge. I dare not do it, it's likely to end up in a dozen pieces if I try. 😁

[Gasman]

Yes indeed, I use a Talman 5-er on flats for the more soothing first set, then a much-up-modded HB PJ Mustang-alike 4-string on rounds for the noisy stuff in set 2

 

I've sold all my decent longscale basses, my small hands with their arthritis don't like long necks any more...

Edited Monday at 10:19 by Gasman
amplification!

[Woodinblack]

25 minutes ago, Gasman said:

Yes indeed, I use a Talman 5-er on flats for the more soothing first set, then a much-up-modded HB PJ Mustang-alike 4-string on rounds for the noisy stuff in set 2

 

I sold my Talman in the end, I thought it was great for the price but the neck was wide and the headstock was really heavy. Often thought about getting one of the EHBs in short scale though.

[Cliff Edge]

On 06/11/2025 at 10:30, Gray C said:

Yes, an Aria TSB 400 in the pic attached.
 

My first bass bought second hand in 1988.

Nice. I have an earlier TSB650. It creates thunder in the nicest possible way. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I usually take a pair of JMJ mustangs when I gig.

[Steve Lawson]

I went from 35 to 33 to 32 and my most recent bass is a Nordstrand Cat bass which I think is 30... 

 

32 is current favourite - Mk II of my Elrick signature is 32" and headless, so super comfortable to play, and fits in a guitar bag so easier to carry on a bike, and to fly with  

 

Steve 

[ezbass]

A 32” Wilcock Mullarkey was being played with The Divine Comedy on Jool’s Later on Sunday night.

[Clarky]

23 hours ago, ezbass said:

A 32” Wilcock Mullarkey was being played with The Divine Comedy on Jool’s Later on Sunday night.

Thats BCer @simonlittle! He plays bass for The Divine Comedy and regularly gets shout outs from Viv Wilcock on his Instagram page!

[martthebass]

Yep, almost exclusively with these 2 little demons….

[martthebass]

On 06/11/2025 at 20:15, beely said:

My regularly-gigged MIJ Fender Mustang.

 

I like it because it is light, sounds great and is easy to play.

Had it for about 8 years.

Unintended benefit of a short-scale: it takes up less room on a tight stage.

 

I occasionally get out the guitar it has replaced; a 1978 Ric 4001, play it for a wee while and then put it away again.

I agree on the 'space saving' aspect.  I joined a Glam band and the tight 'stages' meant I used a Status Streamline for the first few gigs to avoid sword fighting with the guitarist.....it didn't really look the part though so I've progressed through various Mustangs until I've ended up with the current Sandy Lionel and sparkly shorty Ray.

[BigRedX]

On 06/11/2025 at 20:15, beely said:

Unintended benefit of a short-scale: it takes up less room on a tight stage.

 

Due to the bridge placement and the headstock size, the Eastwood Hooky, despite being a short scale, is actually a couple of cm longer than my 34" scale Gus G3s.

[martthebass]

45 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

Due to the bridge placement and the headstock size, the Eastwood Hooky, despite being a short scale, is actually a couple of cm longer than my 34" scale Gus G3s.

Fortunately these design faux pas are in the minority.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

Yep, almost exclusively with these 2 little demons….

That SS ‘Ray looks so good.