Bass Scale

[mkrtu9]

i have large hands and i like short scale basses...personal preference is the name of the game here.

 

[rfclef]

i have large hands and i like short scale basses...personal preference is the name of the game here.

+1 here

New bass player with the arms and hands of an orangutan. I like the short scale... Both of mine are in the 30.5 range... a Epi Viola and a a Dean EVO.

 

[mccartneyman]

Try a bass with an asymmetrical neck, like the Laklands. The 5ers are 35" and will feel a bit long at first, but the neck is so comfortable everywhere that it won't be too much of a problem. I recently added the Steinberger WAV4 to my lineup, and that is 6 inches longer my Lakland. It took me about a week to get used to the difference, but I do have to pay more attention to left hand positioning on the WAV. Way back in 1965 I switched from 32" to 34", and the only bad thing was that I accidentally wacked our saxplayer in the mouth with the headstock because I forgot how long the bass was.

 

[MobileHolmes]

+1

First fret length on my Quake is just over 1/4" more than a standard 34" scale bass.

Again - if you find a bass that has a horn at or very near the 12th fret you will have little trouble with a longer scale length.

True dat, the ergonomics of the body and neck matter quite a bit as well.

 

[Flintc]

Just get a 5-string (or more). The neck is still pretty narrow, and you almost never need to reach past the 5th fret. Alternatively, tune your 4-string BEAD and neither reach past the 5th fret nor play any super high notes. There isn't much material you won't be able to play.

 

[Baryonyx]

I have quite large hands, and I'm most at home on 32" scale basses. Stanley Clarke has even bigger hands than me and he plays Alembic basses with 30" scale and a super tight neck taper! Whatever feels good for you, Steve Bailey always managed on his Aria SB fretless 6 string (ref. Bass Extremes Live dvd) which has a neck that looks as wide as the Atlantic, and he has tiny hands!

 

[AmazingGracePlayer]

I'm 5'10, and all my basses are 34'. I think the frets are a tiny bit too long for comfort, especially in the nut area, the higher register is ok... I think you ought to stick to short scale, maybe a Birdsong would be good.

 

[rfclef]

I'm 5'10, and all my basses are 34'. I think the frets are a tiny bit too long for comfort, especially in the nut area, the higher register is ok... I think you ought to stick to short scale, maybe a Birdsong would be good.

MMMMmmmmmmmmmm..... Birdsong........

 

[CTbass&birdsong]

= 10000..........

 

[mlowe]

I would not think of getting 35" scale bass.

A big part of comfort is how far the neck is away from your body. A big bodied bass with the neck mounted out in the end will cause arm & hand fatigue. A more narrow/thin neck might be more comfortable as well. A lot depends on good playing form and having you bass set up with low action for ease of playing.

You need to go to a guitar center and try different styles of bass, standing up.

Play with the top of the neck closer to your shoulders. Uprights are like 40+". Lakland 35" sound awsome. I wish I had one.

 

[bassman10096]

Pick a bass with a smaller body and thin neck like an Ibanez SR series. They are 34in scale.

+1 If you haven't tried an Ibanez SR, you might like it. Very slim and comfortable neck. I played one for a while when I was transitioning to 34s from a 30". It helped at the time, but now regular scales feel perfectly normal and comfortable to me.

 

[cosmicevan]

i play a 36" scale and absolutely love it. i'm only 5'6" and have semi-large hands, but i find that the 36" scale length gives a tone that perfectly matches my playing style and what i'm after. today i played a bunch of 34" and 35" scales and it felt like a toy...