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Why DON'T you play a short-scale?

Fair point, a lot of chordal stuff sounds better higher.

I'm going to have to come up with a fuller example!

It sounds cool played above the twelve fret. On the first fret, it sounds kinda meh. But then again I played it on my fretless P with tapewounds, so maybe it'd work out better on my Paisley P with Roto 66s.

Maybe I'll throw the move in someplace when I play at church this week.
 
How about reaching a 5th stop from 1 to 3 between index and ring, and leaving the pinky free for the octave or 4th above it?

Or something like this, with a barre on the first fret:

1--h3
1--h4


Short examples so not very musical, but wouldn't those be tough to play on a 34"?

I can play power, open, and seventh chords on my 35 & 36". Granted, my tendons are very malleable.
 
I wish ibanez made a 30 or 32 version of their SR. The 28.5" gio mikro doesn't cut it for me. I'm talking a 30, 32" sr700 type bass. I would buy that in a second. If their short semi~hollow body was more like the jack casady, I would get that. But I don't like the inflated les paul look of their current model.
 
Hey Pluckers

I only use my short scale when I know I am in for a long haul, composing or drilling parts like all day or say 6-12 hours steady. I find that my Rob Allen Mouse is very user friendly in this regard, and with the tape wounds they are also very finger friendly.

I find it an easy adjustment to move to my medium scales to polish up the finishing touches on the part or the song, or to lay down the tracks. I have not recorded with the Rob Allen yet - the sound, although I adore it, isn't genre correct for me with the tunes I am putting together right now.

Otherwise, I don't play a short scale because I generally find it too small for me, not as comfortable as a medium - but certainly reduces the repetitive stress factor when I play for long hours.
 
To anyone who plays a Gibson SG bass, I've found that it sounds best with the stock strings. I believe they're D'Addario. Has anyone else found the same thing?

Stock strings sounded great, but I prefer GHS pressure wound for the RW sound and a little less noise. I cringe when I hear people 'slapping on flat's', and then hear others claim it sounds muddy. I love that flat's will give you a lower possible action w/o noise, but cant see sacrificing the sound, so it's preasure or RW's for me.
 
I mess around with my daughters short scale often. It's fun, I have an easier time with chords with it. But, the tighter string spacing throughs me off. I don't have any trouble with the higher notes. Just the string spacing issue. I still prefer my bass, but it's fun messing around with the lil one.
 
Why don't I?

I missed out on one, no more, no less. I have nothing against short scale. My first bass was an old Fender Music Master, and I loved it.

When I got back into bass a couple years ago, I was actually going back to the music store to pick up a short scale Peavey that was pointed out to me in their used section. And I would have been perfectly happy with it. But it was already gone. Their used gear generally doesn't linger very long.

The only other used bass they had that night(and it wasn't even in their system yet, but still in the back room) was a Squier Jazz bass. Standard 34". So I bought it, and love it too. And the next one I found was a used P, obviously also 34".

My preference now is for 34s(and mostly Jazzes and Precisions), but I certainly have nothing against a short scale.
Spent a lot of time on that old Fender Music Master, and I'd own another, if I found one.
 
I tend to play out of tune on short scale basses. The tension and scale length are unfamiliar and uncomfortable to me, so I don't look at short scales when buying basses. I might try a short scale acoustic bass, but not an electric.
 
I mess around with my daughters short scale often. It's fun, I have an easier time with chords with it. But, the tighter string spacing throughs me off. I don't have any trouble with the higher notes. Just the string spacing issue. I still prefer my bass, but it's fun messing around with the lil one.

Yeah, basically it. I used to have a short scale and loved the fact I could reach things I can't on a 34" bass. String spacing didn't bother me. And that really made it fun.

But the fact is that I really was never sold on the short scale tone. Especially on the E string. And then when I went to 5ers that was pretty much the end of my short scale playing.