in pursuit of a short scale/medium scale.

Birdsong.

 

Hey Torkk

I will let someone else take this one. I have heard everything I have to say a million times and I am in no mood to listen to me again!



Help might be here if you have time: http://www.innertainment.net/medium.html

 

Hey

I have a 32" Medium scale P bass that I built from Warmoth

Their P or J bodies are 7/8 the size of a normal P or J bass body, so not much smaller than the full size body

Also, they have three other short scale bodies to choose from: G4, G4 Single Cut and Z body

All of their Warhead short scale necks come in 32 or 30 scale, Straight (like a Fender neck with string tree) or Tiltback and all fit all of their short scale bodies.

So, you can have one body and get multiple necks if you wanted to go between 32 and 30 scales or straight vs tilt for example...they are standard 4 bolt necks.

No where near Birdsong prices

They have many wood, color etc options

Complete bass can be had under $800 plus its fun to build it yourself

 

I have a dano longhorn and I love it, I don't mind that it's "toy-like". Fender short scales usually feel full-sized relative to their body shapes, here is the ss jag next to mikro and a full scale p


From this thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/short-scale-basses.795485/

 

I had an Urge I in the mid to late 90's. I loved it, but it was so small I felt like I was playing a toy. I had some neck problems with it which resulted in me unloading it for a jazz bass. I don't regret the jazz bass for a second - I've still got it. But, I do wish I'd never parted with my Urge bass. It is simply the best Fender bass I have ever played. Fortunately, my father looks out for me. A decade or so ago, he found one for next to nothing, and kept it in storage since he got it. That bass is within arms reach of me right now.

On the other hand, several short- and medum- scalers have decent sized bodies. My Kubicki isn't small at all, and if you like aggressive, active midrange, there is absolutely no beating that bass. The recent Fender Rascal is a full sized body with a short scale neck. I don't remember the Squier SS Jaguar being very small, either.

But, all in all, I say that if you liked the Mikro, get the Mikro. And get over it.

 

Torkk, you don't want this guy in your thread. He's contagious - you will end up with half a dozen medium scale basses faster than you can say "Happy the Man!"

 

I got a birdsong last month from the classifieds here. I sold everything I had to get it, and it was totally worth it. I hit 40 a few months ago and arthritis and some neck issues were really making gigs painful. My birdsong is 6 lbs and balances perfectly. It also sounds monstrous.

I had an esp short scale 5 string, and also have a Hondo and a parts bass with an sx short scale neck. I gigged with those for about half of last year, and I thought they were not too bad. I sold my 2 long scale basses to get the birdsong.

Now I can say if you think you're playing short scale full time, get something to tide you over and start saving for a birdsong, you will not regret it. It is small but does not feel like you're playing a toy. I feel like I will now have another 20 gigging years (more hopefully!) that I may not have had.

 

Squier Jag SS.

Check sig for details.

Yes, I'm biased.

 

Squier Modified Telecaster Basses (Black) are 199.99 at MF.

 

Also Scott Beckwith of Birdsong is now making a new model called a "short bass" $1050 shipped - look and sound nice. Solid mahogany or walnut. Great deal. There is a video on sbeckwith.com

 

The more I play the Mikro, the more normal it feels. Seemed a little toy like at first, but it's so comfortable
and easy to play that you forget about it after a while.
The SS Jaguar felt that way at first too, but not as much.

If you want a short scale (30.75") that feels big and chunky and a little heavy, but very, very solid,
with a good sized body, check out the Hagstom HB-4. Very versatile too.
I've had a few others too, like the Gretsch 2202 and the Cort Action Jr.

If you like the Mikro, it's excellent bang for the buck, and I don't think it would take you long to get used to its size.

 

Here is the Short Bass page:

The Shortbass short scale bass guitar by Scott Beckwith

 

I have a Squier VM Jaguar Short Scale and a Fender Modern Player Short Scale Jazz. Both of them feel well balanced and not "toy like" at all. I'm primarily a guitar player and I used to own a '96 Fender American Standard Precision Bass. I found it difficult to play and I decided I didn't need an American Standard for playing and home for my recordings. That's when I decided on a Short Scale. Both the Squier and the Fender sound great and where able to be setup perfectly. I have D'Addario Chromes on the Jaguar and it is VERY easy to play. Just got the Fender so it still has the roundwounds that came with it. From my experience, I can highly recommend either one of these basses.

 

Being the most comprehensive informaiton source for 32" here, you should just stick all your info into a post on the medium scale club thread or whatever it's calleed and just point people over to it; that'll not only save you the typing time but also backdoor moderate them to a place where the info probably already exists.

Hell, stick a link in your .sig, it's worthy info that you have to type way too often.

 

Hey gfen

I kind of do that....

I was really just teasing with the Groucho Marx quote above - I am pretty accessible and willing to answer any questions that anyone may have with respect to medium scalers. Ready to help when I can.

The short scale stuff gets a little more tedious for me - I am not a short scale guy, and the difference between short and long scale is much more significant - but the rest of it, sure! By the way, I posted this yesterday on the Official Medium Scale Club and no one has responded. This is really an exceptionally rare medium scaler if anyone is interested:

OK, so I don't normally get worked up about much these days....



But this is pretty special. I have one pretty much identical to this, except mine is trans black over swamp ash with a rosewood board. And, although the body on this one is definitely not my cup of tea - the neck on this bass is very rare. This is only the second medium scale Fender Japan neck I have EVER seen with a maple board and i have been keeping an eye out since 2005. There are very few of them running around. They were special order only in the '80's and very rare then.

Fender Japan PJM Medium Scale Made in Japan Vintage Precision Jazz Bass RARE | eBay

He has posted over 100 photos so you can really check it out.

If I had a use for it, I would buy this one just for the neck right now, but I don't.

Full disclosure, I have nothing in this, just passing on the fact that this is an extremely rare neck. Very interesting buy for anyone who has a Fender Japan medium scale P undersized body and wants a J neck for it. Alternatively, this seems like a nice bass on it's own merits - just not my cup of tea. As far as mine - no guarantees - but in my experience the P and J necks from this era are interchangeable. So you know, this body is NOT a standard size Fender Japan P bass body. The treble horn particularly is very short on these Jazz Special models.

I can say that this guy comes up with quality medium scalers more than most dealers. I don't know where or how he digs them up, but I bought at least one and maybe two Fender Japan mediums from this same guy....