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35" scale 4-strings

N

ninepointedsean

Aug 23, 2005
40
3
San Francisco East Bay, CA
www.theprophetmargin.net
#1
Anybody help me with this list of manufacturers/models that make 35" 4-strings?

- Peavey Cirrus custom
- Spector (has a new one just coming out. . . according to I guy I talked to today at Bass Central)
- does Yamaha do a 35" 4 string?

I am seriously thinking that my next bass is a 35" 4-string gone BEAD. I want the low B and I love the symmetry of 4 strings ona bass.

Tim C. from RATM/Audioslave goes BEAD on his 4's now, he uses Jazzes so he's standard scale. I tried going BEAD on my jazz, even with a 135 B string (!) it was still floppy and too quiet. So I switched back to standard tuning.

Anybody out there playing a extra-long-scale 4 string?

Peace
Sean
 
#4
I actually found 120-130 gauge to be better if you don't want a floppy B string. Also high action makes a big difference. LTD, Elrick, and others have a 35" scale.

I would whole heartedly reccommend a five string. I used to be four only kind of guy, and wanted BEAD four strings, but the more I played fives, adopted the floating thumb technique, had to sight read and tune down for metal songs, I realized five was the way to go.

I bet the best electronics in bass are found in 5 strings due to theire wide demand. I also think that some luthiers spend more time on the electronics to better suit the B string in afive string setup.
 
#6
ninepointedsean said:
...Tim C. from RATM/Audioslave goes BEAD on his 4's now, he uses Jazzes so he's standard scale.
Click to expand...
Really?! When did he start doing that? I saw Audioslave live about a month ago and they played Bullet in the Head (Chris Cornel actually did it justice, not quite Dela'Rocha, but still)... I play it as follows:

G -------------7------------
D -------------6------------
A -7-7-77-7-----------------
E ----------0---------------

Which, if I'm not mistaken, is correct for the main verse... I could have swore he played it exactly the same, with his thumb... and he didn't change basses?!
 
#8
tombowlus said:
MTD and Skjold 4-strings are both 35" scale. The Gibson Thunderbird is 34.5", I believe.

Tom.
Click to expand...

Actually, the MTD 4 strings are 34" standard (hence the name 434's), but Mike does offer a 35" scale option on the 4 string. I've only seen one, so I think it's pretty rare.
 
#14
Spikeh said:
Really?! When did he start doing that? I saw Audioslave live about a month ago and they played Bullet in the Head (Chris Cornel actually did it justice, not quite Dela'Rocha, but still)... I play it as follows:

G -------------7------------
D -------------6------------
A -7-7-77-7-----------------
E ----------0---------------

Which, if I'm not mistaken, is correct for the main verse... I could have swore he played it exactly the same, with his thumb... and he didn't change basses?!
Click to expand...


Im pretty sure he still has a Jazz bass in Standard and DADG for the RATM songs and some of the songs from the first Audioslave record. Unless he has some "super" hipshot tuners on there, He would have to use a another bass or play the riff like this.


D-------------12-
A-7-7--77-7--11-
E-----------0----
B----------------
 
#18
CaptainWally said:
As a follow-up question...why on Earth would anyone want a 35" 4 string bass (other than BEAD tuning)?
Click to expand...

Some people just like longer basses. Also, a guy that's 6'5" with big hands would probably prefer a little extra finger room.
 
#19
Wilbyman said:
I've never seen a 434, but if someone does, let me know!
Click to expand...

I screwed up on the 434 thing.. sorry for the confusion.... I had remembered incorrectly that Mike did not particularly like 35" scales and I incorrectly assumed/remembered that he made his 4 strings 34" scale. What he actually said in his article in Bass Player many years ago is that he never particularly cared for 5 string basses vs. 4 (... 'a five string will never respond like a 4 string'... I totally disagree by the way!). However, I'm with the poster above... why would you want a 35" scale 4 string?... even with big hands, the string spacing would have much more to do with 'more space' than that tiny bit of extra scale. I guess it would increase the tension on all the strings a little bit. I have 35" and 34" scale basses, and to me, they pretty much feel, play and sound very similar.
 
#20
I happen to like the additional tension, myself, but to be honest, I have nothing against a 34" scale bass. Heck, I have two 32" scale basses and a 30.5" scale, but this brings me to my thought on why you would want a 35" scale 4-string: muscle memory. If you play a lot of 35" scale 5/6/7 string, and you want to play a 4 string for a song or two (or whatever), if your hands are used to the 35" scale, you may find it easier than playing a 34" 4-string. I've gotten fairly used to switching scale lengths, but still, the first couple of times I reach for the upper positions on a 32" scale bass after playing on a 34" or 34" scale bass it's quite the eye opener! Then again, I also trade off on a 40.5" scale bass, too, but that's a horse of sufficiently different color... :D
 

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