Is the short/medium scale craze over?

[ajkula66]

I owned an early short-scale Stingray and could not help being irked by the lack of preamp, another example of how short scales basses can often also be described as retro/traditional in tone and/or appearance. Maybe most basses do, I dunno.

If it makes you feel any better, a lack of preamp on a Stingray would irk me as well, and I never was a Ray kind of guy.

As someone who bought their first short-scale bass in '83 as a young lad with zero physical health issues at the time, I still maintain that every instrument - be it an SS bass or not - should be evaluated on its own merits or lack thereof, and added to the collection if it brings a missing flavour. That's all.

Forty years and numerous ailments later I'd still not buy a bass simply because it's short scale, although that's what I play 90% of the time. The "flavour requirement" - if you will - still applies.

My $0.02 only...

 

[Oig]

Not for me it ain’t! Injuries forced me here, but now I’ve discovered I really like them. I got both of these this year and they’re both fantastic.

 

[Ritter667]

I wonder if some people here are being somewhat intentionally obtuse. I think the OP certainly has a point and it's fairly obvious to most people who follow the world of bass that short/medium scales have become a lot more popular over the last 20-15 years. They were extremely popular in the '60s, dropped out of favor in the 70s, were practically non-existent in the '80s/90s, and started becoming cool again in the '00s, thanks to the likes of JMJ, etc.

It does very much seem to be a 'type' of short scale which is popular at the moment - generally retro styles, often (semi) hollow, played with flatwounds/tapewounds and a pick (typical contenders would be Mustangs, Guild Starfires, Epiphones, Serek, Wilcock, Hofner, Nordstrand Acinonyx). Of course as people have pointed out, you can get Alembic/Fodera/Musicman etc. short/medium scales these days (Alembics have always been available in SS of course) , but I'd guess the few who buy those do so for comfort rather than tone and you're not hearing those on modern pop music like you do the more retro ones.

I think they've become so accepted in modern pop that perhaps the 'craze' is now over, but I doubt they're going to go away any time soon.

Stanley Clarke's main bass is an Alembic short scale.

That man has huge hands and is an accomplished, to say the least, double bass player as well.

Also he has literally said in an interview that his preference for short scale electric basses is a matter of him preferring the tone he gets from them, a tone which by the way is pretty far from the cliché vintage short scale + flatwounds one.

And he has been playing that bass like since the 70's.

Also he is a living legend and an absolute master virtuoso bass player, who I doubt would compromise his art and craft.

 

[JIO]

I recall there being a seeming uptick in the availability of short-scale strings about a decade ago, but that may have been a response to aging bassists who could not find strings for short-scales they already had. Which in turn revived the short-scale bass market.

But I agree with @jd56hawk: any "craze" for short scales would have been created after the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan. All those garage bands, all those school kinds, with their small hands. Do a retrospective comparison of the availability of short-scales to long-scales from back then.

Yes - maybe there is a current "craze"/ interest... but they've been around a long time and for good reason! Short, medium, long scale? All basses - not unlike double basses coming in various sizes/scales. "student" = marketing