I played 35" scale basses for years. Found a couple nice 34" basses and I'm sticking. However small, I don't like the extra reach towards the nut or between the notes. I won't go back.
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34 or 35 scale 5 string?
- Thread starter tjclem
- Start date
I seriously doubt this. It's not as if 35" scale is superior in every way to 34" it's just different in ways that different people may prefer.
I hate to come off as a troll, but this is almost everyone's favorite low B and I've never heard one that can compete with the likes of Curbow, my Conklin, Rob Allens, etc. They're not the worst in the world, but usually most people who say that it's the best haven't tried out a lot of other basses.
Can't say that I've ever played something like a Conklin for instance, but I live in Norway, so it would have to be imported and cost an insane amount of money. I've heard quite a few on recordings and stuff like that, but for me it doesn't matter much whether or not the B is good when the bass doesn't sound like I want it to anyway (boutique basses in general just seems expensive, but sound rather boring IMO). I really like the tone of a Stingray, and the B does the exact same job as the other strings, only a few notes lower. If it didn't sound as good as the others, that would be bad, but it can't possibly be better when it sounds equally good as the other strings on a bass that sounds like I want it to.
LOL (well sort of...because I agree......) I think (Know ) that the 35" scale adds alot to the clarity and definition of the B)
Lakland recently (last few months) began offering 34" 5 string basses...when I asked Carl Pedigo (former lead lakie Luthier and now sole proprietor who still does alot of work for the Lakie guys) whether they had developed a way to make the 34" sound "as clear" as the 35"....he just grinned and said "#&!! no! BUT lakie 34" are closer than most!"
not any more....Lakie now offers 34" 5ers on MOST models....just not heavily advertised yet....
Tom, if you're trying to decide between focusing on building 34" or 35" 5s, go with 34" because the one you built me had an impressive B. By the way, I think having a tight sounding B is more important than having a tight feeling B. My Fender CS has a tighter feeling B than my Sadowsky, probably because of the string through body feature, but the Sadowsky's B sounds tighter, probably because of the pickup's voicing and placement.
What could make the Sadowsky's B sound/feel even tighter? If just the B string had the string through body option like some Lull's do. That way, the G would stay sounding full, while the B would be tight. Those with Lull's that have just the string through body for the B, what are your thoughts?
What could make the Sadowsky's B sound/feel even tighter? If just the B string had the string through body option like some Lull's do. That way, the G would stay sounding full, while the B would be tight. Those with Lull's that have just the string through body for the B, what are your thoughts?
I thought my Uno was 35" when I got it; I didn't measure it, but the B felt perfect insofar as tension went that I just assumed it was 35" from what others have said on the subject. Then a few months later I measured it, and it turned out to be 34". Go figure.
The Traben Chaos Obsession bass I had prior to it was 35", and I didn't notice any difficulty playing it right after playing my Schecter 4. So I haven't really experienced either side's arguments on this subject, and honestly don't give scale length much weight when judging an instrument.
The Traben Chaos Obsession bass I had prior to it was 35", and I didn't notice any difficulty playing it right after playing my Schecter 4. So I haven't really experienced either side's arguments on this subject, and honestly don't give scale length much weight when judging an instrument.
I chuckle a bit when I think about 34.5 scale. IMO, PURE marketing... the percent difference in scale length versus a 34 or a 35 is trivial.
I a way your right.
It all come down to how well a bass is made regardless of scale.
I've played 36" basses were the B-string is crap.
And, a 33" scale bass were the B-string killed.
I personally don't like how the G-string feels, and sounds, on a
35" or bigger scale bass.
To each his own.
I have a question that might seem a little dumb to some of you guys... but why is a high string tension desirable? Is it because you can lower the action more and not have any buzz? I like my strings looser and my action is plenty low w/o buzzing, my guitarist even commented on the action of my bass the other day as being 'too' low to slap/pop (not a problem for me coz I can't slap
). And with higher tension, bends get exponentially difficult, e.g. I can bend 6 semitones when I tune to low C (.130, 30" short scale, 12th fret), but when I tune to E, I can barely do 3.
- Jun 6, 2004
- 6,351
- 543
- 66
- Disclosures
- Owner and builder Clementbass
Thanks it is a question of what to build as a non custom order bass and after readin all the above I still don't know what the answer is.
there are people that feel strongly both ways but it has been interesting reading. Thanks all...Tom
IMO, I've found no impact of stringing through body versus through bridge. Again, a bit of marketing there I think. I had a couple of Celinders that allowed both stringing options and did a few A/B tests. While string through the body can result in more down pressure on the saddle IF YOU HAVE A POORLY DESIGNED BRIDGE, most basses these days (especially at the Lull, Sadowsky level of quality) have bridges that are high quality and designed to provide plenty of down pressure on the saddle.
It won't hurt anything obviously, but it won't really help either IMO and IME.
- Jun 6, 2004
- 6,351
- 543
- 66
- Disclosures
- Owner and builder Clementbass
The main reason I have used string through once in a while is when doing 32 scale 5 and 6 strings to allow the customers to use normal length strings. The only downside I have found to the 32 scale is you can't use low tension strings like TI's...t
I haven't found a 34" scale five string that I liked yet. I've only tried Fender, Ibanez, Yamaha and such. I also have tried many 35" scale basses and for my tastes only a few that I tried were truly outstanding to my ears. My favorites, that I was fortunate to own until the winds of economic bliss shifted, were a Reverend Rumblefish with a maple neck (big difference between the rosewood and the maple on this bass) and a Dingwall ABII (the Holy Grail for me).
I believe the subject of scale length is so personal that the only way to find what works is to play as many basses as possible without prejudice as to scale length.
I believe the subject of scale length is so personal that the only way to find what works is to play as many basses as possible without prejudice as to scale length.
Not explicitly, nope.
Nope, no problem switching between 34" & 35" at all.
I will say that empirically I prefer the low B string on any of the basses I've owned or played that have a 35" scale lengths to the low B string on any bass I've owned or played that had a 34" scale length...but it's not an entirely fair generalization to conclude that therefore I believe that to have a good B string it has to be a 35". Because all the basses I've played with a 35" scale length have been at least moderately swanky if not full-on bling/boutique instruments, and none of the 34" scale 5-string basses I've played were anything fancier than typical Guitar Center fodder. Apples to Oranges.
