Basses for shorties

[AltGrendel]

Often times short scale basses will have a smaller body.

Granted, but that's not the question.

The actual question is does scale length matter?

 

[skeeler]

Lastly, I cannot overstate how important I find it is to have a perfectly balanced instrument of comfortable weight. As a smaller person, if I'm playing a long scale bass, I slide around a lot as to avoid stretching too much. I can't slide if I'm fighting the instrument or holding it up with my left hand. Having a light bass is important (less than 9 lb) but even more important is balance. I can't have a bass that doesn't stay in place if I let go of it because while I'm sliding, my left hand gets slowed down if it's supporting the neck.

Agreed. I'm 5'5" and have small hands. For this reason, I focus way more on ergonomics than on tone. There's a lot you can do to change an instrument's tone (strings, pick-ups, preamp), but there's not much you can do about ergonomics. Balance is a major factor for the reasons honeyiscoom posted, but it is often overlooked, I think. The position of the upper strap button is very important for balance, as is the size of the headstock and weight of the tuners. I put lightweight tuners on all my basses for this reason.

The closer the bridge is to the end of the bass' body, the smaller the reach will seem with a set 34" scale. There's a lot of variation in this design feature.

Also agreed! This is another factor that it important for short players and is often overlooked. The position of the bridge saddles, which combines with the scale length to determine the reach to the lower frets. Most short-scale basses have their bridge located farther from the end of the body, so the reach to fret 1 isn't much shorter than on a full-scale. By contrast, my 33-inch BTB33 inherited its bridge position (very close to the strap button) from the 35-inch BTBs, so the reach to the fret 1 is almost 2 inches shorter than on a 34-inch SR.

The position of the upper strap button also has an impact on reach. If the button is higher (closer to the body) than the 12th fret , the bass will hang more to the left of a right-handed player, increasing reach.

 

[Bassmaticmatt]

Granted, but that's not the question.

The actual question is does scale length matter?

For me no I'm 6'4". But I do like my little Bronco Bass. As well as my flcok of long scale basses. But my wife is 5'3" and she can play a long scale but much prefers the Bronco.

 

[AltGrendel]

For me no I'm 6'4". But I do like my little Bronco Bass. As well as my flcok of long scale basses. But my wife is 5'3" and she can play a long scale but much prefers the Bronco.

Pretty much same here, I'm 5'7" though.

 

[skeeler]

Try BEAD tuning and treat the 5th fret like your open strings...instant short scale.

You can also use a 5-string for this.

It does help for some songs, but not for others.

 

[Herbie Chesnutt]

Warmoth has some great parts that allow you to put together an excellent shorty or medium scale. Try a Squier Jag or Ibanez Talman first if you want to test drive a shorty. They are light too.

No reason to be locked into a 34" scale. The tones you get from a quality shorty will still be solid and if you are playing more because it fits better you will sound better.

EDIT: FWIW, I had the Talman and the Jag at the same time and chose the Talman because the nut was a bit wider. It fit my hand better. The combination of short scale and 1.5 nut is not for everyone. It can feel camped for a bassist. The Talman does not have that problem.

Also too, I have a full scale Fender fretless that I adore, but I MUCH prefer playing my Talman shortscale. Like, no competition. And it sounds phenomenal through the GK MB112. Huge. I would wager that it would be impossible to pick out the shorty and the full scale pbass in a blind tone test with all other things being equal.

Really, just find that bass that feels good in your hands and makes you want to play. Maybe it will be a full scale that weighs less or has a dinky shape. Maybe its a 32" scale. Maybe a shorty is your thing. It don't matter. Just plaaaaaaay! Playing will do more for your tone than gear in most cases.

 

[Devinple]

You could try the Hofner Shorty

 

[johnson79]

WHY HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS? I'm 6'10, so I don't need a smaller bass, but this would be fun just for noodlin' around.

6'10"??!?!? Wow! You could probably play an upright with a strap.

 

[Herbal]

I really like this, unfortunately, optician and dentist bills have to put it on hold for a while

 

[Devinple]

Try BEAD tuning and treat the 5th fret like your open strings...instant short scale.

Would you use a capo on the 5th fret?

 

[GigantorTX]

6'10"??!?!? Wow! You could probably play an upright with a strap.

I played the upright in school orchestra for 7 years. I wanted to play the cello, but the teacher was going gaga over the size of my hands and made me play bass.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Just wondering what people would recommend bass wise for someone who isn't the tallest?

Got a jazz bass at the moment but feel like it's just drowning me.

I am only 5ft 8 so not massively short but just want a bass with a smaller body.

I'm about your size. Actually, an inch shorter. I don't really have a problem with the size. But, a Precision body is smaller.
If you like the neck on the J, you can find Ps with J necks. You might also consider a PJ configuration. I don't know about the others, but both the Fender and G&L PJs have J necks.

 

[johnson79]

I played the upright in school orchestra for 7 years. I wanted to play the cello, but the teacher was going gaga over the size of my hands and made me play bass.[/QUOTE

I played the cello for a bit, but always wanted to play bass! There were only like 2 or 3 basses and loads of cellos, so that's what I got.

 

[fjadams]

Once again, as usual on here, the thread turns into the proverbial "I've never played a short scale bass but here's the reasons you shouldn't either" thread.

The question was for some suggestions for a shortie. I'm 5'6" with small hands and short fingers. I can and have played long scale basses in the past but never liked any of them enough to keep it for long. First long scale was a 67 P that I bought new when I worked in a music store. Didn't like it so traded it for a 67 Guild Starfire. Much better bass in every way.

