Scale length - 34" to 35" converts?

[SteveC]

I haven't played a 35" bass for a while. Actually, it seems most of my basses have been/are 34" scale. The Q5 is 35" and it seems like I am noticing it more than I remember. Is this a common adjustment? I assume I will get used to it, short fingers, small hands and all? There is a little "discomfort" from the stretch down in lower positions.

[Hoover]

I got my first 35" scale instrument in 1989, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I really didn't notice a difference at all. To this day I have to think about (or measure) the scale length on my basses, there's nothing about the feel of any of them that makes me conspicuously aware of whether it's 35" or 34".

[KJung]

I notice the neck extension of basses (due to the body and upper horn design) much more than scale. However, since I have never noticed a correlation with scale length and feel or sound or the B string (at least comparing the tiny percentage increase from 34 to 35), I prefer 34" at this point. The sound and feel the same, and are just a touch more comfortable in first position for me.

IME!

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by KJung

I notice the neck extension of basses (due to the body and upper horn design) much more than scale. However, since I have never noticed a correlation with scale length and feel or sound or the B string (at least comparing the tiny percentage increase from 34 to 35), I prefer 34" at this point. The sound and feel the same, and are just a touch more comfortable in first position for me.

IME!

I agree with all of this.

The placement of the bridge and location of the strap button on the upper horn will be a bigger determining factor as to how far you have to reach to get to the lower frets- a 34" Warwick Thumb has a noticeably longer reach to the lower frets than a 35" Skjold for example. That said, now that I've owned 35" and 34" versions of the same bass, I prefer the 34" because it is just a bit more comfortable.

[Philbiker]

I struggled a little bit with intonation on my first 35" bass. I find a 34" easier to intone on a fretless, I think it may be because I'm used to the harmonics of a 34" instrument.

My Axcelerator 6 is 35" and I love the slightly stiffer feel of the strings. I played a Ritter at a GTG the other day and the B string felt so good, so familiar one of my first questions was 'is this a 35" scale?". It was - I could tell just by the feel!

[embellisher]

Originally Posted by KJung

I notice the neck extension of basses (due to the body and upper horn design) much more than scale.

I agree with this. Like Bryan said in the next post, the reach on a 34" scale Thumb is greater than the reach on a lot of 35" basses.

I did notice a bit of difference when I first got my Cirrus, but got used to it pretty quick.

I have noticed a difference in sound and feel from a 34" to a 35" scale, on a lot of basses. Yeah, there are 34" basses with great B strings, and 35" basses with poor B strings. What I really have noticed is the G and C strings on a lot of 35" basses do not have as much 'girth' or 'body' as they do on similar 34" basses. Some of them sound pretty thin, to my ears.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by KJung

I notice the neck extension of basses (due to the body and upper horn design) much more than scale. However, since I have never noticed a correlation with scale length and feel or sound or the B string (at least comparing the tiny percentage increase from 34 to 35), I prefer 34" at this point. The sound and feel the same, and are just a touch more comfortable in first position for me.

IME!

I think this is the problem I am having. I have a 34" Yamaha BB605 and a 35" Modulus Q5. The Modulus has felt different to me from day one. I mean, I knew i twas a 35" scale when I bought it but I didn't think it would be THAT big a deal.

I find that over the 2 months I have had the Q5, my left hand has hurt - quite a bit - after playing it. I really think it's that little extra reach out to the first few frets.

I am seriously thinking I'm going to sell the Q5 and go back to my Yamaha. The Q5 does sound better, but not THAT much better. At least not enough to live with the pain in my hand for the rest of my career.
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[TomB]

When I owned an M91 Modulus some years ago, it was months before I even realized it was a 35'' scale. It didn't make nearly the difference the string spacing makes, at least to me.