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Best sounding short scale bass?
- Thread starter MonkeyMan2
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- short scale bass
I don’t own one, but I’ve played a 32” Midwestern 5 string, and the low B is superb!
I’m not a five string guy.... by any stretch. But as a working session player from way back when, I recognize the need to have one in my stable. That being said, I’ve always used Lakland fivers because the 35” scale does wonders for the tone of the low B.
All that said.... I’m fairly certain Jake owns the market on fairy dust, because that 32” Midwestern played and sounded better than any 5 string I’ve ever picked up. I actually started the process of ordering a 5 string Serek, but backed out because I just simply prefer 4 strings.... it is a good excuse to procure a Serek with B90s though.
My vote is for the Supro Huntington II or III. Comfortable, well built, and plenty of great tones on tap. HIGHLY underrated imo
Alembic series 1.
Maybe not "closest to a P bass", although I definitely would say mine was the best short scale I've ever played.
Maybe not "closest to a P bass", although I definitely would say mine was the best short scale I've ever played.
70s Guild Jetstar II is my ultimate fav. The Epiphone Rivoli crushes and the Vox 250 is one of my favs too. I don't mind the playability of the Danelectro Longhorn but might switch out the pickup.
Of my short scales, my favorites are my fretted and fretless Shortbasses from Scott Beckwith of Birdsong. The fretless he demos here is the very one he built for me. The Shortbass is roughly half the cost of a Birdsong.
Curious that Sweetwater shows an upcoming sunburst/maple SS Stingray, but it’s not on the Music Man site.
I've been using shortscales for a good while , a Dano Longhorn is my primary bass , but I have five other shortscales , and a sixth is on the way . (a Les Paul Jr) . I've still got the usual assortment of long scales , but I tend to gig with shorties .
I have been using Shortys for many years now as my main players. Fender PJ Mustang MIM and a German Warwick Corvette. The Corvette is awesome it’s active but can nail the P tone or the J tone and since it still has the MEC electronics it totally nails the aggressive Warwick tone or it can be tamed. It has worked in every situation I have needed it to.
Definitely subjective to user. But I find my SGs to sound every bit as loud and clear as any other bass I own. It's all about string choice and EQing. I can't figure out why everyone claims they are all thud and mud. The 3 Gibson SG Basses ( not the older EB3 ones though they rock too) I use daily have no issues finding tones for old music or new "modern" music. They slap and tap better than my P bass. Fingerstyle is my primary technique so I don't slap all that much but when I do, I don't have problems....they play like butter. Unless it's because I don't use flatwounds on an already thick sounding bass but plain old nickel rounds handle everything I could want from my shortscales....and a tube pre-amp.....that helps too.
I have been impressed with the Supro that a friend of mine purchased recently. It comes in three pickup configurations: 1) one pickup in roughly the P-bass position; 2) two pickups in roughly Rickenbacker positions; and 3) three pickups distributed about the body. No, these basses do not sound like the basses from which the pickup positions are derived. But they are clean, concise, intonate well, slot a mix well, and the Supro pickups have a singular edge to them to give definition as well as foundation.
Mustang JMJ is just unbeatable at any price ... like seriously unbeatable, I AB'd it against so much of the competition and I couldn't find anything close
Two of my three Warmoth basses are 32" scale. Medium, not short. I compared my 32" P bass with a USA G&L LB100 and found the Warmoth sounded slightly better. It was just a bit fuller sounding without losing clarity or sustain.
My Warmoth MM copy is 34" scale but I detune it a whole step to DGCF. This has me playing 2 frets higher on average with lower tension strings, just like 30" scale. And the bass sounds great! I can hear a very slight change in overall timbre with the lower tuning but the change is minimal.
Based on my experiences with these basses I believe a solid body bass where the only change is to reduce the scale to 30" (and perhaps shift the pickup to be in the same relative position) will sound very similar to the 34" counterpart. Close enough that the difference would not be viewed as a weakness.
That's an interesting bass and if the 1.4" width at the nut is accurate it's the thinnest one I've read about. What did you think about those buttons? That was the one drawback that gives me doubts because it's more complex than a simple toggle switch or tone knobs and you don't the have the ability to adjust tiny increments of bass or treble. It's a nice looking bass though!
I have been a short scale bass player (in addition to long scale) for decades. I’ve never really had a complaint about their tone. But the best sounding is my newest one, a G&L Fallout Bass.
Wilcock basses out of London makes pretty dope short scales:
