Short Scale Journey Didn't Last Long

[kevmac]

There are a lot of good ones out there. Birdsong and scott Beckwith short Basses. Muckelroy Basses, Martin Keith Basses etc. I ended up falling in love with 32” scale. Here are my 32” scalers:View attachment 3990549 View attachment 3990559 View attachment 3990574 View attachment 3990591 Fender Urge USA, Martin Keith Elfins, and Muckelroy HMC

32s are great,and that's a sweet line up you have there.

 

[msb]

I love the new Gibson LP basses and would buy one in a second if I wasn't 65 with a bass collection that could fill a store.I love the classic design and the sound I've heard on video is not bad.How is the sound in real life?

Mine is a beauty , I spend most of my time on it , and I too have the usual selection of classic basses I’ve accumulated over the years . The DC sounds gorgeous .

 

[Jeff K]

I love the new Gibson LP basses and would buy one in a second if I wasn't 65 with a bass collection that could fill a store.I love the classic design and the sound I've heard on video is not bad.How is the sound in real life?

Fat and powerful. In a sense, I regret selling mine...

 

[Greywoulf]

Fat and powerful. In a sense, I regret selling mine...

Been considering an Epi-0 to get that cool mudbucker sound, but some of the reports I've been reading about problems with the Epi-0's tuners, and especially the bridge, are worrisome.

 

[Possum Willy]

Sharing this to see if anyone else had a journey similar to my "love the one you're with" story.

In my head, I wanted a short-scale for long gigs. Never had one. Easy to play, light weight; what's not to love, right? Went to the music store to pick up a repair and, concerned about neck dive, decided to try on each short-scale bass with a strap. Results:

• 2 Gibson SG basses - horrible neck dive
• 2 Gibson LP2-style basses - horrible neck dive
• Epiphone Allen Woody and Violin basses - good balance, but the bodies are thicker than I'm used to, so it would take some re-learning for my right arm/hand/wrist
• 2 Fender Mustang PJ basses - horrible neck dive
• 2 American Fender Mustang basses - neck goes to about parallel with the floor. I guess I could live with that. But as I'm jamming on the first 7 frets, I notice my left elbow touching my ribs. Never felt "cramped" before while playing bass standing up. This would require some re-learning for my left arm, plus the re-learning of the shorter scale with my left hand. I wouldn't call it annoying, but...

My conclusion was, I'm simply not going to find anything that feels as ergonomically comfortable as my current standard-scale basses. And I think I'm very happy with that and just saved myself some dough. Both my current basses are pretty light, but in the last hour of 4-hour gigs, they begged the question, could I go even lighter? I found my answer - yes, but only with tradeoffs that I'm too stubborn to make.

Anyone else follow this path when considering (or trying/buying) shorties?

Another option would be to try the Ibanez Mezzo, might have to make a few changes to get the sound you want, but at the price, it's affordable to do.
Yet another option is to change the way you have your strap routed. I like playing my bass almost vertical after a bad injury to my left arm. To achieve this, I use some Velcro (super strength) on the front of the bass, positioned just off the bridge and lined up with the bottom of the bridge. Another piece of Velcro on the strap and Viola!! the neck is where I like it.
You may have to do adjustments to this Velcro placement, but it will not harm the surface of the guitar.

 

[Greywoulf]

Another option would be to try the Ibanez Mezzo, might have to make a few changes to get the sound you want, but at the price, it's affordable to do.
Yet another option is to change the way you have your strap routed. I like playing my bass almost vertical after a bad injury to my left arm. To achieve this, I use some Velcro (super strength) on the front of the bass, positioned just off the bridge and lined up with the bottom of the bridge. Another piece of Velcro on the strap and Viola!! the neck is where I like it.
You may have to do adjustments to this Velcro placement, but it will not harm the surface of the guitar.

Methinks it's very hard to find the perfect bass (shorty or no) if you're fussy... (Like I am?) So IMO the OP might well do better with the existing standard scale basses he already likes just by lightening them up some more. I like my lightweight CV60s Squire Mustang a lot, but even with that I lightened up it's head more with Hipshot Ultralight tuners. And now it sits in my lap (slightly vertical) just fine. However I don't play BGs strapped and standing anymore, so there's also that...

I did find tho that the medium scale Ibanez Mezzo when I played it (sitting again) at GC had the most perfect balance of any BG I've ever tried. (So far anyway?) -Always on the lookout for my own perfect bass I'm currently seriously looking at the Nordstrand Acinonyx (Cat) bass. A bit expensive for my usual range, but it could possibly replace several of my other basses...

 

[kevmac]

Been considering an Epi-0 to get that cool mudbucker sound, but some of the reports I've been reading about problems with the Epi-0's tuners, and especially the bridge, are worrisome.

I bought an Epiphone eb-0 a couple of months ago and I really like it.For the money it's a good value and worth modding.I haven't had problems with the tuners or bridge though I hate the Gibson 2 and 3 point bridges.I've replaced them on other Epiphones'. And though it sounds fine I may replace the pickup with Sentells' Unmudbucker, because I love modding my basses.