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Hmm, is there an 'official' list detailing this? I'm sure I could be wrong, but for the last 45 years I've been playing this is the first time I've head an EB called short scale and the Rick a medium.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,967
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
this is correct
Probably because few people referred that specifically to scale at one time. All those inexpensive basses that flooded the market from Japan etc in the 60's were mostly referred to as "student" basses and most other (electric) basses were referred to as "Fender" basses. (regardless of make) I bought a new EB-3 in '71 and never referred to it as short scale until I sold it and bought a '63 T-bird and only referred to it as my bass, which was bigger.
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My first bass(EB-3)was just "a bass". As @JIO says, it wasn't until later that scale length distinctions came into use. I've noticed on Big Band charts if they want an electric bass it usually says "7ender Bass" rather than "String Bass".this is correct
Probably because few people referred that specifically to scale at one time. All those inexpensive basses that flooded the market from Japan etc in the 60's were mostly referred to as "student" basses and most other (electric) basses were referred to as "Fender" basses. (regardless of make) I bought a new EB-3 in '71 and never referred to it as short scale until I sold it and bought a '63 T-bird and only referred to it as my bass, which was bigger.
At which point I'll pipe up"I can't play this, I have a Gibson". The leader just looks confused
Take it from me, boys. bigger is better 
And on that subject, I had a bit of spare time this morning so I pressed on. Ripped the neck blank down to slightly oversize and marked out the position of the scarf joint which worked out at 14 degrees with a 10mm (+ veneer 3mm later) at nut length minus 40mm. I made a jig for the table saw to cut the scarf but in hindsight I should have just bandsawn it and planed square and flat, not a jig I'll be keeping! Once planed I glued them together and now they can sit until Sunday when I'll get back to the workshop
And on that subject, I had a bit of spare time this morning so I pressed on. Ripped the neck blank down to slightly oversize and marked out the position of the scarf joint which worked out at 14 degrees with a 10mm (+ veneer 3mm later) at nut length minus 40mm. I made a jig for the table saw to cut the scarf but in hindsight I should have just bandsawn it and planed square and flat, not a jig I'll be keeping! Once planed I glued them together and now they can sit until Sunday when I'll get back to the workshop
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'Til Sunday? Off on holiday? BTW, Wendy update?Take it from me, boys. bigger is better
And on that subject, I had a bit of spare time this morning so I pressed on. Ripped the neck blank down to slightly oversize and marked out the position of the scarf joint which worked out at 14 degrees with a 10mm (+ veneer 3mm later) at nut length minus 40mm. I made a jig for the table saw to cut the scarf but in hindsight I should have just bandsawn it and planed square and flat, not a jig I'll be keeping! Once planed I glued them together and now they can sit until Sunday when I'll get back to the workshop
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Gig tomorrow night, top slot on a rebooking in Birmingham (UK) after we went down so well a couple of weeks ago
Name of venue please?Gig tomorrow night, top slot on a rebooking in Birmingham (UK) after we went down so well a couple of weeks ago
Oh, crap, THAT Birmingham. I thought y'all were coming across the drink.Gig tomorrow night, top slot on a rebooking in Birmingham (UK) after we went down so well a couple of weeks ago
Fraid so, long scale necks a re most definitely this girls scale of choice
Wow it's been hot today. Didn't get in the workshop yesterday, I think I slept most of the day.
Started the day by planing the scarf joint flat, I checked the necks for flat and they were both still good. The next step was routing the truss rod slot then making the template for the headstock then drew it onto the wood and bandsawed the shape out then used the offcuts to add on the missing bits on the wings. While the glue was drying I played around with the placement for the tuners as my initial drawings didn't look right. I made a test piece from some MDF just to be sure.
Once the glue had dried I again bandsawed the rest to shape and marked out the plan view of the neck and cut that slightly oversize. Now it looks more like a bass.
Tomorrow I will I think scribe in the neck joint to fit the body then make a start on the fret board, actually more accurately I'll make fret template for my home made mitre box.
Moving on from there, I'll leave the necks be until the fretboards are fully finished then I'll have a last check for flat, glue on the headstock veneer, cut the truss rod access slot and drill through before gluing on the fretboards. That I think will be the ongoing plan
Started the day by planing the scarf joint flat, I checked the necks for flat and they were both still good. The next step was routing the truss rod slot then making the template for the headstock then drew it onto the wood and bandsawed the shape out then used the offcuts to add on the missing bits on the wings. While the glue was drying I played around with the placement for the tuners as my initial drawings didn't look right. I made a test piece from some MDF just to be sure.
Once the glue had dried I again bandsawed the rest to shape and marked out the plan view of the neck and cut that slightly oversize. Now it looks more like a bass.
Tomorrow I will I think scribe in the neck joint to fit the body then make a start on the fret board, actually more accurately I'll make fret template for my home made mitre box.
Moving on from there, I'll leave the necks be until the fretboards are fully finished then I'll have a last check for flat, glue on the headstock veneer, cut the truss rod access slot and drill through before gluing on the fretboards. That I think will be the ongoing plan
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Hey Christine
Really coming along, nice work!
Just wondering Christine, and perhaps you mentioned and I missed it? Apparently Gibson made some changes in the body sizes/dimensions in their basses over the years, seemingly always a bit oversized from the guitar bodies. From what I have read - the LP Bass body sizes were all quite varied. Can you share which body size you settled on and what your reasoning was? It's something that gave me a lot of concern when I decided on mine.
Really coming along, nice work!
Just wondering Christine, and perhaps you mentioned and I missed it? Apparently Gibson made some changes in the body sizes/dimensions in their basses over the years, seemingly always a bit oversized from the guitar bodies. From what I have read - the LP Bass body sizes were all quite varied. Can you share which body size you settled on and what your reasoning was? It's something that gave me a lot of concern when I decided on mine.
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Yes a few changes, my process was simple really, I just like the oversized bass even after looking at lots of pictures. In the end I settled on this picture to be the basic guide to the build
Then I opened it in Photoshop, applied a 1" grid pattern and resized the picture so the leading edge of the nut to the centre of the 12th fret was exactly 34" (edit, 17" sorry
)and transferred the outline to paper by hand, I made a couple of small changes in the outline as of personal preference. Nothing more scientific than that really
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Your science makes a 68” scale bass. You really like them big, do you? I guess you scaled the pic 17” from nut to 12th fret or 34” from nut to bridge. Right?
She did say she likes them Oversized
BassHappy
Supporting Member
Yes a few changes, my process was simple really, I just like the oversized bass even after looking at lots of pictures. In the end I settled on this picture to be the basic guide to the build
View attachment 3047405
Then I opened it in Photoshop, applied a 1" grid pattern and resized the picture so the leading edge of the nut to the centre of the 12th fret was exactly 34" (edit, 17" sorry
Thanks Christine
Yeah, that is exactly how I would do it, but I use Illustrator. Works like a charm. Would love to know what the width and length ended up measuring out to.
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Sorry for the tardy response, I've been away in Cardiff to see the Stones and took a few days to do a bit of cultural sight seeing
The width was about 13 3/4" and the overall length about 46 1/2"
