Why 34" scale?

[bassingeorge]

This is total speculation on my part, but here goes: A typical DB scale is ~ 43". A typical guitar (Can we use that word on TB? I usually call them "six string short scale piccolo basses.) is ~ 25" scale, right. The average between the two is 34". This give portability relative to a DB and allows the guitar (pardon me, again) player to adapt to the instrument.

This is actually pretty interesting...never thought of it that way.

I would like to get into the mind of Leo to see, as a non-player, how he came up with these things!

 

[west*coast*bass]

There is no difficulty in finding a 34" bass with a good B string, IME, IMO.
I've had plenty, and have 5 or 6 right now.

+1. I have had a 33" scale 5 string with a B that killed most 34's. It's about neck construction, not scale length.

 

[123321]

According to Jim Roberts book, "How the Fender Bass Changed the World", it was a combination of information from a physics book owned by Leo's secretary and/or trial and error - George Fullerton said they tried 30" - 32" and possibly 36", but chose 34".

I too recall it being mentioned in print as being based upon a physic thing of some sort... Hey, who am I to question Leo Fender's decision making. The guitars, basses, all of it... Masterpieces man!! Just incredible!!

 

[muzikman7]

According to Richard Smiths book "Fender the sound heard around the world" Leo did use his secretary's physics book for scale length, he tried others but felt that 34" would be the longest a player would be comfortable with and sounded the best.

 

[Jeff Mills]

Leo chose 34" scale with a paper thin neck for starving rock stars with long skinny fingers . I'm a pretty big guy with big hands and I defiantly don't miss any meals Personally I like a slightly shorter scale like 33 1/4" and a medium to fat neck that I don't end up wrapping my thumb around the fret board as I play. Also the shorter scale length and fatter neck allows me to hammer on from the 1st to the 5th, which I can't seem to do on a 34" thin neck.

 

[Chef]

Early P basses did not have thin necks; at least, not the ones I've played.
That came later.

 

[Jeff Mills]

Early P basses did not have thin necks; at least, not the ones I've played.
That came later.

That blows my theory - who's brilliant idea was it to start making paper thin necks? Is that part of the metric system? Almost all the store bought basses I've played have them today - it's like playing a child's toy.

 

[Korladis]

Agreed - I've owned a few 34" basses with good B strings, and currently own 3...


- georgestrings

Add me to the list. My Peavey is 34" scale and strung BEAD right now. The B-string sounds big and fat but rings clear, not muddy at all.


My other basses are 33.25" scale, and I prefer this, actually.

 

[fjadams]

There are plenty of shorter than 34" models, mostly for kids.

What? Seriously? All my basses are 30" except for the Gretsch which is a 32". They are all real basses, and I haven't been called a kid for at least fifty years.

 

[elavate7]

im sure he took time to test different scale lengths and 34 was the best scale lengths that had the best

 

[capnjim]

So the consensus seems to be it was Leo who decided 34"? That's pretty cool..Although, my main bass is a MIJ 32" scale jazz bass but I only have three fretting fingers.
I though this would be an easy question...

 

[Marko 1]

Well, at some point a decision had to be made. No matter what that decision was, someone would wonder why it was the one chosen.

Considering there are other scales used, no particular scale has proven to be the definitive length.

 

[Herrick]

This is a good question. Someone here must know the answer.

I've been wanting to try out a short scale bass lately. How about short scale basses? What does Gibson use? 30.5 inches? How did they get that length?

 

[Joospocks]

That blows my theory - who's brilliant idea was it to start making paper thin necks? Is that part of the metric system? Almost all the store bought basses I've played have them today - it's like playing a child's toy.

I bet it's more likely that as graphite reinforcement and that sort of thing became more common, the necks could be made thinner without worrying about the amount of pressure on the neck.

 

[dedpool1052]

Considering there are other scales used, no particular scale has proven to be the definitive length.

true, but the 34" scale has proven to be the standard.

 

[mongo2]

According to Jim Roberts book, "How the Fender Bass Changed the World", it was a combination of information from a physics book owned by Leo's secretary and/or trial and error - George Fullerton said they tried 30" - 32" and possibly 36", but chose 34".

That's a Bingo!!

 

[gfaulkner]

Reference material ;How the Fender Bass Changed the World by Jim Roberts.Your questions will answered.

 

[Broadstbully22]

My guess is that a adverage 5 foot 10 inch tall man has a wing span of 70 inches. Half of that is 35 inches. So that gives 35 inches to where you strum or plunk a string. That's my guess.

 

[xaxxat]

I remember reading something about Leo choosing his scales based on how many different ones he could cut with the same fretboard saw set up he had.

 

[phatbass]

I remember reading somewhere that, until they could get someone to make actual Electric Bass strings, on the prototypes they originally used gut Upright strings with a few turns of light gauge wire wound around the strings at the point where they passed over the pickup.

I'd guess that 34" turned out to be the right combination of being relatively compact, with high enough tension to play ok.