short scale bass recommendations

[DirkP]

Everyone’s gonna laugh but the fender musicmaster is great, they’re the only affordable vintage bass, it’ll have aged wood, and it’ll sound great. The pickup they come stock with is a Stratocaster guitar pickup, shockingly it’s a rounder sounding bass than a p bass to me at least. My suspicion is it’s because the strings sit in between the 6 pole pieces and some strings line up directly over
Them, somehow by sheer chance it works lol

A friend of mine just sold his and I had the pleasure - not so much - to try it extensively. I really like the looks, but I wouldn't have taken it as a gift due to the pickup. The E string just sounds so thin, even if the pickup is raised. I would much rather buy a new Mustang from Squier. There is a reason that these - although vintage - are hard to sell.

 

[Dabndug]

A friend of mine just sold his and I had the pleasure - not so much - to try it extensively. I really like the looks, but I wouldn't have taken it as a gift due to the pickup. The E string just sounds so thin, even if the pickup is raised. I would much rather buy a new Mustang from Squier. There is a reason that these - although vintage - are hard to sell.

Funny, my '71 Musicmaster is strung with GHS Brite Flats and has a seriously fat sounding E string. Could string choice be an issue?

 

[J-Mags]

IMHO the Mustang P/J is the best SS you can find at a reasonable price. I stay away from the single pickup Mustangs because of the wider neck and their through-body stringing requires hard-to-find medium scale strings. My P/J is strung with T.I. Flats and sounds just like my MIA P. I want to get another one to use with rounds.

I also have a couple of the Squier VM Jaguar SS. What an amazing bargain at $189, but of course Fender had to discontinue them. GREAT basses, but the P/J is just a bit better.

Anxious to try the Sire U5. It is priced well and the Sire basses in general have a very good rep.

The Ibanez TMB30 is a fantastic bargain and sounds and plays great. Doesn't have the skinny neck of the Mustang P/J though.

My understanding is that short scale TI flats will work on through-body and medium-scale basses.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Serek Midwestern

 

[Killing Floor]

View attachment 4491598 If you're looking for a P Bass, I would highly recommend the Sandberg Lionel. I've played and own a number of short scale basses. This is one of the least expensive I own, and lately has been a go-to for me. If you're looking for straight P Bass sounds, this thing delivers!

Fine looking Starplayer! 30.7”

 

[TK4261]

Here is my modded 30" Schecter Banshee. Alder body, Maple/Rosewood neck with Graphtech Tusq nut standard.

 

[Bassiclees]

In shorts (30-32) I have and play:
1) Mustang PJ. Beast but heavily worked on (see MustangPJ thread). Love it, never parting with it.
2) Sire U5. Wonderful but redundant to the Mustang so it doesn’t see much use. Likely will sell soon. Great instrument if you can find one.
3) Squier Mini Precision. Again, heavily modified but man oh man with DiMarzios and some other touches it’s an incredible instrument and by far the lightest (and least expensive) of the bunch.
4) Squier Jaguar H. I put a Nordstrand Big Splitman 4 in it and am selling my Sterling H and HH as that pickup (passive!) sonically demolishes the stock PU’s on the Sterlings.

Conculsion: if you have a P and a J I’d get either an H/MusicMan variant (like the Jaguar), a Nordstrand Acinonyx or an Epiphone. I have an Epiphone Embassy and it’s wonderful and very different from a J or a P- the ProBucker PU’s and glossy neck feel and sound amazing. People love their Reverends, CME and others have them in stock (for now).

All are affordable (Cat is only one above ~$700) and if you don’t get on with it you can sell it for next to no loss.

 

[D.A.R.K.]

Anyone mentioned Reverend yet? They make a few models of short scale basses, and they are excellent.
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
The Wattplower looks like a Hagstrom:
Invalid Link Removed

 

[MarMar]

Everyone’s gonna laugh but the fender musicmaster is great, they’re the only affordable vintage bass, it’ll have aged wood, and it’ll sound great. The pickup they come stock with is a Stratocaster guitar pickup, shockingly it’s a rounder sounding bass than a p bass to me at least. My suspicion is it’s because the strings sit in between the 6 pole pieces and some strings line up directly over
Them, somehow by sheer chance it works lol

Affordable? People are asking like $1200-1500 for them nowadays, but I'm not sure if they are actually selling.

