Short scale tone?

[panda bass]

Can someone give me the low down on the tonal difference between a standard length scale and a short scale bass?

P.S. I, obviously, am a new member and would like to say this is a really nice site! Thanks for all the great answers and such!

 

[GassieBall]

In my opinion, very little. In this thread, many people could not tell the difference.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/help-munjibunga-prove-his-point-about-short-scales-626148/

 

[Pilgrim]

It depends on your ears. Mine don't hear any difference when the bass is well set up and well played.

 

[XsSpeed]

I just heard a short scale goes out of tune more often.

 

[devo_stevo]

I don't hear a bit of difference either and mine stays in tune as well as any long scale bass I've seen.

 

[eggfart1]

‪super cute asian baby‬‏ - YouTube

 

[mongo2]

I haveseveral longscales and shortscales. To me every bass sounds different but I don't identify any of the differences as being definitively attributable to whether the bass is a 30" or 34" scale.

Never had tuning maintenance issues with any bass long or short scale.

 

[darkstorm]

E string stuff and diff low B, can be somewhat prone to loose sound. The muddy or weak char many relate to short scale is imo often a result of the pups the more common popular short scale basses come with. Gibson ebo/ebo3 etc and their clones (muddy) and fender mustang and their clones(weak kinda lacking oomph) being the main examples I can think of. The more high end more modern short scale basses avoid most if not all this affect via the pups, electronics if active eq, build, and wood choices that give more bite or articulation.

Low E string stuff can sound as great as 34 scale, but low B string stuff that sounds great is much harder to do with short scale imo. Though I'm not a fan of Alembics in general, their short scale stuff pretty much was the early versions of short scale that equaled 34 scale basses sound wise. Imo.

 

[UnfortunateTony]

Some people say a short scale is more "boomy", or a long scale sustains better, but I disagree. There's no particular difference in my opinion.

 

[boynamedsuse]

Tonal difference due to scale length is minimal IME. The design, build quality, electronics, strings, etc. make a larger difference--as with any other bass.

 

[honeyiscool]

Here's a Mustang Bass clip I just recorded:

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[chadds]

Tonal difference due to scale length is minimal IME. The design, build quality, electronics, strings, etc. make a larger difference--as with any other bass.

I respectfully disagree. There are new Yamaha uprights that have a string length far greater than baby grands and their volume and tone blow baby grands away.
Now you can make a 34-35 sound like a 30-32.

 

[Tom Howland]

I just got a 1960 Gibson EBO. ( short scale 30.5")
To me its all about what pickup is in shore scale bass.
The Gibson pickup is huge, great sustain, very fat.
I've also own a Jerry Jones shore scale bass. ( very nice)
To me , short scale basses tend to be big sounding in the first 12 frets.
Then get a little chocked, in the upper frets.
But these basses work great for fat, low-end grooves.

 

[lunarpollen]

Given everything else is the same but scale length, I find that on average the short scale basses are a little lower in volume, and have a little less sustain. Neither of which is an issue for me, there are bound to be volume differences between basses of any scale depending on pickups, electronics, etc. And I like the shape of the notes that decay a little faster.

 

[panda bass]

Ok, thanks for the answers! The reason I'm asking is because I am thinking about switching out necks on one of my basses and the new neck is a tad shorter. So I'll have a medium short scale bass; say around 32''.

 

[boynamedsuse]

Ok, thanks for the answers! The reason I'm asking is because I am thinking about switching out necks on one of my basses and the new neck is a tad shorter. So I'll have a medium short scale bass; say around 32''.

If you change the neck on a bass, you need to keep the scale length the same. The frets need to remain a fixed distance between the nut and bridge or the frets will no longer be located where they are supposed to be. I suspect the only way to change the scale would be to accompany the addition of a new neck with moving the bridge the appropriate distance towards it as well to compensate. This may also require moving the pickups.

 

[panda bass]

It's fretless! So, it's no big deal!

 

[boynamedsuse]

Well OK then.

 

[trunkshope6]

Every time I hear a rolling stones song, their bass tone exerts a short scale

 

[johnk_10]

IME, generally, short scales have less sustain and less harmonics than a long scale, but they usually have more fundamental and less dead spots too. the only exception that i own is my '85 alembic distillate short scale, that actually sustains and has harmonics just like a long scale.

my short scale basses are:
'68 gretsch 6073
'68 Gibson EBO
'68 Gibson EB3
'69 Gibson EB1
'66 Gibson EB2D
'68 Gibson EB2
'68 Hofner 500/1
'85 Alembic distillate

all of my other 22 basses are 34" scale with the exception of my four rics, having a 33.25" scale.