Short neck...downsides???

[martyn1984]

Hi there, new to the site, hello everybody!

I'm 23 and play an epiphone EB bass, i'm not very good really but it certainly does the job. A few years a go I used to have a Honda bass which was huge and way to heavy and put me off, so I got the epiphone.

I was wondering if decent bass players like yourselfs would think of me as lame for playing a short neck when there are so many gorgeous basses with proper necks out there?

O yeah and also what are the downsides to short necks??

cheers

 

[Fealach]

I don't know what a decent bass player would say, but I think you should play what works for you. There are plenty of beautiful short scale basses, by the way. Yesterday I played a 42" scale upright bass, then switched to a 32" scale for the rest of the night. Your Epiphone is 30," I have a bass that size as well as one even smaller. Whatever works. I find the smaller ones easier to play. There are differences in the sound - I don't know the physics behind it, I'm sure somebody will weigh in on that.

 

[bongomania]

Short scale basses are just like long scale basses in that poorly-designed, poorly built ones will play like crap, while well-designed and well-built ones will sound and play great. You should read up in the many, many, many threads we've had on short scale basses- some of those threads even had a nearly identical title to yours. And when you read those threads, pay close attention to which basses people are talking about. For example, you'll see lots of posts like "I played a shortscale Epiphone in a pawnshop one time and it suxxed", but then you'll also see posts like "my custom shortscale Alembic, Birdsong, and FBB all play beautifully". You get what you pay for.

 

[DeanT]

There's no such thing as a proper neck. A 34" scale neck is proper for a long-scale bass and a 30" scale neck is proper for a short scale bass.

A lot of people play short scales. People you may have heard of like Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce and Stanley Clarke. I think it's safe to say they are "proper" bass players.

Play what works for you and don't worry about what anyone says. If the bass is built well and and has no or minimal neck dive, then enjoy it.

By the way, I play short scales. I have a Gibson SG Supreme with major neck dive and it's a great bass in spite of it. I also have a Birdsong Cortobass with absolutely no neck dive.

 

[Ric5]

For my taste the 34" scale has better tone than a 32" or 30" bass.

Also the Eb0 is pretty much a one dimensional bass. The eb3 has better tonal variations.

 

[martyn1984]

Cheers chaps, info is very much appreciated :-B