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

[GretschWretch]

And for cats that aren't six footers wearing 44 long like me

I'm 5'6", buy 40 X 30 trousers, and still have to have the cuffs taken up by four inches. I hate you.

 

[GretschWretch]

I was a working pro bassist for about 20 years before I finally got a day gig, in part due to a number of hand, wrist, and tendon injuries over the years.

I always played a standard 34" scale, and sometimes a 35" 5-string. But I have small hands and, while that's no excuse not to learn, some stuff just required big stretches or awkward angles to achieve. I'm a very technically proficient musician but I do know what it costs your hands to do that stuff, especially with small hands on a big neck.

Finally I took a chance and ordered a custom built 30" bass to see if that would relieve my hand pain and make it easier to play. I LOVE IT! It's so much easier to navigate, and I can reach further with less strain.

This is me. My first four basses were shorties, and if I had not had to sell my fourth bass I may never have moved on to long scale, which is all I have played for the past forty years. But for bass players of my generation, getting that first Fender was a rite of passage, so . . . .

Now this and a couple of other short-scale threads have me re-assessing 30.5" basses, and I have de-cobwebbed my shorties and am putting them through their paces. Early data is encouraging. Nearly all my shorties are true hollow-bodies, so weight is not an issue. In terms of playability they are much more user-friendly to me than long-scales. Like @JonathanPDX, I am having issues with stretch and reach, and weight as well, and find myself thinking "Why should I have to find work-arounds for impediments on a long-scale bass just so I can play a long-scale?" I find that many passages that are awkward or impossible to play on a long-scale are facile or at least possible on a short-scale. (My hand can span only eight keys on a piano, C to C.)

So I am considering reverting back to shorties, period. The music I want to play does not require a gnarly, snarly, growly bass tone or any of the other things often associated with it. And since I have duplicates of none of my shorties, clearing the stable of long-scales will be easier -- many of my back-ups have back-ups -- which still is going to lead to a lot of Seabiscuit moments, which I know will be painful; but they are inevitable. Sometimes the only way around a thing is through it.

Sigh! (girding my loins)

 

[selowitch]

I wouldn’t want a short-scale bass as my only bass, but I wouldn’t mind having one in my collection. They have a feel, string tension, and tone that is kind of unique. Very useful.

 

[Koshchei]

Here's some more proof that short scale bass is not a serious instrument:


Both lines recorded using a 30.5" scale Rickenbacker 4005XC.

 

[steimlem]

i don't like em but more options is always a good thing