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Sonic compensation - short scale bass

thomashawk

thomashawk

Jun 29, 2010
218
5
New York, NY
#1
I am having a limba short scale bass made (30"). One concern I have specifically is the loss of attack due to lower string tension, and I know my wood choice also heavies up my bottom end as well. All of my current basses (all 34s) have the alder-body/rosewood-board combination, and I love presence and attack of these.

So I am wondering if there is a fingerboard wood choice that can give me back some of the lost attack. For my needs, I am not looking for brightness, and I am not a huge fan of maple (lack of resonance) or ebony (too brittle). I was thinking about pau ferro, but that seems to be between maple and ebony, and I guess I'm looking for something in between rosewood and maple.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tommy
 
#2
the loss of attack is in the strings, not the fb. just something you have to deal with when you use short scale strings. plus, i think the neck/body joint makes way more of a difference than the fb. the fb is just a small part of it, and i don't think it's a very significant one. some may disagree, but i believe them to be wrong. a set neck vs neck through body vs bolt-on has way more significance than a thin strip of wood on the neck. imho, ymmv, and all the other stuff you have to say on here to keep those who disagree from crying like babies ;)
 
#3
Thanks Jimmy. I understand that the attack is lost due to the string, i.e. the physics of of the string tension. I am wondering if there is a fretboard wood choice that can compensate (sonically) for this loss. I am also thinking that I could add some compression to compensate this as well, but I don't want to be tied to a pedal.

Thanks again man,
Tommy
 
#4
alembic compensated by making their short scale stanley clarke models neck through body. but really i don't think it matters in the long run once you amplify it and get a sound you like. you can't really tell short scale from long scale on a recording.
 
#5
Use a heavy string gauge? You could even use the bottom 4 strings on a five string set if you wanted. You can't fight the tone or feel of a bass too much and a shorty will be different. I really like 'em myself, but I accepted that it'd be way different than a full scale and just went with it.

Out of curiosity, who's making your bass? What's specs?
 
#6
I agree with Jimmy's point about the neck joint. One thing I have been told by those more knowledgeable than me is that a bolt on neck sounds a lot more stable if you have the threaded metal inserts drilled into the neck and you tap into those with the appropriate sized machine screw (rather than wood screws into wood, like most are manufactured). Rod (Rodent) from Regenerate Guitars does a lot of these (see http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=587433 about halfway down page).

However, I believe the use of a high mass bridge and preferably a brass nut also go a long, long way toward taming the escape of string vibration out of the strings and into the neck and body (taking sustain and harmonics with it). Alembic uses both (many of their bridges actually sit on an 8 oz brass block that's inset flush into the body).
 
#8
I agree with Jimmy about the FB. Honestly you'd get more noticable differences with string selection and construction method than you would with FB choice. It all boils down to a whole combination of factors. Here's MarloweDK playing a cheapy SX shortscale bass and I think it sounds great. My shorties all have a different tone from each other depending on how I built them, the hardware I use and the strings but the FB was never a major concern.

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#9
All excellent information! Thanks gentlemen.

I am speaking with Jim Wilson at Landing Bass about his 30.5". So far, he's been great to work with. I feel like I've thrown everything including the kitchen sink at him (I'm going for a three pup/two preamp set-up), and he has handled it all like a pro. I am however still waiting to get a price.

Previously, I have always found basses I loved - bought them, and kept them stock (mid-90's EB/MM, 70's Fender J, late 80's G&L). These have been my workhorses, and it has been over 15 years since I bought a new bass. This is my first attempt at "compiling" my ideas into a single instrument (at this stage I'm not a DIY maker of any sort - NYC apts have too limited space). I feel like I've taken a crash course in bass construction/design - I've never even thought about on-board preamps before (John East solved THAT issue by a KO).

Brass bridge, heavy gauge strings, set-up, etc ALL excellent considerations!!!

I'll be happy when this thing is in my hands, and I can go back to listening ;-)

Thanks again everyone!!!

-Tommy
 

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