What’s in an inch?

[TheLowDown33]

Anecdotally, I've played some short scale 5 strings that had very playable B strings. The issue arises when you start going up the neck. A longer scale B will sound clearer up the neck, and takes less cross sectional ata to remain at a relatively balanced tension. That's where Dingwalls tend to shine, the B string around the 10th fret and above, where other 5 strings of 30", 34", 35" will start to exhibit undesirable overtones.

 

[davidjbass]

I have owned a lot of basses both 34 and 35 inch scale. IMHO yes the 35" B has more definition to it. But I also own a Spector NS 5 that is 34" scale that I would match up to any 35" scale bass any day. I was playing 34" scale B strings long before any 35" scale B's where on the market. I found that certain factors come into play in how to get a 34" scale B to sound good. The first is what strings you use. On my 34" scale Stingray 5, Spector 5 and Sadowsky 5 I used DR Hi Beams. And the DR's had a taper core B string. And I would played the B string closer to the bridge. I have done this for years with various 34" scale basses and found that the B string gets good definition. I also do this with my newest 34" scale Fender American Pro II P bass V. Sounds great.

For years I owned and used 35" scale Lakland, Spector, Modulus and Dingwall basses. Loved my Lakland and still own it. And the B string is better. But as I got older (I am 57 now) I noticed that my left hand was starting to be bothered by the 35" scale length. Now I come from the school of one finger per fret. So I was starting to have a hard time stretching my fingers out over 4 frets of the 35" scale. I noticed that after playing 3 long sets of cover music my left hand was hurting. So out of fear I tried going back to 34" scale. My left hand stop hurting. And I do notice that when I play my Lakland for a long period of time my left starts to ache. But I will never give up my Lakland I just won't use it as much.

A lot of bass players use 34" scale B strings. Look at how many are on the market. Yes the 35" scale B sounds better. But with the proper technique, strings and e.q. a 34" scale can sound just as good.

 

[chris_b]

I have played multiscale basses in shops but never owned one. I found they were easy to adapt to and sounded very nice and well defined. I don't even notice a difference between my 34" and 35" basses. It seems scale length is not a factor for me. I have not noticed a difference in B string between scales. IMO the differentiator is how well the bass is made and the quality of the components.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I like the idea of a 35-33 but I'm not sure if anyone makes one? A bit more tension in the B and a slightly slacker G sounds nice. Or maybe a 34-32...

I think the keisel multiscales are morn happy in that ballpark. Dingwall super series (which has their slightly shorter scale) also comes to mind

 

[Dincrest]

Like many others have said, and I'm sure I'm repeating a LOT of it... while scale length does make a difference, I don't think it's as profound a difference as many think.

I've played 34" scale basses with great Bs and I've played 34" scale basses with floppy Bs. I've played 35" scale basses with floopy Bs and I've played 35" scale basses with great Bs.

A lot of pundits around here will say that overall construction of the instrument, particularly around the neck joint, is what makes the more profound difference. I can't say for sure if it's one or the other that makes the lion's share of the difference, but I think both factor in, big time. A tightly constructed bass with a flawless neck joint and a 35" scale will theoretically have a fantastic B string... but then again there are so many other X factors that could throw THAT out the window.

My caveat with a 35" scale instrument is that if it has a compact body, the neck will jut further out making first position an uncomfortable reach, especially if the instrument balances horizontally. This is why first position on a 34" scale Warwick Corvette was a more distant reach for me than that of a 35" scale Zon Mosaic Standard.

So basically, yeah, not all 35" scale instruments are created equal and while it does factor into B string performance it's not everything. It's like the Muggsy Bogues basketball analogy. Height alone doesn't make you a good basketball player.

EDIT: @skortch these come close:
33.5" - 34.5" multiscale 4-string- Invalid Link Removed
34"- 35.5" multiscale 5-string Invalid Link Removed

 

[dkelley]

I've owned and played and borrowed a lot of basses (hundreds). The B string doesn't IMHO notably improve with 35" over 34". What makes it improve the most on any bass is a well made stiff neck, properly setup rock solid bridge saddle and nut slot, and string choice that is NOT too thick.

Just my personal experience and preference, since I guess that input is sort of the thing we're supposed to be contributing here.

Of course, I don't like, nor do a good job, playing multiscale instruments LoL, so that might alter my perspective. But if it really sounded that much better I'd make the sacrifice. In my experience of long scale (35" and 36") basses and multiscale, I was not impressed.

