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Short scale bass

This is the only one I've liked so far. That phat pickup right up at the neck really suits the phat short scale tone. Hard to beat the looks too, especially with a Hipshot Supertone.

Very flawed, probably not gonna be great to stand with unless you locate the strap buttons right or clip the strap to your belt. I play it sitting exclusively and my right arm takes care of any dive because it's an 8lb bass. And the bridge studs are dumb. Gibson style bridges are just :poop: but the Supertone is God-like levels of good.

In the end these are dripping with character and still dirt cheap.
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I play a Mitchell (GC store brand - made by Schecter) short scale P/J as my travel bass. Less than $200.00. If you want, you can upgrade the pickups, like I did. Box store price with Schecter quality control. About seven pounds weight.

Whatever bass you get, use GHS Balanced Pure Nickels strings. God's gift to short scale bass players: big, round, tone; great consistent tone string-to-string and up the neck; they don't twang or thump, the nickel is more dense then NPS for the same diameter so they have more mass and more tension so they have good feel and are stable in tone and intonation; they are relatively inexpensive and last a long, long time. The current set on my travel bass has been to Mexico two years in a row.

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Just got mine, weak P/U's, etc - what upgrades do you recommend? I'll use flatwounds. I play Blues, Classic Country, 3-chord R n R
 
Just got mine, weak P/U's, etc - what upgrades do you recommend? I'll use flatwounds. I play Blues, Classic Country, 3-chord R n R

I like Duncan Antiquity II pickups for those genres. I played an Antiquity II P pickup with flats for those genres for years. I now play more classic jazz and it also works for that.

Edit: If a hotter pickup is required, the Duncan Quarter Pounders are also good. You also might want to look at the Dimarzio PJ set with the humbucking J pickup.
 
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Just got mine, weak P/U's, etc - what upgrades do you recommend? I'll use flatwounds. I play Blues, Classic Country, 3-chord R n R
Your choice of a P/J setup, with the traditional wiring 250 kohm audio taper pots and a .047 tone capacitor. And GHS Balanced Nickel strings if you can't find a set of flats you like; for flats I like La Bella 760FL-S.
 
Have a friend that has the Sterling short scale. He really likes it. Said he changed out the pickup and put flatwounds on it. Has anyone played one of these basses?

Yes and I liked it alot. I almost bought one, but went with the Gretsch Short scale. It was either the SBMM shorty, or the Gretsch and BassFlyRig. I chose the cheaper bass w/ a pedal. The Gretsch is surprisingly versatile. But... I still try them again every time I'm in a store that has one. Talked a dude into slapping one (because I'm not great at that technique), and It sounded damn close to it's bigger brothers. I couldn't hear a difference.

@Maloy Poor check out this thread. Someone else asked the same question not too long ago.
 
Just got mine, weak P/U's, etc - what upgrades do you recommend? I'll use flatwounds. I play Blues, Classic Country, 3-chord R n R

I'm wanting to try Lace Alumatones, but those are more modern and clear. Perhaps checking out Nordstrand's offerings would work for you. I've never heard a complaint about Nordtrand. Just make sure to measure your pickups and routing holes before ordering. Manufacturers sometimes dont make things easy.
 
The Höfner $3k cavern model. The Allen Woody Rumblekat would be a less expensive option. Ahhh but you don't get the filter cut out swiches with the Rumblekat... I can count on 1 hand how many times I've switched from rhythm to solo on the HÖFNER type of switching set up...

I modded my Hofner Ignition Club to VVT controls to be more like my Rumblekat. I'm not a fan of the switches on the Hofner. I found the VVT to provide a bit more high end, a bit of a higher output, easier tone control and more pickup mixing versatility.
 
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