THE BEST SHORT SCALE BASS GUITAR OF ALL TIME INQUIRY. THE BEST OF THE BEST EVER MANUFACTURED.

Your title SCREAMS.
Ernie Ball Music Man makes a great small scale StingRay bass that I think works well and you should consider on your shortlist. Pun intended.

 

Nearly every short scale bass ever built is the best short scale bass guitar of all time for some players...
"Across the board of any type of music and taste..."
This will - thank god - not happen. It IS taste.
This is like asking, what is the best food across the board of any type of food or taste. No matter if you want it sweet or salty, if you are a vegetarian or like meat, if you are after raw food, cooked food or barbecue.
Your question doesn't make sense.
There are instruments that are simply not well build or constructed, but besides those, instruments are just different.
Not to even mention, that you need different strings for different sounds. No roundwound will ever really sound like a flatwound string and the other way round.

 

Whats the best car, painting, song, beer...What kind of a question is this?

 

Only one I can think of that I'd spend good money on.

You are talking about which one sounds best, right?

 

Alembic

 

I dunno man... I love Alembics, but what about the perfect short scale bass for accompanying a digeridoo in worship speed metal?

 

My favorite dish is rice porridge sprinkled with a thin layer of cinnamon sugar and a lump of butter in the middle, and it ought to be your favorite dish too!

Michelin gourmet chefs might differ, but they are clearly wrong!

 

The american performer mustang.
Most short scales are thumpers only lacking in highs.
The performer rings out.
It's also the only pj bass I know that does the p bass sound with the p pickup but sounds like a jazz with both pickups on.

You can hate on its untraditional look,you can find a bass that does the fat and thumpy short scale sound better,but as an all around versatile shortie imo you cant beat the performer mustang.

 

Hofner

 

Define "Best".

 

Hofner 500/1 violin bass.

 

I like my Hofner 500/1

 

I like carrots.

 

I think what the OP is asking is what is the iconic short scale that would be the equivalent of what the p bass is in the long scale.
Not the best but the standard has to be the Fender Mustang. The original. Not the PJ version.

 

This may be a shock to you, but subjective preferences are subjective.

 

I'll skip past what appears to be the obligatory snarky admonishment that seems to be required by many who can't resist a lecture or tirade when an opinion based question is asked, and simply state that of the few short scale bass I've had, the Sandberg Lionel is by far my favorite.

If you're looking for a P-style Bass, I highly recommend it.

 

Based on those parameters, I'll go with the Mustang, with maybe the Hofner violin bass as the most iconic, at least among bass players?

Maybe to soon to tell about a lot of the newer shorties that have appeared fairly recently, but I guess people are going to list them because they own/like them.

It's never possible to find a definitive "best", everybody's preferences and needs are different. Still there's plenty of short scale options available today, so plenty of choices.

 

The Hofner Violin bass would be my second choice.
Personally I play the SBMM short scale Ray. But there’s nothing iconic about it. It’s just a slightly smaller Ray. Whereas the Mustang and Hofner both have a distinct look and of course one is associated with the greatest rock band ever.

 

I'm a big fan of Hofner Ignition Club Bass but any well balanced bass with a similar neck will rank high for me.

Second for me is my Fender Mustang PJ LE. I really really really like the sound of the P pickup alone on this one.

My former favorite is my early '60s Danelectro Silvertone Model 1444 "dolphin nose" but it's not very practical for me to play it as much now.