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Which bass for med probs

brithedark

brithedark

Jan 5, 2009
71
64
PA
www.brianjanthony.com
#1
I've been playing 26 years. I own 30 plus gtrs and basses and run a full time recording studio. I currently am suffering from a neurological condition which is causing significant problems with my playing.

I've tried many short scale basses. But try are either too small in the body or too heavy in the body. I have a geddy lee bass which is easy to play. But the weight and scale are making it difficult to continue.

I was wondering if in your travels you've heard of good solutions for people with MS like condtions.?

Feel free to move this post wherever.
 
#2
I'm not in or from the Berklee bass department, but I can offer a little insight

I have CTS and ulnar nerve entrapment, neither of which are particularly like MS but give me a lot of hand/wrist trouble.

I play a Warwick Corvette short scale which is perfect for me as it's short but the neck isn't too skinny which I love. It does however have a small body and isn't that light at about 8.8lbs.

Also I have a Squier Jaguar short scale, also a great bass. Much larger body, and much lighter weight, but the neck is a bit thinner. Mine has dimarzio pickups in.

Hope that helps a little.
 
#3
I recently had a Squier Jag sent here. As well as an SX short scale and a Gibson EB-0.

The Jag is ok but mine weighs almost 9 pounds (wild for a Squier). So it REALLY hurts the leg when sitting down (I don't almost ever stand to play). The SX has a nice neck profile, but the body is tiny so it just doesn't "fit" to play. The Gibby, well its stiff and it sounds, um, not good for what I need. I'd do the Hofner style, but the edge of the bass kills my nerves in the arm.

I'm such a project :-)

I'd LOVE a normal P or J bass with a short scale neck.
 
#7
Since you mentioned Hofner, have you ever tried the Verythin Hofner bass? They sound really nice, easy neck, feather light even with the sound block and are really thin so the edge of the bass wouldn't likely cut into your arm. It's a really nice lightway double cutaway. I played one for the first time last week and was very very impressed. It's on my list.
 
#9
I found a Squier Jaguar SS that weighs only 6.5 lbs. My Hofner Club weighs only 4.5 lbs.

I'm going through some back and shoulder issues and for the last several years I've been modifying basses to be mounted on a NS EUB stand so I could keep gigging. I've also DIY'd some basses specifically for use with the EUB stand in both short and long scales including one shortscale using a considerably slimmed down Bronco neck and a washtub based body (that one gets the most comments). My favorite are the short scales.

Things are a bit better lately and I've started using light basses on the shoulder again.
 
#10
Maybe this isn't relevant for your situation but I'll throw it in, in case it can help. I have some problems with shoulders and neck that makes it painful to use a regular strap. My solution is adding a strap lock button on the back of the lower horn and the other half of the strap lock, minus the locking pin, on a weight lifter type belt. This way there is only a minimum of weight on the shoulder strap and I can play for a longer time standing up.

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#12
Evil Undead said:
Almost 9 lbs? Wow! Mine isn't even 7 lbs.

Have you tried to find a JB62 short scale? I think they were made by Fender Japan, but can still be found
Click to expand...

They still make 'em, so shouldn't be a problem: Link Removed

30" scale and basswood body, so it should be light too. I could swear I see these on the bay all the time. Price ain't bad either.

Oh, and there's a 32" version as well. Link Removed :)
 
#13
brithedark said:
I've been playing 26 years. I own 30 plus gtrs and basses and run a full time recording studio. I currently am suffering from a neurological condition which is causing significant problems with my playing.

I've tried many short scale basses. But try are either too small in the body or too heavy in the body. I have a geddy lee bass which is easy to play. But the weight and scale are making it difficult to continue.
Click to expand...

Since I don't know the details of your conditon I can't say if short scale is necessary or not. I used to play short scale all the time and do understand some of the advantages. But on the other hand let me say that today I play 5 string and much of the advantage of short scale can be found by playing 5 string up further on the neck where frets are closer together and then playing ACROSS the neck. Just something to think about.

As for a bass, I'd VERY MUCH recommend one like my Carvin AC50. Super light (6 lbs 7 Oz), thin fast neck, and more or less full sized body. I know I LOVE mine and it's tone is not shabby either though as a semi-hollow it's not going to be Fender-like.

That's about what I know.
 
#15
I would recommend the Kala U Bass. I have the solid body and the acoustic/electric. I started playing a little over 4 years ago at 57 and I'm 61. I've always had issues with dexterity, especially at the low end of the fretboard. Got the Kala and it's so much easier to play plus they are very light. The solid body weighs a bit over 3 lbs. and the acoustic/electric weighs just over 2 lbs. The acoustic/electric can be bought for $350 to around $500, fretted and fretless.
 
#16
Since nobody's posted it yet, I'll mention the Torzal Twist bass:

Invalid Link Removed

I'm not sure what specific problems you're encountering, but the Torzal Twist bass aims to prevent problems bassists usually have with tendinitis / RSI / carpal tunnel due to the horrible ergonomics of the long-scale electric bass.

Here's the always informative and entertaining Ed Friedland playing a Torzal:



Be warned… the Torzal bass is not cheap.
 
#17
I will look into it thank you so much!

Peacefrog35 said:
Since you mentioned Hofner, have you ever tried the Verythin Hofner bass? They sound really nice, easy neck, feather light even with the sound block and are really thin so the edge of the bass wouldn't likely cut into your arm. It's a really nice lightway double cutaway. I played one for the first time last week and was very very impressed. It's on my list.
Click to expand...
 

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