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Which Short Scale Bass?

#63
pcake said:
i have issues with bass weights, and here's what i've found -

the hofner ignition violin bass and the traveler ultra lite bass are the two lightest basses around.

if they're not to your taste, the hofner ignition bass weighs in at 5 pounds, sometimes a little less.

my mustang is about 7.7 pounds, and both my mikros are over 6 pounds - 1 weighs 6.6 pounds, the other 6.2 pounds. my 34" scale ibanez cheapie, the GSR100EX, weighs in at under 7 pounds. my semi hollow 34" scale SRH500 weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces.

have you weighed your SR400 to see what it weighs? because without knowing the weight of your current bass, there's no way to know if other basses are lighter or not. the newer SR400 weighs in at around what my mustang weighs and just a hair more than my old jag ss weighed.
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I have a traveller bass as well, intersting & cheap enough, but due to quality issues with the way they are built I couldn’t recommend them.

They use guitar tuners, and low quality ones at that. They don’t stand up to the tension of bass strings. I have at least one tuner post that is visibly bent and another that rubs in its bore from the sideload that they cant handle.

I love the compactness of it, but its not a very good instrument, not without some major rework.

Also + 1 to all the Sweetwater posts. Great people to deal with. Goes to show you that honest fair treatment of your customer can go a long way.
 
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#64
Ghook said:
I bought the Hofner Ignition Viola bass. My first bass ( many many years ago) was a Framus Star, single pup, short scale. The Hofner is really light and easy. Took some bridge moving to intonate but meets my ears standard. I left the rounds on it, although I did purchase some LaBella Flats . I really love short scale and am now looking at thevTMB30, another choice, but heavier.
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Agree on the Hofners and own several. The one key item to keep in mind is the Ignition and German ones are full hollow bodies. The Contemporaries have a center block which will be slightly heavier but will give more sustain.
 
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#65
I'd recommend the Ibanez Mikro based on:
-it's cheap enough that you can regard its purchase as a trial
-the workmanship is good
-it sounds convincingly like a bass

And a caveat. I just bought a Mikro and found, as others have, that good intonation of the E and A strings is hindered by the travel length of the saddle. If you search this online you'll find some suggestions. My solution was to place a small bead between the intonation screen head and the back of the bridge. This had the same effect as using shorter screws. I also had to shorten one of the tensioning screens. I'm not particularly deft so this can't be that hard, but you should know going in that you may well have a problem to contend with.

And two recommendations
-I replaced the stock strings with Ibanez Mikro coated strings. They feel a little slicker and make playing easier.
-if you're looking for a hard case, check out cases for electric guitars. My Mikro fits nicely in a generic case built for solid body electric guitars.
 
#68
I like the Micro too. I am still impressed with the variety of tones I get with the stock electronics. I'm a little put off by the feel of the bass, the 28" scale and light weight makes it feel like a toy, but for $180 you get a lot of bang (sound and play ability) for the buck.
 
#69
I tore my left shoulder in January. My long-scale Fenders were killing me after a set. Some physical therapy and a Squier SS Jag later and it's much better. The Jag feels and sounds like a good passive fender and at >$200 you can't go wrong. Mine is completely stock except for a set of old Chromes I had lying around. I might sell all my long scales, get another Jag and put the remaining $ in my IRA.
 
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#70
It seems like weight and reach are the most important things to consider here . I have short scales that range from 6lbs up to 10 lbs for custom made instruments . I also have an SX and a Squier Mustang that are in the middle range in weight . My Mustang neck dives some with the standard tuners and therefore feels heavier than it is . The SX has been heavily modded with lite tuners and a very heavy bridge so it hangs very nicely for it's weight . If I were you I'd decide on my price range and find the lightest model I could - Birdsong's are generally , 31 " scale but can be had at incredibly light weights . Their owners are very passionate and complimentary about the playability and the quality as are most of the folks who end up with boutiques . However , you will have to pay a decent amount of money as you would for any of the other boutique makers like Landing etc .
Since you are rural and unlikely to be able to test drive easily - I'd suggest either buying online thru a reputable dealer who has a good return policy or buying something used from the classifieds here where you can potentially , flip it for about the same money should it not fit you . Good luck with the search ! Kelly
 
#71
matante said:
As you are not the person who wrote that post, you don't know if it was an ad or not -- if he's affiliated with them or not. I also misspoke because I should have said, "To me, it reads like an ad." I can't possibly know if it was or not. He can speak for himself. Of course it's fine to recommend a vendor but the OP is looking for recommendations of basses. He's presumably researching his options before dealing with a salesman, which is a wise decision. The advice amounts to "go to my salesman" which isn't useful when the guy is asking what options are out there.
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TO ME it appears that you still don’t understand the difference between an ad and a recommendation.

TO ME the whole, “should have reported it but didn’t” came across as you singling out this one person. Before you posted that comment other people had made recommendations about different basses. Why didn’t you go after them? After all there are a lot of other bases that they didn’t mention. That TO ME seems like the criteria you used to determine if something is an ad of not. Furthermore the person posting the “offensive ad” did not say the OP should buy his bass from Sweetwater, just that Sweetwater would go to the trouble to weigh some bases and find a lighter one. I’ve heard other people say the same thing in other threads. Didn’t see you going after them.

Hanging your argument on the fact that the OP was looking for basses and not for vendors seems TO ME to be flawed when using that to say it was an ad.

