Medium Scale vs. Long Scale Basses

[Indiedog]

What on earth constitutes a "Zombie Thread?"
Does the fact that a thread was started some time ago somehow taint it? Or render it unimportant or impotent?

I am being serious. Is there some sort of unwritten (or written) rule that a thread must be dropped after a certain amount of time? Due to the large amount of "you should have done a search on this subject and replied to those older threads instead of starting a new thread" responses on this and other forums, I would think that sticking with older threads would be a wise thing.

From my reasonably large amount of Forum experience, TalkBass seems to have the largest amount of old but active (and generally, helpful) Threads.

 

[BassHappy]

What on earth constitutes a "Zombie Thread?"
Does the fact that a thread was started some time ago somehow taint it? Or render it unimportant or impotent?

I am being serious. Is there some sort of unwritten (or written) rule that a thread must be dropped after a certain amount of time? Due to the large amount of "you should have done a search on this subject and replied to those older threads instead of starting a new thread" responses on this and other forums, I would think that sticking with older threads would be a wise thing.

From my reasonably large amount of Forum experience, TalkBass seems to have the largest amount of old but active (and generally, helpful) Threads.

Hey Indie

Thanks for chiming in! I couldn't agree more. I thought the revival of the thread was moving along quite nicely and thread resurrections never bother me at all. If it happens to be a topic I am not interested in - I might roll my eyes or chuckle - but ultimately I simply move along. I find it a grand waste of time and energy to point out this or that about a thread (old or new) or to belittle the posters - I either comment on the subject matter as I see fit - or I move along as most of us do.

I think it is important for each and every player to play the bass that fits them properly, and to consider what that means - and to understand the growing number of high quality options in every scale and size. That is what the thread was intended to be about and if any of you want to carry on I am certainly here to respond.

Not speaking for anyone else here, but I think I would rather be working on designing and building my new prototypes basses - or playing on or producing the three new album projects I have going in my studio. It makes more sense to me than spending time refining my sarcasm....

By the way, my new Fender Hollow twin P and J's are getting picked up from the EchoPark paint booth today, and final assembly is beginning. I am stoked!

 

[mongo2]

Not speaking for anyone else here, but I think I would rather be working on designing my new prototypes basses - or playing on or producing the three new album projects I have going. It makes more sense to me than spending time refining my sarcasm....

To be honest, your sarcasm skills could use some work, so could your bragging skills.

 

[Indiedog]

Hey Indie

Thanks for chiming in! I couldn't agree more. I thought the revival of the thread was moving along quite nicely and thread resurrections never bother me at all. If it happens to be a topic I am not interested in - I might roll my eyes or chuckle - but ultimately I simply move along. I find it a grand waste of time and energy to point out this or that about a thread or to belittle the posters - I either comment on the subject matter as I see fit - or I move along as most of us do.

I think it is important for each and every player to play the bass that fits them properly, and to consider what that means - and to understand the growing number of high quality options in every scale and size. That is what the thread was intended to be about and if any of you want to carry on I am certainly here to respond.

So much of the time here we all debate relatively minor equipment changes and taste issues. Most every thread has SOMETHING worthwhile. But sometimes really helpful threads show up; when a thread covers something really important like whether a bass will potentially cause injury or not, whether it will encourage a player to continue playing, or whether it encourages a player to chuck the instrument into the closet, I think that is very worthwhile.

 

[blue4]

30" having weak G strings compared to 34"s? I rather think it's the other way around. The D and G on a 34" sounds weak and thin compared to a 30" or even a 32" to my ears.

 

[Crimax]

Hey BassHappy, your prototypes basses are really good looking!

As for the short scales having only one sound, it is only my impression, everybody has his taste and sensibility, i sort of found that although I passed from one short to another , (I played the jaguar SS, Gibson sg and owned a Cort Action junior and a Fender Jazz modern player short scale) the sound was more or less the same, instead with medium scale i can feel and hear differences between for example the warwick rockbass and fender jazz; next days iìgoing to test the new Ibanez TMB 30 and see if my ears are evolved

 

[BassHappy]

Hey BassHappy, your prototypes basses are really good looking!

As for the short scales having only one sound, it is only my impression, everybody has his taste and sensibility, i sort of found that although I passed from one short to another , (I played the jaguar SS, Gibson sg and owned a Cort Action junior and a Fender Jazz modern player short scale) the sound was more or less the same, instead with medium scale i can feel and hear differences between for example the warwick rockbass and fender jazz; next days iìgoing to test the new Ibanez TMB 30 and see if my ears are evolved

Hey Crimax

Thanks for the kind words, but those are not my prototypes. Those are some replica Fender Hollows in medium scale - a P and a J - that I am experimenting with. Excited about getting my hands on them though - they have been over a year in the works!

 

[Old Blastard]

It's not either/or for me. I have 30, 32, 33 and 34 inchers with all manner of semi, full hollow, chambered and solid bodies and I love each of them for different reasons. That said, when I Decided to have The One built for me, I went semi-hollow 32 scale with jazz pickups and piezo in the bridge because why not?

 

[Crimax]

Looking at your basses make me want to be a millionaire only to collect bass and amps....

BassHappy, which pickup will you put on P and J?

Old Blastard, how is the weight of your custom?

 

[Old Blastard]

Looking at your basses make me want to be a millionaire only to collect bass and amps....

BassHappy, which pickup will you put on P and J?

Old Blastard, how is the weight of your custom?

