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Short Scale Basses

#2
I play an Epiphone Allan Woody. It has a 30 inch scale with a semi-hollow body. It is a mud slinger, and has a thick, fat tone which is pretty good for roots music such as folk, blues, or even southern gospel. If you back off of the front pup and run the back pup (mid body, like a Hofner Cavern Bass) it's not quite so muddy and has more midrange. :smug:
 
#3
Are you asking just to ask, or do you have a more specific intention like you're in the market for one at a certain price point, or anything like that? Have you read any of the many other short-scale bass threads?
 
#5
Cool. To be clear, I wasn't trying to "shoot you down" at all. There is just a lot to read. :D You'll find that the "Google TB" advanced search function works way better (for non-supporting members) than the regular search box, so give that a try. Welcome to TB!
 
#6
I've had a few and they are super-fun to play. An old Aria Cardinal series (cheap), and one of those POS Fender Bronco basses. I threw a Duncan Hot Rails Telecaster humbucker into the Bronco, and did a little fret work and it is a hoot.

I do not know what is around in the more expensive stuff, however.
 
#7
I too have been looking for a more serious short scale bass that isn't a Gibson SG knockoff and also isn't 15-20 years old. So far I've been really disappointed in the high end stuff. None of them have played as well as my Ibanez Mikro PJ bass.

Side note: Does anyone have any ideas how the short scale Ibanez would sound if I dropped in pickups from a 90 American P-bass and an 84 American J-bass (the pickups are the exact same size). I got both pickups in trade for some other junk I didn't need anymore and they've been sitting in a drawer for around 2 years. I would just pop them in and see, but I don't have a soldering gun or the knowhow.

Side, Side Note: Is there any difference between the J-bass pickups, and if so, how can I tell them apart and which would be better for the P/J setup?
 
#8
I've played a Mikro before. You're right; they're impressive for the size. They're actually even SMALLER than short scale, too!

Dunno about your pickup question. My guess is that anything will be better than what's in that bass, even though they sound pretty good.

I have a few short scale hollowbody Univox basses - one is a Hofner copy, and one is a Epiphone Rivoli copy. Got flatwounds on both of them; they're extremely cool. I think I like my Hof copy a little better. There are at least 3 people in the area who call me for session work just because I have That Bass. It's that cool, I tell you. :)
 
#11
silverburst said:
I've had a few and they are super-fun to play. An old Aria Cardinal series (cheap), and one of those POS Fender Bronco basses. I threw a Duncan Hot Rails Telecaster humbucker into the Bronco, and did a little fret work and it is a hoot.

I do not know what is around in the more expensive stuff, however.
Click to expand...

Actually the Cardinal Series was a medium (32") scale. I had one awhile back - fat P-Bass sound.
 
#12
fretlessman71 said:
I've played a Mikro before. You're right; they're impressive for the size. They're actually even SMALLER than short scale, too!
Click to expand...

I've never measured it, but my guess is that it's 28", it's a dream to play, it's the most fun I've had with a bass, ever. The coolest is that through my GK 4X10, there is little sound difference when I use the p-bass pickup compared to my Fender P-bass, aside from a bit of buzz.

I've played it live a bunch and it's great, I can't say enough good things about this bass, especially since I've only got $100 in it, and I've used it like at least 20 times. Oh, and it fits in a Telecaster gigbag.
 
#14
My very first bass was a short scale Gibson - EB0, I believe, and 32" inch scale, I believe. I got it around 1972. It was beautiful blonde, and I loved playing it, but didn't keep it for long.

Since than I've been quite unimpressed with the sound of short scale basses - they seem to have no bottom or sustain; I mean, the few I've heard in clubs (heard one just last weekend) were horrible.

Question - with modern electronics is it possible to get good tone and sustain from a short scale, i.e., can compression or some other effect be used to generate a sound comparable to a long scale?
 
#17
My very first bass was a short scale Gibson - EB0, I believe, and 32" inch scale, I believe.
Click to expand...
The EB's were all 30" actually. A lot of people ran through Gibby short scales, loved their feel but wound up moving on to long scale (usually because of sound differences).

Since than I've been quite unimpressed with the sound of short scale basses - they seem to have no bottom or sustain; I mean, the few I've heard in clubs (heard one just last weekend) were horrible.

Question - with modern electronics is it possible to get good tone and sustain from a short scale, i.e., can compression or some other effect be used to generate a sound comparable to a long scale?
Click to expand...
Good electronics help. Compression is helpful in some cases, but you'll get more out of a good bass than better electronics.

I've played a lot of short scales and have found all the problems you mentioned. There are good ones, and they seem to share a couple of physical characteristics -- perfect fretwork (IMHO, because the shorter scale leaves less margin for error for intonating individual notes), solid, well-stiffened neck and solid (often massive) bridge. Get all that in one place and sustain and intonation issues disappear. Short scales do sound a bit different than long scales, but if they are well constructed, a bass with the characteristic short scale sound is very musical, records extremely well. They are easier to play for players with shorter fingers (like me). Even guys with longer fingers: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. ;)
 
#19
A few 60's and 70's Mustangs etc are turning up in the guitar stores and are being sold for reasonable money. I would check them out as a comparison as they do have some lovely tones. What often surprises me though is the chunky necks. I don't get that. If you want a short scale for hand size reasons, why would you want a chunky neck? Anyway, the other thing to note is the pickups. IMHO they are not the same quality as their bigger brothers, maybe just because they have less windings/smaller magnets, and this would have an impact on tone.

Long live short scales.

Davo
 

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