35" scale 4-strings

Modulus Graphite has a Quantum 4er, I think bassnw or basscentral has one for 1099 US. used.

Yamaha had the trb4II which can be found on the used market. Yamaha's 774 is a 4 string with a 35 scale also.

 

i used to have an 83' aria pro 2 sb1000. that was a 35"er. quite heavy though...

 

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.

 

Ibanez BTB's are all 35" scale

 

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?!

 

MTD and Skjold 4-strings are both 35" scale. The Gibson Thunderbird is 34.5", I believe.

Tom.

 

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.

 

Hmmm... Mine is a 435.

 

My bad... you are correct! I guess they are rare because I've rarely seen a 4 string MTD... I thought they were originally 34" scale, but I guess not.

 

Elrick makes killer 35" 4 strings.

I use a .120 or .125 B on all of my B string-equipped basses. No flop.

 

EDIT: I was wrong, I thought Lakland only made 35" but I now found out they only make 35" in 5 strings.

Sorry.

 

One word....

www.skjolddesign.com

Ask about the 4-string stage series.



Trust me.

 

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----------------

 

One of my best friends bought the first MTD 4 string built. It is also a 435. I borrowed it for a while, very nice bass.

 

I've never seen a 434, but if someone does, let me know!

 

As a follow-up question...why on Earth would anyone want a 35" 4 string bass (other than BEAD tuning)?

 

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.

 

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...