Short scale basses....thumbs up? Thumbs down?

[Koshchei]

Short scales are inferior, that's proven by the lack of great songs recorded with them.

Other than most of the Beatles tracks, there's nothing.

And the Jefferson Airplane tracks.

And Cream.

And of course Tame Impala.

But if you exclude those and maybe another couple hundred (thousand? tens of thousands?) tracks, there are no examples of high quality bass recordings using short scale.

Well yeah, Stanley Clarke... but then pretty much nothing except for the others.

Okay, there's the Thom Yorke bass tracks in The Smile...

The Rolling Stones too. But apart from them, nobody would touch one of the things.

 

[kineticdg]

The Rolling Stones too. But apart from them, nobody would touch one of the things.

Exactly!

Tina Weymouth, Sheryl Crowe, sure. Glenn Cornick of Jethro Tull. But that’s basically it. Glenn Campbell & Robert Smith if you include the Bass VI.

Most of those other Gibson, Guild, Alembic, Fender Mustang, violin bass etc players. Basically nobody.

 

[B-Mac]

So....I've been playing bass guitar for about a month now. And as noted elsewhere, I prefer to read standard notation rather than tabs. I want to read the sheet music, think about how to finger the instrument, and make the proper sound. (I do not like tabs.)

Knowing that, I wonder if I should get a short-scale bass guitar. Here's my thinking:
Because of my limited ability, I tend to play on the first five frets. And those frets are really pretty far apart. Even though I have really big hands (fourteen keys on the piano), I prefer the frets that are closer together. They seem to be easier to play.

And when you're playing from sheet music, you can play it however you want. Contrast this with tabs, which seem to be written in such a way that don't make intuitive sense. For example, in Metallica's "Orion", one of the bass lines (as written in tabs) uses the A string, seventh fret. Then it jumps to open E, then to A string, fifth fret, then back to the E string, seventh fret. (Tell me if there's an easy way to annotate that using a keyboard.) But you can get away with using the top three frets.

So it seems to me (the guy who's been playing for a whole month now) that a short-scale bass will work better for me and my playing style. (If I were playing on frets 7-10, this wouldn't be a problem.)

BUT--I also recognize that most people play full-size basses. And if I get used to playing on the shorter neck, I'm afraid that I'd never be able to "step in" and play with the basses that most others use, because my muscle memory would be off. (And TBH, I'm also concerned that people would see the short neck and think that I'm some kind of loser. "I mean...he's playing on a child's toy.")

Thoughts? Opinions? (For the record, I'm looking into an Ibanez Mikro 5-string short scale. But I've heard that the low B-string can get really floppy and hard to control--especially on a short-scale.)

I see you just joined TB.
Welcome to TB.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I have all different scale length basses, short scales are sweet! I don’t really feel the scale difference in regards to playing from one bass to another. I know it’s there and it affects the feel, but neither going up or down scale lengths has ever really had me tripping over my hands. I will say that I get pretty bad flare ups with wrist and finger issues when the weather changes and short scales are my crutch when it hurts to flex my fingers from side to side! There’s also something to be said for the tone of a thumpy short scale and fuzz. Little bass, tone 10 miles wide!

 

[Element Zero]

Just wanna say, hand size means nothing. 14 key stretch on a piano? Damn homie. I barely get 10 and play a 19mm string spaced fairly flat fingerboard 5 string and it’s A OK for me… play what’s comfortable.

 

[Johnny Crab]

Like them for what they are. Have some that are much better than long scale for certain tasks(sound, weight, play-ability).

Uses:
One lives at work in cube-land, used at lunch(1 hour) to practice, learn songs, go over 400+ band songs, etc. It's a Blue Rondo $120 P-clone from many years back. Run through a Behringer V-Amp into SONY cans or 2-1 computer sound system....cube mates are used to it after 17 years of hearing it, no complaints.

IF we ever get booked for 1, 2, or 3(yes it has happened) shows in one day....the shorties come out to play.
Usually: Rondo Jazz bass clone(best J-clone ever got from Kurt and kept), Red Rondo P/J clone with a Seymour-Duncan P pickup, Greco SOLID BODY violin bass with humbuckers, Gibson SG bass with Kahler trem(previous owner pro-mod, not useful on this bass and scary dangerous on a mahogany neck with a thin nut-are wood section).

My usual 2 RIGHT NOW are a 2017 Sunburst Epi T-Bird(ak 1960's Gibson T-Bird but improved IMO)
and a 1993 Fender P. A 1990 white Peavey Foundation takes turns with the Fender P at times.

If short scales are good enough for Stanley Clarke and Bill Wyman to use, why argue about them?

 

[Treblefree]

You verbalized it, perfectly.

I have played 24 fret basses, whenever possible and have been known to play "out of the money" (notes) quite a bit. The left elbow, digging into the rib cage is an issue for me, while sitting down.

That's exactly what I meant. I'm glad it came across how I was trying to explain it. If you ever want to try a short scale again, that's the one I'd recommend. Doesn't hurt that it sounds really really good too.

 

[Queue]

Is there a way that you can try a short scale bass? Although I agree with the others that have said you're too early to give up on long scale, if a short scale feels right for you, then it might inspire you to play/practice more.