A few you might look at are the Fender/Squier Jag SS, Bronco, Mustang, Modern Player SS Jazz if you can find one or the new Mustang PJ. Ibanez TMB30 or their Mikro. Danelectro Longhorn. Gretsch 2224. Hofner Ignition Violin or Club. Hagstrom HB4. SWB-1, Scott Whitley. Or go sub scale with a solid or hollow body U-Bass. Also there are SX (Rondo) that make a variety of short and sub short basses.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Fender style basses are so large that if I put a short scale 30" Squier Bronco Bass next to a 35" extra long scale Schecter 5-string, the Schecter is barely bigger than the short scale Bronco Bass. It's actually quite shocking. I've had many friends think that my extra long scale 5-string is a short scale because they're used to Fenders and it looks very small for its size. There are some shorter scale Fenders out there that are just as big as any full scale basses out there because Fender likes to oversize everything on their basses.

As much as I like Ibanez for their comfort, I'm actually not a huge fan of their average sound, which I find very bland. With that in mind, I think the Yamaha TRBX304 is a really good sounding bass, I prefer it over their TRBX504. Or if you're going to go with Ibanez, the Ibanez SR650 is simply outstanding in its tone and I think is one of the best basses they make. A lot of their cheaper basses have a more Fender sound, too, like the GSR200 or their new Talman basses, which look at first glance like Fender but are actually a bit smaller (for both the 30" and 34" models). The short scale Talman is especially cheap, and while about the same price, is smaller and lighter than their Squier Jaguar counterpart. The Schecter Stiletto Stealth is a great bass which I don't like in its 5-string version, but in 4 strings is perfectly well balanced. Or Stiletto Vintage 4 is good if you prefer J pickup. The Schecter Raiden Deluxe is discontinued but you often find it for not very much money, it's a very straightforward passive PJ bass with great tone though I find it to have the tiniest bit of neck dive.

These are all very easy to handle, easy to play basses that feel smaller than "normal" bass guitars.

The Talman seems balanced quite well from my experience, probably from the body design. In some ways they improved on Fender designs I think even if it's a cheaper bass. I can see this bass is meant to pull some Fender fans over to their side. The tone is definitely not as bland as the SR series.

I get what you mean about the SRs. Those soapbars are pretty plain sounding, I suppose because you have the preamp to EQ it.

 

[fjadams]

Of course when you see crap like this from a supposedly knowledgeable source, BassMusicianMagazine, it doesn't help any.

"Most of the time, when someone looks at a short scale bass, there is that inherent trade-off that kicks in. Sure, it will be more comfortable to play, due to the shorter scale length. But, it usually comes at the cost of the tone; many short scale basses have the notoriety of being thick, muddy and thumpy. And that’s WITH round wound strings on it, so they can become completely undefined and lost in the mix if flatwounds are put on them."

Pure tripe from a pretentious twit.

 

[thehangingmist]

My bass is 33" scale length but besides that it's shape fits me perfectly. Am getting a 32" Yamaha super medium series bass soon and that will be interesting.

The ibanez SR bodies feel nice and small but I can't get used to the tiny string spacing as soon as you go beyond 4 strings with them

 

[Antisyzygy]

My bass is 33" scale length but besides that it's shape fits me perfectly. Am getting a 32" Yamaha super medium series bass soon and that will be interesting.

The ibanez SR bodies feel nice and small but I can't get used to the tiny string spacing as soon as you go beyond 4 strings with them

Do you have a Ibanez BTB33?

 

[Antisyzygy]

Of course when you see crap like this from a supposedly knowledgeable source, BassMusicianMagazine, it doesn't help any.

"Most of the time, when someone looks at a short scale bass, there is that inherent trade-off that kicks in. Sure, it will be more comfortable to play, due to the shorter scale length. But, it usually comes at the cost of the tone; many short scale basses have the notoriety of being thick, muddy and thumpy. And that’s WITH round wound strings on it, so they can become completely undefined and lost in the mix if flatwounds are put on them."

Pure tripe from a pretentious twit.

Yeah, I don't really get it. I feel like too many people don't think before they settle on their opinions.

The reason people would describe short scale basses as "muddy" in aggregate is because the two most common short scale basses out there are Gibson EBs (or similar) or Violin basses. Both of those bass archetypes are not designed for bright or slap happy bass lines.

The difference between a Jazz bass and a EB3 doesn't just boil down to scale length. It's obvious if you look at them. The pickups are clearly different (humbuckers vs single coils) and in different positions (slammed against the neck, vs mid position), for example.

Put a lipstick pickup in a Bronco bass. It's not muddy or unrefined.

 

[two fingers]

Victor Wooden and Steve Bailey are both short guys. Neither can be 5'3". Vič could literally walk under my arm if I held it out straight. Steve plays a standard scale 6 string and Victor plays standard scale everything....4, 5, 6 string whatever. Both play a full size upright. Technique will help more than anything.

That being said, contact @MarkoYYZ at Hammersmith. He is offering 32" scale basses and some of his body styles are smaller than standard J and P basses. Great guy to deal with. And you can pick a lot of options. I'm looking at an August delivery of a 5 string myself and Marko has been a joy to deal with. The Hammersmith Facebook page has a great deal more info than the Web site at this point. @JimmyM has one so perhaps he can help you with quality reviews. What I have read and seen online has been very positive.