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Small Scale Bass Hate?

#41
I don't like 30" scale basses but I dislike 36" basses much more.

I could care less if a bassist plays 30" basses and may do play Gibson SG, Hofner, Danelectro, Fender, Gretsch and other short scale basses. Just not for me.

I have very small hands but I play "one finger per fret" which is no problem on the first 4 positions on a 34" bass. In fact, very comfortable for me. It is even a bit hard on my 34.5" FBass. 35" hurts a bit and 36-37" is impossible for me to play properly. I prefer 34" over 30" by a wide margin but that is just personal preference.

I can see myself going with 33" or even 32" 5ers as I get older.

My point is that nobody will look at a bassist on stage and say "good player, but that is only a Shortscale bass". Play what is comfortable!
 
#42
I prefer 34", 33" and 32". I just never felt comfortable on a 30.5" short scale.
So 32" is as short as I go now. I feel the extra 1.5 " helps in the upper register past the 12th fret.
Not don't seem to chock out.
 
#44
I had been finding playing to be tedious lately....and I got a Bronco Bass and I just stinkin' love it.

All these years I've been disregarding alto sax players with their sissy little horns and their sissy little sound compared with tenors, and here I am with my sissy little 30" bass and I love it to death. Oh, and it sounds great.

But I'm NOT gonna play an alto.
 
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#47
I had two Status Graphite 32" 4 strings and loved the comfortable feel and easy playability. I desperately wanted to get a 32" 5 string but was very worried how a low B would sound on a short scale. After selling the two 4 strings I finally ordered the 5 string and the low B sounds surprisingly fantastic! Even better than my 34" 6 string and just as good as the two 35.5" 6 strings I used to have. I am thinking of saving up for another 32" 5 string.
 
#48
NoBlackTShirts said:
I had been finding playing to be tedious lately....and I got a Bronco Bass and I just stinkin' love it.

All these years I've been disregarding alto sax players with their sissy little horns and their sissy little sound compared with tenors, and here I am with my sissy little 30" bass and I love it to death. Oh, and it sounds great.

But I'm NOT gonna play an alto.
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Now, an alto sax isn't gonna sound like a tenor. My Mustang, on the other hand, sounds just as good as my Pbass in the mix and I doubt the vast majority of the audience could tell the difference.
 
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#51
DOOGLER said:
I wanted to get a small scale four string to use at my home with a cheap amp. Is this regarded as stupid by the community? Since its a kids sized bass i wasnt sure what to expect. I feel thats its an easier reach.
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I don't think I've seen any "HATE" for them here. There are people who prefer different scales and different styles and different brands, but I haven't seen anyone really dripping acid about the existence of short scale basses. You want one? Get one.
 
#52
One of the sad days of my life as a player was selling a 31" scale Birdsong cBass. It played like a dream, and I thought it sounded great, but in the world I live in, the people who hire me want to see a Fender or something very like a Fender. For a while, I went out with a Fender '51 reissue, which everybody--especially drummers--loved to death. To a man (and a couple women) they said they could hear it better. In the end, I let it go because it was just ergonomically not right for me. Now I go out with a P/J and a J, and everybody is still happy. If I'd been able to afford it, I'd have kept the cBass, since I think it was a superior instrument for recording, but that's the way the cornbread crumbled.
 
#54
Registered an account after a long time lurking just to dissuade you from being worried about hate of a kind of bass :)

I don't think there's any reason to hate them. Personally, I prefer 34"+, but the idea of a short-scale... Something that is easier on the hands to play, especially if you are playing things that have large reaches, or things like ninth chords. I get a little cramped in the higher registers with a short-scale, but it's just not what I'm used to I suppose.

A short-scale can sound great; have no fears :D
 
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#55
NoBlackTShirts said:
Oh, and I would absolutely convert my Precisions to 32" if I could afford it.....
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I have a 32" conversion neck on order from Lowe guitars and I will be converting a Jazz bass soon! Can't happen fast enough. The 32" basses I have are just so comfortable.

Short-scale said:
I like shorties so much that I've got two of 'em! :)
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The SS Jag is incredible - I will buy a second one soon as backup since Fender seems to be discontinuing everything cool these days.

I brought my MiKro to band practice once and the BL kinda looked down his nose at it with a "hmmph". A little later he was praising the sound!
 
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#56
For those complaining about the upper frets missing an ibanez mikro 5 string can be tuned EADGC.
I would wonder how well it can handle DGCFA# tuning.

The squier bronco is definitely an awesome project bass, likely the best value you can find used at under 100usd, with <50usd of upgrades (bridge and pickup). Definitely has a great neck.
 
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#57
bholder said:
Slap a capo on the 2nd fret and move the fret markers with stick-ons. ;)
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bnolsen said:
Probably just easier to drop tune to 'D' and play it. Open strings suck anyways right?
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Bassamatic said:
I have a 32" conversion neck on order from Lowe guitars and I will be converting a Jazz bass soon!
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- 1st fret (well, you get 32-3/32" to be precise)
- Eb
(otherwise +1 to both)
and
- winner!:
For Sale - LOWE Custom USA 32" Scale "Conversion" Necks - NOW SHIPPING!!! | TalkBass.com
Not affiliated. Well, he did like one of my posts recently, does it count? :angel:
 
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#60
Not all short-scales use short strings. On the Italia Torino only the scale is short but the Bass itself is almost as long as a standard-size Bass and uses regular-size strings. My other short-scale is an Epiphone Allen Woody which does use short-scale strings.
 

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