A friend of mine just sold his and I had the pleasure - not so much - to try it extensively. I really like the looks, but I wouldn't have taken it as a gift due to the pickup. The E string just sounds so thin, even if the pickup is raised. I would much rather buy a new Mustang from Squier. There is a reason that these - although vintage - are hard to sell.

I love the way they feel and play. I wouldn't say the E string sounds "thin," but I do know that most people replace the stock pickup in these basses. As time passes, I consider upgrading the stock pickup in mine, but I don't want the instrument to lose value (once again, the asking price for these nowadays is kind of crazy, but maybe people are paying what people are asking for them).

 

[Winton]

The best short scale I’ve played by far is the Fender JMJ Mustang. The neck feels awesome and it sounds great! This is one of my favorite videos of this bass:

 

[220_Hz]

Idk if it was said yet but the Revenrend Wattplower is definitely one of the better new age short scale basses!

 

[nFinnyD]

Ooo I forgot, Danelectro makes a sweet shorty, definitely not the most versatile of basses but it does have a really hard to imitate sound that, in my opinion, is pretty cool. Also Fender has a Bass I’ve always wanted but never found when I was able to buy, the Rascal! Looks like a Bass VI, Strat, and Dano all combined. Tastefully.

 

[Old_Noob]

Ooo I forgot, Danelectro makes a sweet shorty, definitely not the most versatile of basses but it does have a really hard to imitate sound that, in my opinion, is pretty cool. Also Fender has a Bass I’ve always wanted but never found when I was able to buy, the Rascal! Looks like a Bass VI, Strat, and Dano all combined. Tastefully.

I like the looks and sound of the Danelectro, but $500 for plywood is a tough sell.

 

[Greywoulf]

I like the looks and sound of the Danelectro, but $500 for plywood is a tough sell.

I also found you always had to strap Dano's Longhorn version on. Because that funny reverse-curved body made it impossible to rest right on your lap!! This caused a lot of neck dive which was very annoying even for a 5lb+ bass! -Also it's neck was razor sharp edged and the nut was 1.75" wide and definitely not skinny... I sold mine after about 6 months. The tones were okay, but IMO nowhere near as special as it's boosters and admirers claim.

There's also a Fender Rascal VI bass on Reverb now. Three cool lipstick pups on it and short scale, but also 9.5lbs and almost $1500! You'd hafta really want it IMO....

 

[HelpImaRock]

I like the looks and sound of the Danelectro, but $500 for plywood is a tough sell.

Considering the cost of inflation, a Dano today costs about half of what they did in originally.

Personally, I don't like the Dano short scale because the bridge is too far forward. They look awesome though.

 

[DirkP]

Affordable? People are asking like $1200-1500 for them nowadays, but I'm not sure if they are actually selling.



I love the way they feel and play. I wouldn't say the E string sounds "thin," but I do know that most people replace the stock pickup in these basses. As time passes, I consider upgrading the stock pickup in mine, but I don't want the instrument to lose value (once again, the asking price for these nowadays is kind of crazy, but maybe people are paying what people are asking for them).

Here in Germany, it was kind of hard to sell it for 1.000,-. And the prices are usually higher in Germany than in the US for vintage Fender instruments. We just assumed that players don't buy these basses, mostly people who want to hang them on a wall
But if you like it, don't listen to others and just play it.

 

[Chrome Dome]

Noticed,32.25" scale D'Angelico Excel,chambered body,not mentioned? Just got this one recently 2015 Cherry Burst. I play sitting down but didn't notice lot of neck dive. Might be that the strap button is located on upper horn,instead on back of the neck. Played at Church,Wednesday night through Ampeg B2 combo,with another 15 ext cab. Mixed real well with rest of band.

 

[MarMar]

Here in Germany, it was kind of hard to sell it for 1.000,-. And the prices are usually higher in Germany than in the US for vintage Fender instruments. We just assumed that players don't buy these basses, mostly people who want to hang them on a wall
But if you like it, don't listen to others and just play it.

I love my Fender Musicmaster. Maybe it could use a better pickup, but it's one of the most comfortable (to me) basses I have ever played.

 

[DirkP]

Comfortable it is. And it looks great.

 

[msb]

I like the looks and sound of the Danelectro, but $500 for plywood is a tough sell.

A Gibson 335 is made from plywood , and is quite expensive . A traditional Dano is made from Masonite . A wonderful tone wood .