Hello,
I’ve been wanting a short scale bass. Tried a few and think I found one worth keeping. I had even tried a high dollar one but it arrived with cosmetic and neck carve issues and a really wonky setup*. Here I am with a cheap one that is much better after some easy work.
I used a Presidents’ Day coupon to order it on a Sunday, 13 Feb, and it arrived two days later on Tuesday even with the free shipping. I was a bit worried since it shipped from my local Guitar Center but it was in a factory sealed box, not a floor model like some unfortunate TB members have received.
Why did I order this bass? The headstock. The fret marker inlays. The reverse P pickup. The body shape. The price.
Out of the box, it was obvious the neck angle was off. It was bit the wrong way. The E string saddle was bottomed out with 8/64” action. But the neck looked good and felt good. The nut was definitely higher than necessary. The fret ends were finished ok, not sharp but not smooth either. No fret sprout. The tuners are super smooth.
Oh, something’s missing, not even a hole for it.
What I’ve done to it thus far:
- Polished the frets [Just cause]
- Used the Bruce Johnson technique to soften the fret ends and fingerboard edge [Wow, it makes a neck feel so much better!]
- Shimmed the neck [The wrong angle was due to wood goobers, but it still needed a touch of shimming.]
- A few strokes of 600 grit sandpaper on the back of the neck to knock off a couple finish goobers [So smooth now!]
- Adjusted nut slot height, relief, saddle height, and intonation [Oh, yeah!]
- Took care of a slightly high 9th fret under the E and A string
- Replaced the J pickup with a DiMarzio Area J [I can’t stand single coil noise]
- Changed the strings to Dunlop Flats [The stock strings were, well, cheap.]
The results? A super comfortable, very easy to play bass. The neck is super smooth and classy feeling. By the way, changing the strings took the P pickup from weak to completely normal output.
To do:
- Change to VBT using a 10kΩ MN blend pot, no load, cut trace (blend pot inbound)
- Change the output jack (stock jack is, well, cheap)
- Change the P pickup, eventually
If it wasn’t for the front two screws on the bridge, I would move it back a half inch. I had to cut back the silk and use a spacer on three of the strings to get the wraps behind the saddle.
* Despite a signed tag saying it had been setup by someone known. I’m still bitter about that.
I’ve been wanting a short scale bass. Tried a few and think I found one worth keeping. I had even tried a high dollar one but it arrived with cosmetic and neck carve issues and a really wonky setup*. Here I am with a cheap one that is much better after some easy work.
I used a Presidents’ Day coupon to order it on a Sunday, 13 Feb, and it arrived two days later on Tuesday even with the free shipping. I was a bit worried since it shipped from my local Guitar Center but it was in a factory sealed box, not a floor model like some unfortunate TB members have received.
Why did I order this bass? The headstock. The fret marker inlays. The reverse P pickup. The body shape. The price.
Out of the box, it was obvious the neck angle was off. It was bit the wrong way. The E string saddle was bottomed out with 8/64” action. But the neck looked good and felt good. The nut was definitely higher than necessary. The fret ends were finished ok, not sharp but not smooth either. No fret sprout. The tuners are super smooth.
Oh, something’s missing, not even a hole for it.
What I’ve done to it thus far:
- Polished the frets [Just cause]
- Used the Bruce Johnson technique to soften the fret ends and fingerboard edge [Wow, it makes a neck feel so much better!]
- Shimmed the neck [The wrong angle was due to wood goobers, but it still needed a touch of shimming.]
- A few strokes of 600 grit sandpaper on the back of the neck to knock off a couple finish goobers [So smooth now!]
- Adjusted nut slot height, relief, saddle height, and intonation [Oh, yeah!]
- Took care of a slightly high 9th fret under the E and A string
- Replaced the J pickup with a DiMarzio Area J [I can’t stand single coil noise]
- Changed the strings to Dunlop Flats [The stock strings were, well, cheap.]
The results? A super comfortable, very easy to play bass. The neck is super smooth and classy feeling. By the way, changing the strings took the P pickup from weak to completely normal output.
To do:
- Change to VBT using a 10kΩ MN blend pot, no load, cut trace (blend pot inbound)
- Change the output jack (stock jack is, well, cheap)
- Change the P pickup, eventually
If it wasn’t for the front two screws on the bridge, I would move it back a half inch. I had to cut back the silk and use a spacer on three of the strings to get the wraps behind the saddle.
* Despite a signed tag saying it had been setup by someone known. I’m still bitter about that.
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