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What's driving the shortscale revival?

#141
mrpackerguy said:
I bought a Guild Starfire II last week, then came across a mint '71 Fender Musicmaster and am flipping the Guild. I think I'm in love.

For me, the interest in shortscale was several things. Age and the thought of something lighter and easier to play through a 4-hr gig was probably primary. Peculiar interest was another factor with a seeming uptick in shortscale threads here on TB. Also, mainstream guitar and bass companies targeting resources in the shortscale area: think EBMM with their Sterling Stingray Shortscale bass. Finally, as many of you probably have done, I started paying attention to shortscale information and read many of the shortscale threads here, learning a lot and piquing my interest. I think the biggest misconception I had was that shortscale could never sound close to regular scale basses. Wrong. At least to my ears.
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Why sell the Guild? It's nice to have several basses. I always take two basses to gigs so that I have a back-up. I may only need once every 10 years, but when you do... I have 10 basses because I like basses and having a variety is really fun. In addition to my band I do a lot of one-off projects around town, and I will use one of the 10 for a particular project (rehearsals to performance). So my jam band project I might use my 1967 Guild Starfire, and for a hard rock tribute I'll use a Gibson Thunderbird.
 
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#144
shadven said:
Why sell the Guild? It's nice to have several basses. I always take two basses to gigs so that I have a back-up. I may only need once every 10 years, but when you do... I have 10 basses because I like basses and having a variety is really fun. In addition to my band I do a lot of one-off projects around town, and I will use one of the 10 for a particular project (rehearsals to performance). So my jam band project I might use my 1967 Guild Starfire, and for a hard rock tribute I'll use a Gibson Thunderbird.
Click to expand...
I can't seem to love it. I have a regular scale RS Guitars P bass (their '59 Contour) that I had customized with some 62 P bass specs that weighs 8# and while it's comfy, the Musicmaster is even more comfy.
 
#146
Like most things in the instrument market, I suspect, it's a combination of...

-Customer awareness (a cadre of folks finding that short scale instruments fit them)
-Innovation. More short scales being developed over time (and at a wider range of price points) that overcome some of the perceived shortcomings in short scale instruments.
-Market Exploitation. The big dogs are always looking for a new niche. They find one, introduce more products for that niche, advertise those products and thereby grow the size of that niche.

...though not necessarily in that order in all cases

I've seen this sort of thing a lot over the past years, perhaps the biggest example is the way that over the past decade or so, legacy companies like Fender, G&L and Ernie Ball have found ways to react to customer awareness of improving quality of competing low-end instruments, innovate to improve the quality of their own low-end lines (or invent new lines) and then exploit that by increasing the customer perception and esteem of those lines so much that they can then raise the price point of those lines.
 
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#147
Because I am older, my back went out yesterday trying to pick up a sock on the floor. Thus, I am spending too much time looking at TalkBass while I am icing and heating my back on the couch. This thread has been very interesting and is trending toward the types of SS basses people use, so I’ll contribute. My first SS was an Ibanez Mikro. I like it but I actually found it too short. I donated to a charity organization. Then I bought a Fender Kingman AEB on which I put GHS flats. I love it and can pick it up whenever I just want to noodle on a bass. Next up was a Hofner Club Ignition that now wears LaBella flats. It is great for that classic thump thump sound. A go to bass for any Motown tunes that I try. Finally, and most recently is a Sterling MM that now has d’addario black tape wounds on it. What a great tone, especially for tunes that sound better with a little more zing. So three SS basses for different occasions.
 
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#148
short scales weren't even on my radar at all. I didn't even know they existed outside of older instruments or occasional new-retro throwbacks. I was looking for narrow-spaced 6-strings and ran across Ibanez' SRC6 and bought one in 2014; I fell in love, and more so with thicker strings on the 6th/low E. A little bummed that Ibanez discontinued it; they were the only mass-produced one of these that I knew/know of that looked more like a "proper" or modern bass. But maybe that's why it was discontinued in the first place; people wanted something else in their shorties. Of course the Mikro exists and seems pretty popular (cost is likely a factor, imo), and I have a Mikro 5, now, too, that's much better than it should be for the price.
 
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#149
I had long been a 35" scale 5 string with active electronics guy. But after five or so years of rarely playing any bass, I was much more open minded when I came back to it. One of my close friends has been playing short scales since he started and after playing a few of his, I really started to enjoy them. About 2 years ago I got a short scale vintage Hagstrom and have since added a 60's short scale Kent hollow body and a Nordstrand Acinonyx. I've also got a 35" 5er, a Multiscale 5er, and a few 34" 4s. Gotta have one for every scenario!
 
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#150
mrpackerguy said:
I bought a Guild Starfire II last week, then came across a mint '71 Fender Musicmaster and am flipping the Guild. I think I'm in love.

For me, the interest in shortscale was several things. Age and the thought of something lighter and easier to play through a 4-hr gig was probably primary. Peculiar interest was another factor with a seeming uptick in shortscale threads here on TB. Also, mainstream guitar and bass companies targeting resources in the shortscale area: think EBMM with their Sterling Stingray Shortscale bass. Finally, as many of you probably have done, I started paying attention to shortscale information and read many of the shortscale threads here, learning a lot and piquing my interest. I think the biggest misconception I had was that shortscale could never sound close to regular scale basses. Wrong. At least to my ears.
Click to expand...
 
#151
After years of playing long-scale Fenders...It was the cool factor for me. In the 70's, all of the local bass players in my area were playing Fenders. ALL of them. When the 80's came around with the advent of punk and new wave, music and fashion changed things. I wanted to be the odd man out. That's why I gravitated toward Danelectros, Italian and German made basses and the like. And, you could get them used for CHEAP!
1966 Eko 995 brand new/unplayed in the box with hangtags for $125. Danelectros for under $200. Same with Vox basses. But, again, they were pretty uncool to be seen with and only new wave nerds would hoist them on their shoulders.
 
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#154
What's driving the shortscale revival?

I started playing in 1968. My first bass was a guitar strung with 4 fat guitar strings, my first real bass was a 30" scale Hofner Copy, then a 30" scale real Hofner, then a 30.5" scale Gibson EB bass, then a 33" scale Rickenbacker. Finally in 2001 I got my first 34" scale bass. So I spent 30 some years playing short and medium scale basses.

Also a few years ago I bought my daughter a Ibanez Mikro which is 28.6" scale. It was really weird at first but within 10 minutes my hands adjusted and it and I could play it without a problem.
 
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#159
Short scale basses have obviously been around for over sixty years, but I have also noticed that at least among non-pro players (I don't mean anything negative by that), there's a certain allure to an easier-to-play instrument that instantly sounds good and authentic with a set of flatwounds. Add to that the modding possibilities when one buys a less expensive instrument and the clubs begin to form. I don't necessarily prefer them, but I have a half dozen or so SS basses myself, including a Hofner (and a Hofner copy), a Dano 3412 Shorthorn, a Mikro and two Ibanez Parlor basses. There is a certain tone about them for sure!
 
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