It's extremely light. I think it's 7.5 pounds but it feels lighter to me. Andrew Drake even put in a mild belly cut for this old mans belly. I can play it for two or three hours with no shoulder problems. He nailed exactly what I wanted and threw in some ideas of his own

 

[peterpalmieri]

I'm interested what folks have to say about the low B on a 32" scale? I have no experience. I've owned two separate 33" scale basses with a low B (still own one of them) and a current build I have underway is a 33" scale 6. I also have a 30" scale 5 strung E-C and while I've attempted to string it B-G the low B doesn't seem to speak well, at least on that instrument.

Pete

 

[Old Blastard]

My only 5 is a 34. Afraid I am, as my ex used to say, useless.

 

[Immigrant]

I'm interested what folks have to say about the low B on a 32" scale? I have no experience. I've owned two separate 33" scale basses with a low B (still own one of them) and a current build I have underway is a 33" scale 6. I also have a 30" scale 5 strung E-C and while I've attempted to string it B-G the low B doesn't seem to speak well, at least on that instrument.

Pete

I'm your guy.

I had a medium scale five tuned B-G until financial difficulty forced its sale.

If the right materials are used and the craftsmanship is top notch, it will result in a VERY useable B. My bass was built by a luthier here (FBB Custom) and it was nothing short of spectacular. The strings weren't floppy (to me or anyone that played it) and I had the action set lower than any other bass I've ever touched.

 

[peterpalmieri]

I'm your guy.

I had a medium scale five tuned B-G until financial difficulty forced its sale.

If the right materials are used and the craftsmanship is top notch, it will result in a VERY useable B. My bass was built by a luthier here (FBB Custom) and it was nothing short of spectacular. The strings weren't floppy (to me or anyone that played it) and I had the action set lower than any other bass I've ever touched.

How did the B string speak as you moved up the fretboard? Folks like to talk about a thunderous low B but what is really important to me is having it be usable up the fretboard. I ask out of curiosity as I am pretty comfy on the 33

 

[Immigrant]

How did the B string speak as you moved up the fretboard? Folks like to talk about a thunderous low B but what is really important to me is having it be usable up the fretboard. I ask out of curiosity as I am pretty comfy on the 33

I rarely moved past the 7th fret or so but when I did, I have no memory of wolf notes or weird harmonics.

Bacchus is making 33" scale five string Jazzes, IIRC. I've heard good things about them and they are beautiful!

 

[BassHappy]

Looking at your basses make me want to be a millionaire only to collect bass and amps....

BassHappy, which pickup will you put on P and J?

Old Blastard, how is the weight of your custom?

Hey Crimax

I have a 10 year old Rob Allen "Mouse" and it's the only short scale bass I own.

I have a serious love-hate relationship with it - it's too cramped for me in the upper registers but it sounds amazing. So I duplicated the electronics in it - hoping it will yield a similar sound and result. So, we will see.

It's a Fishman Acoustic Matrix Natural 1 undersaddle pickup and active preamp, exactly like the one in my Rob Allen. They are obsolete and are not made any more. I was lucky enough to find two of them used on ebay. The Fishman Matrix 2's and Fishman Infinity systems are not quite as good for bass, this according to Fishman. The pickup was never designed to be a bass pickup, but when Rob was experimenting, he really liked it so - at least when he made mine - that is what he was using.

Not sure what he is using now.

 

[Crimax]

BassHappy, are you going to put the fishman on both the basses? I would be very curious to listen the sound, when they will be ready give us some samples!

Peterpalmieri, my only 5 strings is a 34, i'm looking for a medium scale but they are extremely rare to find, and as i know not all the b string sound good, you need to try them. Furthermore on the majority of the 5 strings tests i've seen on youtube, the players played the bass like a 4 string, ignoring the fifth, so these tests are quite unuseful.

 

[peterpalmieri]

Well, last night I had to work out Funky *itch by Phish for an upcoming gig. That stretches up to a G on the B string or the 8th fret for the turn around. You can of course pull it back to 1st position but you can see in the video he's playing up high. In any case this is about the limit of my Valenti 33" with flats and the B on that bass is generally very good. Played on my 34" Ken Smith with rounds and I can even run a line from that G on the B string up to a C, end up playing a half step over the octave on the B. Part of that is a function of the flats and not the scale length.

With regard to my earlier question this is where I have reservations with regard to the 32" scale. See the video link below as a reference.



Also here is an in progress shot of my 33" Drake 6, a lot of time and effort have gone into the details thus far. I had considered 32" scale but the unknown was a bit to much for me and I know 33" has worked for me in the past.

 

[garmenteros]

I dare anyone to play a low A or even B on a 30 scale instrument and have definition and clarity. Its just not going to happen unless you put strings that are thick as bridge cables. Right now I'm betting on 32 scale though. Im converting my headless 5 string 35 scale to 32 scale due to ease of playing. I will post soundclips when done.

 

[peterpalmieri]

I dare anyone to play a low A or even B on a 30 scale instrument and have definition and clarity. Its just not going to happen unless you put strings that are thick as bridge cables. Right now I'm betting on 32 scale though. Im converting my headless 5 string 35 scale to 32 scale due to ease of playing. I will post soundclips when done.

Very cool I will be interested in hearing your results. Like I said I've had success at 33 and failure at 30. Very few have I even heard of with a solid B at 32, but you have to be willing to roll the dice or spend some bucks. Good luck.