Medium Scale 32"

[spade2you]

So is everyone's experience that 34" scale strings don't work well on a 32"? I haven't put new strings on yet.

Sometimes. Keep in mind that many bass strings are set up to be used on the occasional 35" scale bass. I have to use a custom short B and E string on my 32" scale Cliff Bordwell 7 string. Hipshot also makes a tuner that's capable of accepting the thicker, non-tapered part of the string.

 

[ThisLisa]

Strings?

Not sure what all the fuss is about. I have been using long scale D'Addario half rounds on PRS #11 since 1977 without incident. They work perfectly. Was delighted to find out a few years ago that they even made medium scale strings. I never hesitate to use full scale strings on any of my mediums. Folks talk about the "break point" at the E string tuner or about the string becoming unwound there - but I have never had the problem. I always use several wraps around the peg and the string ends up at the bottom of the peg. Just the way Paul taught me years ago - and it seems to work fine for me. YMMV.

A few mediums I am proud of:

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Those are stunning!!! Is the Jazz a MIJ Fender?

 

[ThisLisa]

My 32" scalers. The newest is the Martin Keith Elfin fretless and the other 2 are Brady Muckelroy HMC's fretted and fretless. Brady does a great job with 32" scale B strings.View attachment 1110616View attachment 1110617View attachment 1110618

Those are really beautiful.

 

[BassHappy]

Thanks Lisa!

Yes, the jazz is out of Fender Japan, they are 1962 replicas with no bridge or pickup covers, hence no fugly screw holes after you remove them, which we all do. They call them JB62-M, M for medium. I bought mine in 2009. They made them in medium scale until the big intervention of Fender US and the planned crash of Fender Japan for the US market a while back. You used to see 3 or 4 of them on ebay pretty much all the time in various colors. They came in Red White, Black and Sunburst. Unfortunately, they only pop up very, very rarely now. I am hearing rumors that they still have a few around - or maybe even still make them on special order - but it's only for the Japanese market now - and not available directly from Fender on an export basis. Although I am sure if you could find one at one of the Japanese dealer sites - new or used - they could figure out a clever way to sell and get one to you! The Fender mediums are my favorites. I don't know what Warmoth did on their shorts and mediums as far as the bodies go - but Fender scaled the bodies down about 6% to make the smaller neck and neck pocket fit the horn area routing. It's subtle, but the ergonomics are perfect.

The old Fender Japan website still has them available:

Fender Japan Official Site

I have a big infatuation currently. I recently designed and had Fender twin hollows built for me - a jazz and P - and I can't put them down. They are so light and streamlined. Having some glamour shots done soon and I will post the finished basses.

But here is the idea:

Nitro finish by Paul Slagle in L.A. - and spalted maple tops with tort binding:

As you can see on the bridge, we settled on kind of a Southwestern Native American motif for these. The necks are inlayed with turquoise, yes blocks on the Jazz. They are so much lighter than my solid body Fenders. With the piezo's and the warmth of the tapes and the rosewood bridge, I am head over heels in love. I have five prototypes of my own design underway, and they are influenced by the construction of these, same bridge and a lot of what works for me on these is incorporated into the prototypes.

Photos to come of the finished basses, along with some other surprises.

 

[Joe Ty]

Strings?

Not sure what all the fuss is about. I have been using long scale D'Addario half rounds on PRS #11 since 1977 without incident. They work perfectly. Was delighted to find out a few years ago that they even made medium scale strings. I never hesitate to use full scale strings on any of my mediums. Folks talk about the "break point" at the E string tuner or about the string becoming unwound there - but I have never had the problem. I always use several wraps around the peg and the string ends up at the bottom of the peg. Just the way Paul taught me years ago - and it seems to work fine for me. YMMV.

A few mediums I am proud of:

View attachment 1110751

View attachment 1110757

View attachment 1110755

View attachment 1110756

View attachment 1110760

View attachment 1110761

View attachment 1110763

View attachment 1110764

View attachment 1110766

Wow, just wow. Those are gorgeous. How do the ones with no pickups work, particularly the solid bodies?

 

[grrg63]

Im also a fan of D'Addario ms strings. Ive also found the best deals on them in the talkbass store link at the top of the page.

 

[ThisLisa]

Thanks Lisa!

Yes, the jazz is out of Fender Japan, they are 1962 replicas with no bridge or pickup covers, hence no fugly screw holes after you remove them, which we all do. They call them JB62-M, M for medium. I bought mine in 2009. They made them in medium scale until the big intervention of Fender US and the planned crash of Fender Japan for the US market a while back. You used to see 3 or 4 of them on ebay pretty much all the time in various colors. They came in Red White, Black and Sunburst. Unfortunately, they only pop up very, very rarely now. I am hearing rumors that they still have a few around - or maybe even still make them on special order - but it's only for the Japanese market now - and not available directly from Fender on an export basis. Although I am sure if you could find one at one of the Japanese dealer sites - new or used - they could figure out a clever way to sell and get one to you! The Fender mediums are my favorites. I don't know what Warmoth did on their shorts and mediums as far as the bodies go - but Fender scaled the bodies down about 6% to make the smaller neck and neck pocket fit the horn area routing. It's subtle, but the ergonomics are perfect.

The old Fender Japan website still has them available:

Fender Japan Official Site

I have a big infatuation currently. I recently designed and had Fender twin hollows built for me - a jazz and P - and I can't put them down. They are so light and streamlined. Having some glamour shots done soon and I will post the finished basses.