Also, there is a rather exceptional Carvin 6 string bass you can buy now that is short scale. Check the videos of it online. See what you think of it's B string. Personally, I'm very very impressed.

I don't deny the physics of longer scale being better. I know that's true, it's well proven for pianos etc.

But my personal math findings back my subjective experience playing and listening... which is that the difference is not nearly enough for significant improvement. The bass would have to be FAR FAR longer than it is now to have a notably more "grand piano" sounding B string, which is the notable change in a long long long scale (far more rich overtones and sustain and attack, not at all like how a bass guitar sounds normally).

IMHO the best thing is the "piano string design" bass strings.... exposed cores over the bridge. That really does work, but don't forget to raise your saddles to get the same action as with full windings over the saddles.

 

[BurningSkies]

-I have a couple standard 34" scale basses (a 4 and a 5)
-I have 4x 34-37" multiscale 5-string basses (one fretless, the rest fretted)
-I have 1 32-35" multiscale 5 string

The 32-35 definitely sounds much more like a traditional bass, while the 34-37" is notable in it's clarity across the neck. It's hard to describe but there's just a difference in tone and how the longer instruments speak there's a certain 'authority' to what it does. I'd been playing the longer ones for about 15 years before getting the smaller scale and the difference was instantly noticeable to me upon picking up the 'shortie'.

I don't find it's much of an issue to go between any of the scale lengths. And can say from when I got my first fanned instrument (also my first 5 at the time)...the extra string was a bigger adjustment. I got the 34-37" fanned on a Thursday and was gigging it competently by Saturday night.

A well designed 34-37 shouldn't feel like an appreciably longer bass. It should be designed to hang on you so that the reach isn't much (if any) more than you'd have with a standard bass. In fact...the bass that I have with the longest reach is a standard 34" parallel fret Steinberger.

You can certainly adjust tension/thickness of strings to make sure a B isn't too boggy, but the nice thing about the longer ones is that you don't have to. You can maintain a reasonably light B-string that doesn't have to have high tension to sound good.

 

[Chef]

T
So, after committing to trading in my SR Special 5 and saying that I am never getting another 5 string GAS has struck again and I really want a low B again.

The two main issues I had with the SR is that the B string seemed too floppy, which resulted in having the action so high that it was pretty much unusable above the third fret, and the narrower string spacing.

Having not read all three pages here, I'll suggest you maybe just needed higher tension strings.

 

[jnuts1]

35" will definitely give you the best results. and the best B is hands down MTD. ive played everything and then some. no 34" will get the same results. even my smith doesnt come close.

 

[Chef]

Out of my 12 current basses, one is a 35". All the rest are 34. Strings and setup and quality parts make a good B string.

 

[fhm555]

What is an inch?
That’s easy, it’s 25.4 millimeters.

 

[bassliner50]

1"=about 25mm.

 

[sotua]

Not a fan of 34" B strings but prefer the other four strings that length. Wondering if anyone's tried mixing them. I.e. set the B string saddle an inch back from the rest. Too crazy?

You would also need the spacing of the frets for the B string to be different than the other 4 strings. Which would be really weird... unless you multiscale all strings and use fanned frets, then it looks only halfway crazy :-D

 

[Riff Ranger]

What 32" 5 string do you have, if you don't mind? I've been contemplating the move myself, but have been unsure about the B string. What gauges do you use for it?

32” Ibanez AEB105E on your left, 34” Ibanez ATK-305 on your right. I tune them GCGCF and string them .130/.105/.085/.065/.045; La Bella nickel roundwounds on the acoustic, Ernie Ball Slinkies on the electric. Fifth strings on both of these feel solid to me relative to that of my Squier VMPV, and that one has a .135 Slinky on it. Now that I have proper tools I can try setting it up with better measurements than I got just eyeballing it, and maybe that will make a difference. But as I said early in this thread, it seems like scale length isn’t the only factor in a good fifth string.

To be clear, neither of these fives are anything fancy, though ATKs have a devoted following for some very good reasons. And the fifth string on the acoustic isn’t exactly thunderous, but other than Earthwoods and gitarrónes, acoustic bass guitars just don’t do thunderous generally; the fifth string on mine keeps up well enough, though.

A word of caution on medium scale five-strings: strings are almost impossible to find. Jason from Fret Nation can special order a Dunlop .045–.125 set, and I bet if you look hard enough you could find other sources, but they’re not readily available. The reason I have the La Bellas on the acoustic right now is that they come with the adorable beads that I can use to make a long scale fifth string work:

This would look pretty goofy on a solid body!