I started on a long (34") scale, but didn't play much. Our dad band had 2 other guys who played bass very well, and I was the vocalist. I'd play bass on a song or two, just for fun. Then one summer, my son and I were planning an acoustic jam with friends. I picked up a second-hand AEBG which unbeknownst to me was 32" scale. I proceeded to learn all the material necessary, and had a ball. It was then that I realized that I really liked playing the 32" scale, and decided to replace my 34". I almost bought an Epiphone Beatle Bass, but decided I wanted something with a better tonal variety available. I landed on the (now discontinued) 30" Squier CV Jaguar SS. I found my home on 30" scale. In 2019, one of the bass players died (RIP), and the other left to join a gigging band. Now I pull double duty (bass and vocals). I later replaced the AEBG with a Fender Kingman V2 (30"). My brother (guitar) and I would play songs visiting my Mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease from 2019 until she passed in December 2022. The Kingman was perfect for this. I used some of the money from mom's passing to upgrade to a MIJ Fender Jazz "Junior Collection" (30") and converted the Jag to a fretless. My JB was a little pricey, because I had to import it from Japan, but worth every cent. It is the lightest, most resonant bass I've played. (Thanks mom!)

So, I'm all in on Short Scale. Not because how they sound, but because I enjoy playing SS basses. Your mileage may vary. I can get the sounds I want. I don't record. I also don't play non-standard tuning (other than half step down.) I'm able to buy the strings I want (Amazon). Yes, selection of good SS basses is much more limited than good 34" basses. Don't let sight reading vs. tab confound your decision on what to play. Play what feels right for you. Also, don't go "all in" on playing in the first 5 frets. You need to learn to play at the very least between frets 0 through 15. Some things sound better up there, or are easier to play in different positions.

If you decide to go SS, take your time, do some research. Some SS basses don't feel like SS basses (G&L Fallout).

 

[johnk_10]

i started playing bass in 1967 on a long scale bass and was playing them until about 4 years ago when i switched to short scales. i'm just more comfortable playing them these days and i actually like the punch that they have.
i still own 17 (34") long scales but my short scale basses have increased to owning 30 of them.
my opinion is to play whatever is most comfortable for you.

 

[MrClassicMetal]

Short-scales
I've played 28, 30, 30.5, 30.75, 31 (and some 32, 33, 34, 35 as well) but for me the 30.0 feels most like 'home base'...

Same here, 30" just feels more natural to me. There's an Ibanez MiKro and a Squire P in my rack, both 28" and not used much if at all.

 

[Greenman72]

Just wanna say, hand size means nothing. 14 key stretch on a piano? Damn homie. I barely get 10 and play a 19mm string spaced fairly flat fingerboard 5 string and it’s A OK for me… play what’s comfortable.

Let me re-phrase. I can go ten WHITE keys. From C to E.

However you look at it—I certainly don’t have hands that are too SMALL. If anything, they’re too big. (My sausage fingers are definitely too fat for guitar.).

 

[lomo]

A short scale bass is simply a different tool. In my view, its' main (only??) virtue as compared to a full scale is shorter reach, and the compromise is some combination of clarity and/or lower string tension. I fully understand that a thicker string gauge can partly mitigate tension, but the note clarity then decreases. For many applications, this doesn't matter, and that's cool. Different music asks different things of the bass, BUT less defined notes can be easily created on a longer scale bass through eq and different strings. If the tune needs fat 'n' tubby, short scale is fine. That said, I have never played a satisfying B string shorter than 34", and 35, 37 sound even better and feel less floppy at a given gauge (that physics thing). Lastly, I play my 34" 5ers mostly around 5th position, not having to reach any further than a shorty, but I still have more options available. We all know the same note played in different locations on the board sounds different, and a short scale, by definition, decreases the range of options. FYI if you want to compare clarity between scale lengths, play double stops below the 5th fret on the lower strings, which makes differences very obvious.

 

[douglasbass]

A different tool, yes. Different tonal options. I have flatwounds or tapes on my 34" basses but roundwounds on the 30" because it gives better definition at that scale, and I'm not really a roundwound fan. But it works.

 

[GretschWretch]

Short scales are inferior, that's proven by the lack of great songs recorded with them.

Other than most of the Beatles tracks, there's nothing.

And the Jefferson Airplane tracks.

And Cream.

And of course Tame Impala.

But if you exclude those and maybe another couple hundred (thousand? tens of thousands?) tracks, there are no examples of high quality bass recordings using short scale.

Well yeah, Stanley Clarke... but then pretty much nothing except for the others.

Okay, there's the Thom Yorke bass tracks in The Smile...

And we can't forget Music Machine with "Talk Talk," or Sopwith Camel" with "Hello Hello" and its bass solo.

Or the Mojo Men with "Sit down I Think I love You."

Or the Strawberry Alarm Clock with "Incense and Peppermints."

Or any number of second tier British Invasion bands.

 

[GretschWretch]

There was a time period when short scale basses were also mostly low budget basses which made as much or more difference than scale length. That time passed long ago and there are high quality short scale basses now.

I think the time to which you are referring is the Great Guitar Boom of 1964-1969. Many, if not most, of those short-scales were Japanese imports targeted towards school kids, which explains the short scale.

 

[mcgreivey]

I don't like any of the choices in the poll.

I mostly play short scales, because I find them more comfortable. But I don't think they're "superior". They're just good for me. And sometimes I play long.

But other people should play whatever that want.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Short scales are fun, but they look ridiculous on my 189cm (6'2") frame, so I tend to stick with full scale.

I have a 32" five-string for home jamming though, and I like it.

You could argue that a full scale looks too big in the hands of a vertically challenged individual.

 

[bassbully]

Loved my shorties but all I play today are fives so I can’t play them anymore. They sound great! No loss of low end to me. Today I play 32” scales and lov them.

 

[B-Mac]

Maybe this was already brought up, if so please ignore me.

"I can play everything on the first five frets" is a bit simplistic.

More than a bit

 

[GretschWretch]

Just wanna say, hand size means nothing. 14 key stretch on a piano? Damn homie. I barely get 10 and play a 19mm string spaced fairly flat fingerboard 5 string and it’s A OK for me… play what’s comfortable.

I barely get eight. To be continued.