34" vs 35" scale. Can anyone really tell the difference?

[Dr. Cheese]

I can feel and hear the difference, and a good 35” bass has that grand piano extra that I like. At the same time, lots of makers turn out great 34” scale B strings. My Carvin and Sterling by Ernie Ball SR5 are both 34” and both have fine B strings, IMO.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Yeah the reach. Especially with the first couple of frets.

This is only an issue if the particular bass has a longer distance from where it hangs on your shoulder to the nut, forcing your arm to reach further. A well-designed 35" scale bass with the nut at the same position as a typical "Fender" will feel almost indistinguishable from a 34" with the nut in the exact same place. That's a design issue, not something inherent to the longer scale. There are 34" basses with the nut pushed out further from the body, resulting in a stretched out arm and a longer reach. They would be just as uncomfortable as any 35" with the nut at the same distance from the body.

 

[Relsom]

Both being 35", I notice the longer scale more on a Cirrus than on a Millennium.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I can definitely tell a difference but I’m on the fence about it.

My current (& previous) main 5 string bass is 35” and the low B is killer. But, these instruments are a little bigger and slightly less comfortable to play.

On the other hand, the several 34” five strings I’ve owned were more comfortable to play, but with slightly less inspired feel on the low B.

 

[Real Soon]

Ergonomically, with my left wrist just barely hanging on to good health... I can tell a significant difference between 34" and 35" scale when out at the far end of the neck. And the stuff I want to play, sometimes low harmonies and whatnot... I can't risk injuring myself (I somewhat did one time on the last 35" bass I owned, then it got sold while I took it easy).

So, they sound good and some artistically designed ones look incredibly cool, but 35" basses are in the rear view mirror for me.

And I say this with my Mustang PJ slung on me, so we might see where that trend is headed heh....

 

[2F/2F]

Well, it's one longer, isn't it? It's not 34. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 34. You're on 34 here, all the way down, all the way down, all the way down, you're on 34 on your bass. Where can you go from there? Where? Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do? 35. Exactly. One longer.

 

[drumvsbass]

Fanned frets for folks fancying fingers funking freely fearing feeling fatigue...

 

[EagleMoon]

This is only an issue if the particular bass has a longer distance from where it hangs on your shoulder to the nut, forcing your arm to reach further. A well-designed 35" scale bass with the nut at the same position as a typical "Fender" will feel almost indistinguishable from a 34" with the nut in the exact same place. That's a design issue, not something inherent to the longer scale. There are 34" basses with the nut pushed out further from the body, resulting in a stretched out arm and a longer reach. They would be just as uncomfortable as any 35" with the nut at the same distance from the body.

I wasn’t really referring to arm reach but finger reach between frets. At least that’s what has bothered me the most. Though I agree with you about the design of the bass and how long the neck feels can be an issue as well.

 

[kumimajava]

in my case - sound-wise, not necessarily much of a difference. But after playing a while on a 35 it feels more fatiguing than a 34 (and indeed, I find 33 or 32 inches more comfortable still).

I'm sure this could be 'remedied' with better/different technique, but given how little time I have for music anyway, I'd rather spend less of that time westling with an instrument I find less comfortable. YMMV.

 

[themickster]

In all my years of selling basses, this happens most consistently:

I post a 35" scale bass. I get a comment saying, "If this bass was 34-inch scale, I'd be all over it." A little while later, I sell a 34" scale bass and get the comment, " Man! If this was 35-inch scale, we'd be talking."

I own both. I play both... in 4-string and 5-string. Scale-length has never crossed my mind when switching from a 34" to a 35". I've never noticed any need to adjust. For me, scale length isn't even in my top-10 of things I look for in a bass.

Can anyone REALLY tell the difference between 34" scale and 35" scale? If so, what's the deal? Does it affect your playing? Is it all about how the low-B sounds?

I don't get it. Enlighten me.

(don't get me started on multi-scale... lol)

It's like talking about the best shade of yellow.

 

[Hawk256]

I had never owned anything other that 34" scale basses until recently acquiring a Peavey Cirrus. 35 years on the same scale (along with my technique) makes a 35" scale noticeable and a little awkward for me. I do seem to have a preference for the sound of a 35 though, at least with the Cirrus.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Being a life long 34' player, I feel the 35' immediately.