Here is an example of advertising logic that I will offer for your consideration.
The argument that there is no such thing as bad press.
Most ads are designed to get people to simply talk about a product. To keep attention on it.
“Did you see that commercial last night for Ajax Oatmeal? Is that the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“OMG, right? I feel like my intelligence was insulted.” “I wonder what Bill thinks, let’s ask him.”
Guess what, the ad campaign is working.

It seems TO ME however that the OP was not involved in any such designed ad campaign.
It even seems TO ME that by continuing this conversation, you are now promoting that vendor by by keeping alive the conversation. Welcome to the world if advertising.

TO ME it seems that the less confrontational thing to do, instead of taking on the roll of ad police without having all of the facts in hand, you could have just as easily brought it up with the OP in a PM. If in fact he was advertising for Sweetwater without being registered as a commercial user on TB, you would have had all the reason in the world to report him. But TO ME it seems that you are the party in this conversation who went on the attack. It would also seem TO ME that the burden of proof is on you now to show cause for your what TO ME seems like threatening tone about reporting it.

Additionally I will refer you to post #23.
They presented the same thesis as did I. “It’s not an ad.”
He even went on to sing more praises of Sweetwater.
Did you go after that person?
TO ME that seems like a pattern of singling out one particular poster and ignoring other similar posts.
TO ME, that seems a very smart strategy. Divide and conquer.
It also seems TO ME that YMMV.
 
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#73
Old Garage-Bander said:
TO ME it appears that you still don’t understand the difference between an ad and a recommendation.

TO ME the whole, “should have reported it but didn’t” came across as you singling out this one person. Before you posted that comment other people had made recommendations about different basses. Why didn’t you go after them? After all there are a lot of other bases that they didn’t mention. That TO ME seems like the criteria you used to determine if something is an ad of not. Furthermore the person posting the “offensive ad” did not say the OP should buy his bass from Sweetwater, just that Sweetwater would go to the trouble to weigh some bases and find a lighter one. I’ve heard other people say the same thing in other threads. Didn’t see you going after them.

Hanging your argument on the fact that the OP was looking for basses and not for vendors seems TO ME to be flawed when using that to say it was an ad.

Here is an example of advertising logic that I will offer for your consideration.
The argument that there is no such thing as bad press.
Most ads are designed to get people to simply talk about a product. To keep attention on it.
“Did you see that commercial last night for Ajax Oatmeal? Is that the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“OMG, right? I feel like my intelligence was insulted.” “I wonder what Bill thinks, let’s ask him.”
Guess what, the ad campaign is working.

It seems TO ME however that the OP was not involved in any such designed ad campaign.
It even seems TO ME that by continuing this conversation, you are now promoting that vendor by by keeping alive the conversation. Welcome to the world if advertising.

TO ME it seems that the less confrontational thing to do, instead of taking on the roll of ad police without having all of the facts in hand, you could have just as easily brought it up with the OP in a PM. If in fact he was advertising for Sweetwater without being registered as a commercial user on TB, you would have had all the reason in the world to report him. But TO ME it seems that you are the party in this conversation who went on the attack. It would also seem TO ME that the burden of proof is on you now to show cause for your what TO ME seems like threatening tone about reporting it.

Additionally I will refer you to post #23.
They presented the same thesis as did I. “It’s not an ad.”
He even went on to sing more praises of Sweetwater.
Did you go after that person?
TO ME that seems like a pattern of singling out one particular poster and ignoring other similar posts.
TO ME, that seems a very smart strategy. Divide and conquer.
It also seems TO ME that YMMV.
Click to expand...

TO ME, the person complaining has been a TB member long enough to know that we promote certain brands and dealers quite often. We also knock on brands and dealers quite bit too.

TO ME it sounds like he just wants to troll about this for some reason.
 
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#74
matante said:
True, but the advice was to call Sweetwater, not check their website.
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869F1D06-B5CC-41F0-B49F-8424A7BF08D5.jpeg
:smug:
 
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#77
+1 for the Hofner. I have the Club and I love it. Very light. Has the same electronics as a Beatle bass without the BB body style (sorry BB lovers, I’m just not into it) Great acoustic tone, and you can actually practice unplugged and hear yourself.

Also, the Epi EB-0 if you like a traditional Gibson sound. I got mine used mint for $125. I love it for playing classic rock.
 
#78
Ostie said:
+1 for the Hofner. I have the Club and I love it. Very light. Has the same electronics as a Beatle bass without the BB body style (sorry BB lovers, I’m just not into it) Great acoustic tone, and you can actually practice unplugged and hear yourself.

Also, the Epi EB-0 if you like a traditional Gibson sound. I got mine used mint for $125. I love it for playing classic rock.
Click to expand...
Don’t you mean Hofner style, EBO style, and Gibson style?:laugh::laugh:
If you use “style” with a brand name then apparently it is no longer an ad for that brand. :roflmao::roflmao:

ps Hope you’ve been following the derail part of this thread. ;)
 
#80
My vote would be for a Mikro. Inexpensive and have a pretty decent following that has a pile of suggestions for upgrades and solutions to problems.

Here is another suggestion, that I don't think I have seen...how about the Ibanez PNB14E or the little more expensive AVNB models. Similar models can be had from Gold Tone, Ohana, Ortega and Michael Kelly. Not sure if they would fit for the music you play, but may be worth a look. As much as I want to like the UBass, I think I need at least a 23 inch scale.
 

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