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Scale length poll: What and why?
- Thread starter austentaciousC
- Start date
30" suits me perfectly. My mustang has been my main bass since I got it two and a half years ago and it's staying that way!
I am not a fan of 35+, puts first position too far away. 34 is best, but I like 32 and 30s on occasion (don't own any but I may some day).
30" is too short. 35" is too long. I think 34" is perfect and I like 32". Never played a 33", if they exist but that would be cool too, like a Rolling Rock bass.
I have no preference. I'm pretty sure my bass guitars are all 34", and the upright is 42". I adapt as needed.
34" just feels right to me. Especially on a 5 string. It's much easier to get around on the lower notes in the 1st-5th fret range than on a 35" scale or even a 34.5" for that matter. If you can't build a 34" scale 5 string with a GREAT B string, I don't consider you a good luthier.
34" for 4 string and 35" for 5 bangers. Though I have heard some nice sounding 34 " 5's with a tight B string. I believe the neck wood combination has a lot to do with it.
I play 34" because that's the scale my P uses. I haven't played bass long enough to develop a preference(on guitar, which I've played for 25 years, I prefer Gibby scale). However, I've been playing a Gretsch Electromatic a friend of mine loaned me about a month ago, and I'm really diggin' the short scale. Think I'm gonna have to build one(I don't buy, I build).
34" feels *right* to me. I like to run the same on all my basses(excepting the DB)for consistency.
I own a 35" Roscoe and a 34" Sadowsky..I can definiteley feel the difference..My Sadowsky goes to every gig I do.. Roscoe stays home.. I wish Roscoe would offer a 34" scale with J p/ups and 34" scale w/out the upcharge and 4 month wait.
I play exclusively (at least until now) 34" scale basses. The main reason I will not switch is because I learned to read playing a 34" scale bass. Things change -a lot- with a 35" scale bass when it comes to sight reading and not looking down and trusting where your fingers land and your positioning.
I am interested in getting a short scale bass to put piccolo strings on for some unique 'solo artist' type of things...
I am interested in getting a short scale bass to put piccolo strings on for some unique 'solo artist' type of things...
This made me laugh... so true! How many of those 'interesting' basses do you see in bar blues bands?
My favorite bass is a medium scale (32 inch) Alembic Spoiler, I just love that feel (and sound)
Though 4 out of my 6 basses -including the 3 most recent- are longscale (34 inch), I voted for -33.
Though 4 out of my 6 basses -including the 3 most recent- are longscale (34 inch), I voted for -33.
+1 on this too. Consistency between 4, 5, and 6 is something I overlooked 9 years ago when I started playing 5's. I bought so many of them until I found the most consistent feel between my Sterling 4 and the 5's. A 34" is all I'll ever use.
String spacing thing is another issue for people too. I found that I preferred the tighter spacing on the 5 (17mm) so that the neck wasn't mammoth like on a 19mm 5. Some people prefer the same 19mm spacing commonly found on 4's for their consistency of the right hand. For me, it was all about the left/fretting hand being closely consistent from bass to bass. For the plucking hand it doesn't matter as much to me.
I have a Fender Jazz, a Modulus FBJ5, and would love a Bongo 6. All 3 have 34" scales.
I prefer 34" scale in all my basses and find it's more a factor of construction than scale that makes a good low B. I tend to prefer the feel and tone of 34" scale basses, to be generic it sounds and feels a bit looser. 35" scale gives a tension and tightness to the tone which I can appreciate but don't particularly like. I can do 19mm easily at a 34" scale but a 19mm 35" combo kills me for some reason.
all but one of my instruments are 34" including my sixers, and five string, so I put that, My Fender urge is 32" scale, and I love that also, if it had an extra two strings it would be my main bass!