 

[brianrost]

Can anyone REALLY tell the difference between 34" scale and 35" scale? If so, what's the deal? Does it affect your playing?

I've had two left hand injuries which makes one finger per fret playing dificult near the nut, so I use DB style 3 finger (ring and pinky used as one finger) fingering there. I can definitely feel the difference between 34" and 35" (I currently have one of each). Think about it...if people can feel the differences of 1mm in string spacing or a 1/8" width difference at the nut, why shouldn't the player be able to tell?

P.S. as I've mentioned many times, I also have 30" bass guitars and my DBs are roughly 41". I don't have any problem playing on different scale lengths...but I can feel the differences of scale length, nut width, string spacing, neck thickness and finger board radius.

 

[el murdoque]

In the past, I owned and played a 34", a multiscale (36-34) and a 35".
There was zero need for adjustment, but I was able to feel the differences.

I can imagine the following:
1. When your hands are not that big, it might matter. I have a friend that can barely play the 34" properly (1 finger 1 fret in the first few frets) because of short fingers. Any more and he'd be lost.
2. When you came from 34" and had a mediocre 5 string then bought a better 5 string with 35". The clarity of E and B suddenly became a lot better. It might have been other factors that did it, but you're a firm believer in 35" now.

I had a 34" that was okay. Then I got a multiscale that was stellar. Then I got a 35" that was also stellar. Then I got a 34" that is at least just as good. I know I can play all the scale lengths, even Dingwall's 37" B string is fine with me, so I much rather look at the sum of all the factors (i.e. the bass) before making a decision.

 

[darthplagis]

I got a 35" 5 string for Christmas

And I'm a convert, I've not touched any of my 34" other than to see if I can feel the difference

Its just more comfortable and the lower notes are so much clearer to me (could be the bass, could be placebo).

I am 6'4" though and I also dabble with my EUB with little effort, which is obviously a little bit bigger scale length

 

[JonathanPDX]

I have arthritis and small hands. I can absolutely feel the difference. I have a 35" that plays and sounds great but I just can't make it through a set without pain. It wears my hands out much faster than my 34" does.

 

[chris_b]

Can anyone REALLY tell the difference between 34" scale and 35" scale?

I have played both 34" and 35" scale basses for almost 20 years and have never noticed the difference between the them. I didn't even know it was a thing until the internet came along. My Lakland was 35" and the Wal was 34" and now my Sadowsky is 34" and the Lull is 35". I've picked up 30" basses and never had an issue adapting.

I don't have big hands. My guess is that my left hand technique must be reasonably good and I'm moving my hand and positioning my fingers correctly.

I definitely don't stretch anywhere or do 1FPF down near the nut!!

 

[PrimitiveMan]

For me it just depends on the design of the bass. 35 scale with good bridge placement and balance feels about the same as a 34 to me. But some 35 scale basses do feel a little awkward.

When it come to fretless I notice a lot more and prefer 34.

 

[Nashrakh]

I have a few 34s, but admittedly I have been tempted a LOT by this particular bass bc it’s a 35 and I bet it would take BEAD tuning really well: https://www.espguitars.com/products/21844-f-204

I’m trying to be more of a One Bass To Rule Them All kind of guy, but wouldn’t mind owning one of those with the intent of keeping it tuned to BEAD…

Thanks! \m/

I actually have one (an earlier model though - in Sparkling Silver!) of those tuned BEAD. Works out great. That said, I'm not one to be fussy about 34 vs 35 inch scale. So I think the reason it works has less to do with scale and more with the construction of the instrument, which I feel is great bang for the buck.

 

[packhowitzer]

I have three 35” five string and a bunch of 34” four strings. I’ve been playing that way for 30 years and I don’t notice any difference in playability switching between them. I much prefer the deeper, tighter tone of the B in 35”. When I bought a Ric @ 32-1/2” scale, my brain bled for a while but I got better.

+1 regarding 5 strings and 35" scale. I'm fine with 34" on 4 strings, but I just really prefer my 5-ers to be 35" scale. My NS Design Radius basses both have thunderous B strings and I think it'd due in large part to the higher tension of the 35" scale. And, at least in the case of those basses, the design of them is such that the longer scale isn't really noticeable to me. In fact, my 34" Geddy Lee jazz is the "longest" reach I have on any of my electric basses due to how much of the body is behind the bridge and where the basses sits when I'm wearing it.