Stringing short-scale 4 like a 5

[sbassett]

I have a '68 Gibson EBO that I don't play as much as I did before I switched to an Ibanez 5-string as my main bass. With the jazz standards I play and the keys they are typically in, having the low B is very handy. I thought about experimenting with the EBO by stringing and tuning it like lowest 4 strings on a 5 (B-E-A-D). I have heard and read of others doing this successfully with older long- cale basses. My EBO has a 30" scale, so I obviously will need to use a standard long-scale low B (I have never seen short scale low B's). I don't see this alone as a real problem since I successfully use short-scale strings designed for 30" basses on my Supro Pocket Bass, which has a scale of about 26". In theory, the 4" scale difference should not be insurmountable. Has anyone tried this with a short-scale bass? What are the likely problems?