34 or35" scale for Five String

[Gougedeye]

I have always bought into the 35" scale is the way to go for a nice tight, focused B string. So, consequently I own 3 Lakland 5 string basses and a Mike Lull 5 string. All with 35" scale. And they do, indeed, have a great B string. However, I also own a Fender American Deluxe Jazz V, Gibson Thunderbird V, Squier VM Precision 5, all with 34" scale and a great B string. The proof is in the pudding and dependent and each individual instrument. Although I will say, I have owned 3 Fender American Deluxes that have had good, solid B strings. 34 or 35? get what sounds best to you!

 

[DaveAceofBass]

I play an upright with no problems, but prefer 34" on all of my electric basses. I use a .130 B string. My Sadowsky has a low B that sounds very tight, as does my Kinal, Hamer, and Linc Luthier basses.

 

[iriegnome]

I have a TBX 5 string 34" scale. LOVE IT.. But like I said, 34 or 35, get which ever one plays the way you like. Everyone on this board will have an opinion and each one of us is correct. So, what is correct for you, play the damn basses and see. If you like the 35 - RIGHT ON---- If you prefer the 34 -_- SUPER!!

 

[Honch]

Don't forget that even Alembic managed to do (and the first five string bass anyway) a 5 string bass with a good low B at 33". But...ahem... at a price. You can get away with it on shorter scale but I think you have to concentrate at changing a lot of things, denser wood, and simply different parts of the design, to make a low b "un-flubby" at that scale.

 

[Ric5]

I prefer 34

 

[Joebone]

I prefer 34, and have seen great B strings on 34" Sadowsky and Carvin (Carvin! Yes,especially a PB5 with 5-piece neck), a Lakland prototype, Foderas, Alembics, Pedullas, and Yamahas. The B-strings on Fenders don't generally seem quite as good, except on the Roscoe Beck 5-string...the MM 34" B-strings consistently seem better than Fender. On 35," I generally find the G string too twangy, especially in the upper register, when soloing...but not always..,.I've now played two different MTD basses made in the Czech Republic, which have both great B and G strings. As for hand strain, I do seem to do OK on 35 if I consciously change my left hand technique so as to keep my left fingers closer togther, like on upright, rather than finger-per-fret. Overall, quality materials, design and construction rule - on a limited budget you may well get better B-strings on 35", but face other deficits. Finally, pickup-placement can also be a factor - consider the close-to-bridge pickup placements on Sadowsky Moderns (the Gold-standard for a 34" B-string, IMO), Ken Smiths, G&L L-2500, etc.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Im looking at getting an Ibanez SR 505 or a Spector Legend Classic 5. The Spector has the 35" scale the Inanez 34. I heard 35 is better as it Gives the low B better tension. I own a Spector Legend Classic 4 currently and love it. Is the 35 inch scale 5 string my best bet????? Thanks

I haven't been playing five string for as long as some, but it's been 15 years now. In that time I've owned some very nice 35" scale fivers. I don't see hear that extra 1" as being magical in any way, to the B string or any other: it's only a 3% increase in length. I believe it's a case of "different", not "better".

That said, 35" scale does seem to have a slightly different timbre. I'm an older dude, and my ears prefer the more traditional timbre of 34", so now all I play are 34" basses. It's only because of tone... my smallish fingers had no trouble on 35".

I love the B strings on my 34" fivers. Here's the thing: B string is tricky, you have to be especially careful when installing and intonating the string. Also, finding the right string set can be a challenge. Sometimes I have better luck with taperwound strings, but I tried a DR Longneck that did not work on a bass with top-load bridge because the tapered section went 2 or 3" beyond the nut... that string seemed to be designed for string-thru-body. Point is, you can get a floppy B string on any scale length if you're not careful.

I'd say try a bunch of fivers (if you can) and get the one you like best, regardless of scale length. Best of luck!

 

[akukulich]

Buy the bass that sounds right and feels right. There are a lot of factors that influence the B string and scale is only one of them.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I have 32", 34", & 35" scales, all five-strings. Play what you're comfortable with, first and foremost, then experiment with string gauges and right hand placement techniques to get what you need from the low register.

 

[GastonD]

Scale-wise 35" is preferred, but I like the bridge string spacing at the Ibanez better than at Spector.

 

[Smashsquatch]

You could get the Quake from Knuckle guitar works at 39.55" scale lol

 

[chickenJames]

I'm going to vote for 35".
My bass history is
Yamaha RBX374 (sold)
Spector Legend Classic 5
Fender MIM P (sold)
EBMM Stingray 4

I move between the 4 (34") and 5 (35") all the time, and I find you _do_ need to think consciously to start with what scale you're on - the muscle memory gets confused with big movements otherwise.
I'm no expert, but 35" just feels right on the Spector.

I tried some Ibanez basses - nice, but didn't work for me. I hated the string spacing and the Spector just felt right immediately.

HTH

 

[Honch]

I find it peculiar that people still recommends either a 35" or a 34" when fanned fret option - i e you can have BOTH in a single instrument - are now readily available. In the Ibanez SR which was the OP's choice between Spector and Ibanez SR series.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

I did the whole 35" conversion in 2000; That lasted a whopping 5 years. Why? Because I started playing more 4 string, and that was wildly throwing my 5 string fretless intonation off... AND my hands were struggling in the lower registers on the 35". So, I converted back to 34". Right now, I have 5 different 34" five string basses that sound and play great, all with strong B strings (and in case of my Ken Smith, the best B string I have ever felt/heard!)

So if you want to keep playing some 34" four strings, you might want to think carefully about converting to 35"

 

[Matthew_84]

Try playing them... I find 35" scales have too high of a tension myself, but I use pretty light gauge strings and play with a light touch. Also, there's too big of a stretch in the lower frets for me (and I'm 6'3" with big hands).

FWIW, I have a 34" four string tuned to BEAD with a .120 B string and the B string is killer. Bass construction has a lot to do with it in my opinion. Things like pickup locations/configurations, tightness in neck joint, and neck construction (multi-laminate, etc) are the biggest factors, IMO.

Also, it's good to keep in mind that while a 35" scale will have a tighter sounding B string, it will also have a tighter sounding G string, which usually equates to a twangier sounding G string... When I struggle with this enough of 34's and can get a good enough B string on them, I don't see the upside to going with a 35"... But that's me... As I said at the beginning, try it for yourself.

 

[gregbackstrom]

What EBMM basses are 35"?

Oops! They say the eyesight is the second thing to go. I've forgotten what goes first!

 

[Dan Bass]

Each bass if different, but with a 35 there is better chances to have a good B string. If you have short arms (like myself), you may prefer a 34 inch bass for confort. My SBMM Ray35 = good B string! Remember : each bass is different, even if it's the same brand/model/year.

A lot of people are saying the reach is so different, it's only a 1/2", 34" scale bass is 17" from nut to 12th fret and 17" from 12th fret to bridge, a 35" scale is 17.5" nut to 12th fret and 17.5"from 12th fret to bridge, your neck is 1/2" longer and the bridge on the body is set back a 1/2" farther not a big difference at all, 1/2" more the neck sticks out from the body.

 

[Dan Bass]

I have a TBX 5 string 34" scale. LOVE IT.. But like I said, 34 or 35, get which ever one plays the way you like. Everyone on this board will have an opinion and each one of us is correct. So, what is correct for you, play the damn basses and see. If you like the 35 - RIGHT ON---- If you prefer the 34 -_- SUPER!!

AGREED!!!! THATS WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!!!! GOOD JOB, KEEP ON ROCKIN!!!

 

[chris_b]

A lot of people are saying the reach is so different, it's only a 1/2", 34" scale bass is 17" from nut to 12th fret and 17" from 12th fret to bridge, a 35" scale is 17.5" nut to 12th fret and 17.5"from 12th fret to bridge, your neck is 1/2" longer and the bridge on the body is set back a 1/2" farther not a big difference at all 1/2" more the neck sticks out from the body.

The problem is that even the slightest change can highlight "issues" in technique.

Many people seem to use a "static" hand placement and stretch to reach the notes, which they can do on a 34" scale instrument and complain that going to 35" causes them to stretch too much. I think they shouldn't be stretching in the first place.

You should move your hand in order to place your fingers over the right note.

Have a look at Francis Rocco Prestia. He could be playing any scale length and it wouldn't matter.

 

[basslifter]

Several posts have mentioned the new ibby fanned fret bass. Color me intrigued....but I would be concerned about the reach on the lowest notes of the B string.