You can temporarily convert a long scale instrument (34
inches) to a medium scale or short scale.
For close to medium scale put a capo on the first fret and
then retune E-A-D-G. This makes the scale length 32.1
inches (medium scale is 32 inches)
Go 2 frets and retune to EADG for 30.3 inch scale (short
scale is 30 inches.) Anything beyond that is too flabby...
The only problem is that you might get some buzz from
having less tension on the neck... and the bigger issue is that
if you want to do this semi-permanently you should adjust
the truss rod and re-intonate the bass... especially if you
play up higher than say the 5th fret. If you rely heavily on
the dots they will be in the wrong place (shifted by 1 or 2.)
But just for finding out the sound and feel of your bass if it
was a short/medium scale don't worry about the intonation...
just have a listen and then change it back.
cheers,
Joe
P.S. a 6 string guitar capo will fit on a 4 string jazz bass neck...
not sure of the p neck... but I haven't seen anything
that will accomodate a 5 string or more. I use a standard
kyser capo for guitar.
oh yeah and here is the fret spacing for a 34 inch scale...
(some builders adjust slightly by a few hundredths of an inch
to make up for the physics of the string and string bending.)
fretNum Distance from bridge(scaleLength)
0(nut) 34.00
1 32.09
2 30.29
3 28.59
4 26.99
5 25.47
6 24.04
7 22.69
8 21.42
9 20.22
10 19.08
11 18.01
12 17.00
13 16.05
14 15.15
15 14.30
16 13.49
17 12.74
18 12.02
19 11.35
20 10.71
21 10.11
22 9.54
23 9.01
24 8.50
the formula is:
34/(2^(fretNumber/12))
or for other scale lengths: (works for guitar too)
scaleLength/(2^(fretNumber/12))
inches) to a medium scale or short scale.
For close to medium scale put a capo on the first fret and
then retune E-A-D-G. This makes the scale length 32.1
inches (medium scale is 32 inches)
Go 2 frets and retune to EADG for 30.3 inch scale (short
scale is 30 inches.) Anything beyond that is too flabby...
The only problem is that you might get some buzz from
having less tension on the neck... and the bigger issue is that
if you want to do this semi-permanently you should adjust
the truss rod and re-intonate the bass... especially if you
play up higher than say the 5th fret. If you rely heavily on
the dots they will be in the wrong place (shifted by 1 or 2.)
But just for finding out the sound and feel of your bass if it
was a short/medium scale don't worry about the intonation...
just have a listen and then change it back.
cheers,
Joe
P.S. a 6 string guitar capo will fit on a 4 string jazz bass neck...
not sure of the p neck... but I haven't seen anything
that will accomodate a 5 string or more. I use a standard
kyser capo for guitar.
oh yeah and here is the fret spacing for a 34 inch scale...
(some builders adjust slightly by a few hundredths of an inch
to make up for the physics of the string and string bending.)
fretNum Distance from bridge(scaleLength)
0(nut) 34.00
1 32.09
2 30.29
3 28.59
4 26.99
5 25.47
6 24.04
7 22.69
8 21.42
9 20.22
10 19.08
11 18.01
12 17.00
13 16.05
14 15.15
15 14.30
16 13.49
17 12.74
18 12.02
19 11.35
20 10.71
21 10.11
22 9.54
23 9.01
24 8.50
the formula is:
34/(2^(fretNumber/12))
or for other scale lengths: (works for guitar too)
scaleLength/(2^(fretNumber/12))