 

[Riff Ranger]

My caveat with a 35" scale instrument is that if it has a compact body, the neck will jut further out making first position an uncomfortable reach, especially if the instrument balances horizontally.

While I didn’t find it problematic in my case, I definitely noticed this on the 35” Spector Legend Classic 5 I used to have. That thing looked, played, and felt great; it even sounded good, but it didn’t sound like me. (I like to think I also sound good, but in a different way!)

 

[Jack Deth]

Shorter scale needs increased string gauge to achieve the same string tension. Alternatively said, with a longer scale you can go with smaller gauge strings and achieve the same tension. What you do give up with a shorter scale is harmonics, all other things being equal. Those folks claiming that shorter scale basses have floppy B strings did not (or do not) increase string gauge enough to keep the tension they are accustomed to. There are string tension charts online with various scale lengths to show this.

 

[Dincrest]

While I didn’t find it problematic in my case, I definitely noticed this on the 35” Spector Legend Classic 5 I used to have.

Go figure, that was the big reason I let go of a Spector ReBop 5-string I used to have. The thing played amazingly, sounded huge, and its light weight (under 9 pounds) was lovely. But its overly horizontal balance + the compact body making the neck jut too far to the left + 35" scale made it the perfect storm of "ergonomic nightmare ill-suited for Dincrest."

I say this all the time, but with basses it IS the Harry Potter analogy. The wand really does choose the wizard. The average TBer might not think my #1 bass is anything special, but it is "my" bass that gives me "my" sound and feels most right to me.

 

[Novarocker]

View attachment 4151470
32” Ibanez AEB105E on your left, 34” Ibanez ATK-305 on your right. I tune them GCGCF and string them .130/.105/.085/.065/.045; La Bella nickel roundwounds on the acoustic, Ernie Ball Slinkies on the electric. Fifth strings on both of these feel solid to me relative to that of my Squier VMPV, and that one has a .135 Slinky on it. Now that I have proper tools I can try setting it up with better measurements than I got just eyeballing it, and maybe that will make a difference. But as I said early in this thread, it seems like scale length isn’t the only factor in a good fifth string.

To be clear, neither of these fives are anything fancy, though ATKs have a devoted following for some very good reasons. And the fifth string on the acoustic isn’t exactly thunderous, but other than Earthwoods and gitarrónes, acoustic bass guitars just don’t do thunderous generally; the fifth string on mine keeps up well enough, though.

A word of caution on medium scale five-strings: strings are almost impossible to find. Jason from Fret Nation can special order a Dunlop .045–.125 set, and I bet if you look hard enough you could find other sources, but they’re not readily available. The reason I have the La Bellas on the acoustic right now is that they come with the adorable beads that I can use to make a long scale fifth string work:

View attachment 4151502
View attachment 4151503 View attachment 4151504 View attachment 4151505
This would look pretty goofy on a solid body!

Thank you for the in-depth.

 

[Novarocker]

View attachment 4151470
32” Ibanez AEB105E on your left, 34” Ibanez ATK-305 on your right. I tune them GCGCF and string them .130/.105/.085/.065/.045; La Bella nickel roundwounds on the acoustic, Ernie Ball Slinkies on the electric. Fifth strings on both of these feel solid to me relative to that of my Squier VMPV, and that one has a .135 Slinky on it. Now that I have proper tools I can try setting it up with better measurements than I got just eyeballing it, and maybe that will make a difference. But as I said early in this thread, it seems like scale length isn’t the only factor in a good fifth string.

To be clear, neither of these fives are anything fancy, though ATKs have a devoted following for some very good reasons. And the fifth string on the acoustic isn’t exactly thunderous, but other than Earthwoods and gitarrónes, acoustic bass guitars just don’t do thunderous generally; the fifth string on mine keeps up well enough, though.

A word of caution on medium scale five-strings: strings are almost impossible to find. Jason from Fret Nation can special order a Dunlop .045–.125 set, and I bet if you look hard enough you could find other sources, but they’re not readily available. The reason I have the La Bellas on the acoustic right now is that they come with the adorable beads that I can use to make a long scale fifth string work:

View attachment 4151502
View attachment 4151503 View attachment 4151504 View attachment 4151505
This would look pretty goofy on a solid body!

Thanks for the in-depth break down. Got me real curious now. Had no idea Ibanez made a 5 string acoustic.

 

[Riff Ranger]

Thanks for the in-depth break down. Got me real curious now. Had no idea Ibanez made a 5 string acoustic.

They also make the Mezzo 32” solid body in 4- and 5-string configurations.