But here is the idea:

View attachment 1110777

Nitro finish by Paul Slagle in L.A. - and spalted maple tops with tort binding:

View attachment 1110778

View attachment 1110779

As you can see on the bridge, we settled on kind of a Southwestern Native American motif for these. The necks are inlayed with turquoise, yes blocks on the Jazz. They are so much lighter than my solid body Fenders. With the piezo's and the warmth of the tapes and the rosewood bridge, I am head over heels in love. I have five prototypes of my own design underway, and they are influenced by the construction of these, same bridge and a lot of what works for me on these is incorporated into the prototypes.

Photos to come of the finished basses, along with some other surprises.

I wish they still did the MIJ available in the US. I see the new MIJ on Ebay for a hefty price.

I look forward to seeing your posted photos. Your bass so far looks gorgeous.

 

[ThisLisa]

Thank you. Here she is in her full glory.

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That is stunning.

 

[wagdog]

Re: Fender Japan. Ishibashi usually carries a large selection of used Fender Japan models and they will gladly ship to the US. They currently have a JB62M listed.

 

[BassHappy]

Wow, just wow. Those are gorgeous. How do the ones with no pickups work, particularly the solid bodies?

Hey Joe

Thanks for the kind words. The hollow basses use piezo pickups under the bridge saddle. On the solid bodies, there are piezo's built in to the actual metal saddles that hold the string. The two Roscoe basses pictured have RMC piezo's with 13 pin Roland outputs right on the basses. That way I can trigger midi by connecting a cable from the basses right to the midi boxes -although I use my VBass floor unint for most stuff with those basses.

I prefer piezo's to standard magnetic bass pickups these days. I think magnetic bass pickups just keep getting annoyingly brighter and brighter with each new release. I also think basses look great without visible pickups. I find that the piezo's respond much quicker to the touch than mags. They are also unforgiving and will make you re-consider your technique to a degree. They tend to translate every nuance of your playing - including the bad habits you may have. It's hard to describe - but they give me a kind of closeness and immediacy - and I love the sound. Rick Turner and Rob Allen use piezo's in most of their basses.

It's funny, the technology has gotten so much better in the past few years - most of the bass players who don't care for piezo's haven't had a chance to check out any really good quality piezo's. It's not any easy thing to do in your local mom and pop or Guitar Center. There have been a number of very mediocre piezo's floating around for years and lots of folks made up their minds about them when the technology was still being developed.

 

[Joe Ty]

Hey Joe

Thanks for the kind words. The hollow basses use piezo pickups under the bridge saddle. On the solid bodies, there are piezo's built in to the actual metal saddles that hold the string. The two Roscoe basses pictured have RMC piezo's with 13 pin Roland outputs right on the basses. That way I can trigger midi by connecting a cable from the basses right to the midi boxes -although I use my VBass floor unint for most stuff with those basses.

View attachment 1111116 View attachment 1111117

I prefer piezo's to standard magnetic bass pickups these days. I think magnetic bass pickups just keep getting annoyingly brighter and brighter with each new release. I also think basses look great without visible pickups. I find that the piezo's respond much quicker to the touch than mags. They are also unforgiving and will make you re-consider your technique to a degree. They tend to translate every nuance of your playing - including the bad habits you may have. It's hard to describe - but they give me a kind of closeness and immediacy - and I love the sound. Rick Turner and Rob Allen use piezo's in most of their basses.

It's funny, the technology has gotten so much better in the past few years - most of the bass players who don't care for piezo's haven't had a chance to check out any really good quality piezo's. It's not any easy thing to do in your local mom and pop or Guitar Center. There have been a number of very mediocre piezo's floating around for years and lots of folks made up their minds about them when the technology was still being developed.

Ta

Hey Joe

Thanks for the kind words. The hollow basses use piezo pickups under the bridge saddle. On the solid bodies, there are piezo's built in to the actual metal saddles that hold the string. The two Roscoe basses pictured have RMC piezo's with 13 pin Roland outputs right on the basses. That way I can trigger midi by connecting a cable from the basses right to the midi boxes -although I use my VBass floor unint for most stuff with those basses.

View attachment 1111116 View attachment 1111117

I prefer piezo's to standard magnetic bass pickups these days. I think magnetic bass pickups just keep getting annoyingly brighter and brighter with each new release. I also think basses look great without visible pickups. I find that the piezo's respond much quicker to the touch than mags. They are also unforgiving and will make you re-consider your technique to a degree. They tend to translate every nuance of your playing - including the bad habits you may have. It's hard to describe - but they give me a kind of closeness and immediacy - and I love the sound. Rick Turner and Rob Allen use piezo's in most of their basses.

It's funny, the technology has gotten so much better in the past few years - most of the bass players who don't care for piezo's haven't had a chance to check out any really good quality piezo's. It's not any easy thing to do in your local mom and pop or Guitar Center. There have been a number of very mediocre piezo's floating around for years and lots of folks made up their minds about them when the technology was still being developed.

Eye opening...at least for me. An engineer friend of mine I was jamming with a couple months ago showed me one of his guitars with Piezo's and he was also surprised it hasn't become more popular, but then again, reading TalkBass it is gospel that the best bass guitars were made 55 years ago and your amplifier needs a jib crane to set it up to be any good.

 

[jaybones]

@rllefebv Maybe you're right. I knew it took medium scale strings and just ass u med.

 

[Rikidella]

I have a Squier Gary Jarman and it s really confy , now it s time to change the strings , can anyone suggest some medium scale strings to put on it ? or any long scale strings are ok ?

 

[C Squared]

Hopefully in the next year as cash and time allow, I want to do a 32" j bass. Battling Lupus and also not the tallest guy, shorter scales are just more fun for me to play. Right now most of my bass time is spent on a 30" which works, but the 32" basses I've gotten to play feel nice.

Cheers man!

 

[Mushroo]

I get most of the benefits of a 32" scale by keeping a 34" tuned down a half step. When I play songs in the original key, they are one fret higher than usual, therefore 32" scale. Plus I also have the option to play in Eb at 34".