I feel for you buddy I've had my left shoulder rebuilt but and both hips replaced but they say they can't help with the arthritis in my hands.
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Short scale
- Thread starter Steve-D
- Start date
I did reply to you but for some reason it went under a different reply. Anyhow it's the arthritis that's getting my hands so the short scale will be the pace to go and I'm leaning toward the Gretsch.for me it's my L shoulder, but same result = always looking at the short (or medium) scales and trying to follow what fellow TB'ers are getting into.
so, i don't have good advice (or even an opinion), but i'd sure like to know how this works out for you --- so please follow up and share what you get/learn and any 'surprises'. good luck on your quest!
no worries --- thanks for responding!
there are a bunch of us on TB who are looking for some kind of relief, for some kind of ailment, in order to keep on keepin' on ---so i'm selfishly wanting to know how things work out with a change of scale. so far: i haven't heard/read that anyone was particularly disappointed enough to switch back to 34" scale. seems that almost everyone has written that they got some amount of immediate relief from from the 'downsizing'. i hope you have the same experience, but just wanted to get the details --- so please follow up if/when you make the switch! thanks, jim.
Welp suit yourself, but for the record, you can get a single Gotah tuner at for around $10. And there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the finish. Heck! I shoulld buy it myself!
PSA: AMS, zZsounds and Same Day Music are all owned by the same company and when you call any of those websites your call goes to the same call center.
I’ve got a fender mustang (which I just gave to a friend because although it sounds pretty good I never really enjoyed it because the esthetics just put me off) and two Hofners The Hofners are quite nice. The CT500 is a better all-around bass - lots of boom but a bit more definition than the ignition. Hofner are light weight, easy on the fingers but of course, there’s that Beatle thing.
I use the Hofner Club version...it has zero Beatles association and it's more ergonomic for me while playing either standing or sitting.
I was referring to the audience. Hey, he’s playing a Beatle bass! As far as I am concerned it’s just another bass.
How is the build quality on those? I know the ones from about twenty years ago had some major quality control deficiencies
I was also referring to the audience. When I played a 500/1 style we would get quite a few requests for Beatles tunes. Haven't had any such requests since I started using the Club. Besides, I'm more interested in the ergonomics of the Club.
Problem is, those are long scale, not short. I’ve owned several.
I couldn't agree more! I was looking for something SS to teach my grandkids on and I recently picked up a used Squier SS Jaguar on Austin Craig's List for $70. It looks beautiful, I couldn't believe the condition for the $. I restrung it and used it the other night on my first set and it performed quite admirably. I was pleasantly surprised. I spent more for a case than the bass, lol.
I might also recommend that you consider a very light weight Danelectro Longhorn Bass. Although it's considered a medium scale bass, the 24 fret neck is set so far into the body that it seems like a much smaller ax than it is. It's made of Masonite so it weighs only a little more than a cigar box gitfiddle too so it's my "my back hurts tonight" bass. The Lipstick Tube Single Coil Pickups sound great too! I've added a tunable bridge for $35 since this pic was taken.
I also recently bought myself a used Epiphone Allen Woody Rumblekat Bass which is a short scale Badass for within your price range. Good Luck, whatever you do.
BTW, An old friend of mine recently went through this same change and he ended up with a new Fender Mustang with the P/J pick-up configuration and he couldn't be more pleased; however, a new one of those is closer to $575 at Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. while there are a few used ones around in the mid $400 range.
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new mustang pj is 575. worth it although the pickups aren't the best in the world imo. changing them out was an enormous improvement to an otherwise fantastic instrument
Yes, I thought that might be true because their warehouses are all in the same location.
I'm a reformed guitar player with arthritic thumbs that wound up playing short-scale basses because guitar chording and holding a flat pick was causing me too much pain. Started with a Mustang...also had brief flings with a couple of SXs and Reverend Dub King. Guild Starfire turned out to be what I was looking for. Priced higher than your stated budget, but if you can wait and save, the single-pup, (MIK) "Newark Street" (recent re-issue) Starfire Is can be had in very good condition for as low as $650 or so. Short scale, narrow neck/string spacing, so easy on the hands.
