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The difference between an average player and monster chops...
- Thread starter BassHappy
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I certainly wouldn't turn away from one, if I liked it. I am perfectly comfortable with my 34s and I loved my old 30" Musicmaster. I've simply never had an opporotunity to sample a medium. Never really seen any in my area. I doubt it would replace my 34" basses(I like my tradtional Ps and Js too much), but I would gladly add one to the arsenal, if I did actually feel it was a better choice in some circumstances.
On the other hand, still not being a big guy, 34" and maybe 35" is as far as I could go up. Any longer and I might simply run out of a reach that is comfortable, thus being inhibited by a longer bass.
Misunderstood the thread due to not having read it.
Owned a mexican fender urge. Neck was great! 32 scale, maybe 32.5.
However, it did not cut through the mix on stage. Ditched it quick.
I play pretty much the same on anything between 30 and 35 scale.
Im most used to 34 scale tho, so most of my basses are 34s.
Owned a mexican fender urge. Neck was great! 32 scale, maybe 32.5.
However, it did not cut through the mix on stage. Ditched it quick.
I play pretty much the same on anything between 30 and 35 scale.
Im most used to 34 scale tho, so most of my basses are 34s.
As basshappy seems to have figured out, the OP could've probably been worded better. Lots of judgements and worse, apparent assumptions.
IME most recommendations to use a 34" scale aren't based on the scale length... they're based on the results that people get with a particular bass. The idea that people don't prefer them due to a lack of experience is pretty presumptuous.
A lot of folks don't know how to setup a bass and in my experience that's probably a bigger factor in instrument satisfaction than a physical property.
I like basses that I like... it's about that complicated for me.
I play a 24" (IIRC) Samick P bass quite often. I like it. If it did what my main basses did (34 and 34 5/8") I'd probably gig with it. I play mainly sixes and for shear wankabilty just put a nice four in my hands. But that's not my go to instrument either. Short scale without wide spacing sucks FOR ME. I see people going for custom basses in 33" or less scale lengths more often now, often with as narrow as 16mm spacing. Perfect for them, a nightmare for me. No one bass fits all.
I loved the early AWB bass work on short scale Fenders but just like I dug Chris Squire's Ric sound, neither one ended up being for me personally.
Why not recommend some of the wonderful short scale basses out there that can supposedly "increase chops"? I still haven't found one that would replace my mainstays and I've put my hands on a lot of basses.
IME most recommendations to use a 34" scale aren't based on the scale length... they're based on the results that people get with a particular bass. The idea that people don't prefer them due to a lack of experience is pretty presumptuous.
A lot of folks don't know how to setup a bass and in my experience that's probably a bigger factor in instrument satisfaction than a physical property.
I like basses that I like... it's about that complicated for me.
I play a 24" (IIRC) Samick P bass quite often. I like it. If it did what my main basses did (34 and 34 5/8") I'd probably gig with it. I play mainly sixes and for shear wankabilty just put a nice four in my hands. But that's not my go to instrument either. Short scale without wide spacing sucks FOR ME. I see people going for custom basses in 33" or less scale lengths more often now, often with as narrow as 16mm spacing. Perfect for them, a nightmare for me. No one bass fits all.
I loved the early AWB bass work on short scale Fenders but just like I dug Chris Squire's Ric sound, neither one ended up being for me personally.
Why not recommend some of the wonderful short scale basses out there that can supposedly "increase chops"? I still haven't found one that would replace my mainstays and I've put my hands on a lot of basses.
He didn't imply just some. He made it sound like an absolute. That is definitely overreach.
Yeah, he should have read over it before he hit the go button. I do think some of what he is saying has some merit, though. I do think that going from 34" to 32" or even to 30" can help some types of players to become better players. But as bad as his first post was, some of the responses were just as off. I mean, why list names of world class pros as examples of why shorter scales aren't needed. Like we could play like that on any scale instrument. I think that his post was intended for the average player in a cover band who practices 1-2 hrs a week and could use a little boost to his speed and efficiency. I think it's understood that current pros have got it down already. OP correct me if I'm wrong about the intent, but that's how I took it.
If Earth and all humans on it were 34 times smaller, the relative size of our current 34" bass will be 1", nothing that we'd notice, of course. Would we collectivelly play any faster because if this?
It is all related to the relative size between you and the instrument, and your motor skills adapting to the requirements needed to play. These skills are what at first differentiate all of us, even if we had identical size and gear.., so it is a impossible-to-get-consensus argument.
It is all related to the relative size between you and the instrument, and your motor skills adapting to the requirements needed to play. These skills are what at first differentiate all of us, even if we had identical size and gear.., so it is a impossible-to-get-consensus argument.
Man, it's been years since I had me some greasy pan-fried pork chops. I hope they'll be at least 10% better than I remember. Medium thickness, not thin or thick.
Thanks for this thread. I'd completely forgotten about the other white meat.
Thanks for this thread. I'd completely forgotten about the other white meat.
He listed Weather Report as one of the bands that influenced him. Maybe that guy could've been x% better on a shortscale?
If not for this thread, I would have forgotten that there are basses for the small and injured inhabitants of planet earth. Thank you, OP.
Excuse me? Be "controversial" all you want. But aren't you being awfully presumptuous too?
Since when did "most of us" pick up a short-scale bass in a music store, and come to a hasty, ill-considered decision, based on insufficient information or experience? As you yourself have already stipulated, it's rare to even find a short-scale or medium-scale bass for sale in a retail store.
So how exactly were we to have even had the opportunity to make such an "unfair and ridiculous assumption" in the first place?
MM
He listed Weather Report as one of the bands that influenced him. Maybe that guy could've been x% better on a shortscale?
Who knows how far he could've went
I have one of these...
And it's just plane fun to sit in a lawn chair on the patio and play with other people. I don't notice the short scale, like I said, it's just fun to play.
So if I follow what the OP is saying, you must now have monster chops.
This is where I turn when I need a shorter scale bass. MIA Fender Urge II with Drop D and I sure does cut through the mix. Plus, being a full J or P or anything in between, it's super versatile and very melodic, even unplugged!
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