Why would anyone play a bass longer than 30" scale?

[Two-Spirit]

This is like the argument, "why are you using 10s." You can never convince another guitarist that 10s and 11s feel good to you.
I imagine that you don't have to hop around as much on a short scale and not everybody can play without looking at their bass a lot.

 

[J-Mags]

Be careful! The next step is baritone guitar, which leads to regular 25.5" Fender scale. Next stop from there is Gibson then student scale...

Hahaha! I went from 25.5" to 26.5 baritone to 30" short scale bass. Next up 34", I suppose. Eventually, I'll be fastening giant strings to steel girders.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

I play 5- and 6-string basses. A lot of low B strings are floppy as all hell even at 34" (thankfully my Ibanez SRs and EBMM Sterling have great low Bs)... I don't even think any manufacturers even try 30" with those, do they?

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[Two-Spirit]

Jack Bruce had an SG in the 60s. Just plug it into an SVT and a fridge and you'll be fine.

 

[bearfoot]

Do you like clubbing your lead guitarist and/or singer in the head?

You ask that as if it's a bad thing.

Honestly, it's a good question. 30" or so scale length is by far more ergonomic for a bass guitar. It also apparently does not manifest dead spots like 34's are prone to. (I have no data on that)

I believe a lot of this is simply in the language use. It's because it's called "short". Nobody wants to be short. There are all sorts of biological underpinnings to this.

30" is probably the best fit for 95% of players. If 30" scale length were called "long" or "standard", it would be standard. Language is that powerful.

I don't know all the details of the story of how Fender ended up at 34", but it was probably a compromise between the guitar-player market and the upright bassist market. 30" was most likely preferable to guitarists, and upright players are most used to scales longer than 34".

34" was probably the best middle-ground for the market at the time. It also has its own inherent advantages, such as in harmonics and the tension and feel of the strings.

 

[Ric5]

I play 5- and 6-string basses. A lot of low B strings are floppy as all hell even at 34" (thankfully my Ibanez SRs and EBMM Sterling have great low Bs)... I don't even think any manufacturers even try 30" with those, do they?

I have a 32" scale build in my workshop that I need to finish. It will be a 5 string bass. I pretty much only play 5 string basses and I don't like 35" scale. I have 2 33" scale 5 string Ricks and a 30" scale 8 string. So I am building the 32" 5 to prove that a short scale bass can have a good B string. I also user s a super light gauge of strings because a lighter B and E string will bring out more mids on the B and E and then the B and E will be less boomy.

 

[Ric5]

To my ears short scale basses sound deeper up and down the neck and long scale basses bring out more mids up and down the neck.

 

[radbass]

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I've tried one of these. Scott figured out a way to get a 30" B to sound and feel much better than it should. It works. The E's on his 4's sound better than most short scales, too.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I also don't understand why people don't like or believe the things I do.

Because you're an alien lizard being from an earlier geological epoch?

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I give you the Ibanez Mikro with a 28.6" scale

my daughter has one of these … they play easy and the tone is good … no neck dive and it is light weight … they are best when you solo the p pickup

View attachment 3231797

Nearasdammit cello scale... but no fretless

 

[Ric5]

Nearasdammit cello scale... but no fretless

You could have the frets pulled

 

[mattj1stc]

In response to the OP, I'm kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum. When I started, I started on a lawsuit P Bass that felt about right to me dimensionally (scale, string spacing, neck width/thickness, etc.). When I was able to upgrade my gear later in life, I found that I kept coming back to those same P Bass types of dimensions - they just feel right to me. Other basses, even a Jazz Bass, felt small and cramped (a regular guitar - forget about it). In fact, I now play a 5 string P Bass (with more or less expanded P Bass dimensions - e.g. 35 inch scale, 19mm spacing, etc.) because it feels right to me. I've had a Dingwall, which had a 37 inch scale B string, and that was fine too (just didn't like using such an expensive bass all the time). I also play upright, which is different, but has an even longer scale length. Then agai, I'm 6'6" and about 250lb, so my perspective is unique.

 

[bluegreenturtle]

Well, you made us all think a bit, at least.

 

[Ellery]

I'm serious about this. I see lots of threads about is it OK to play a short scale but never any from the other perspective. Maybe it's because I only started playing bass 6 years ago in my mid-50s and started on a Squier Jag SS, maybe it's because I get tennis elbow if I play anything longer than a 30" scale on a regular basis, or maybe it's because I'm a lead singer and have to try to play everything without looking down (as best I can LOL!). But I don't get it... why would anyone handicap themselves by playing a bass that is longer than necessary.
Short scales are easier to play no question. I don't think that's even worth debating. The selection of shorties is better than ever (and there should be more...). String selection is no longer a problem and tension issues can be resolved with the right strings (again it could still be better and will be once everyone switches to short scale ). Tone is pretty subjective and for God's sake, most personal preferences can be solved by string choices and amp settings.
So why do you guys play 34"s? Do you like clubbing your lead guitarist and/or singer in the head? Are you challenged by the longer scale? Is it an image thing? Is it tone? Is it Machisomo?
I used to think it was an image thing, but in the 200+ shows I've played with short scales not one person has ever said 'hey... your bass is too short'. In fact when I tell people I play a shorter scale than normal they are totally mystified by what I am saying.
So why are you still playing a 34" bass?

Because they are real bass players, who want to play a real bass.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

You could have the frets pulled

Googling "Ibanez Mikro fretless" shows up a nice one on Reverb a few years back where the entire fretboard had been removed and replaced with an unlined board. Wish I could do that kind of thing myself...

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Well... uhhhh...... everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let's just leave it there, shall we? Yes. I think that's a good idea.

This makes sense, individual preference.

But "machismo" could be a close 2nd!

 

[GIBrat51]

It's very simple. They don't make these in 30' scale. And, being a lefty, when I was in a band, whacking somebody in the head was never a problem, either...

 

[IngloriousOz]

Large hands, drop tuning for me

 

[Revolver]

I've never played a short scale (anything less than 34") that didn't feel like a toy.

Have you ever played a Rickenbacker?

 

[Bob_Ross]

9 pages after only 24 hours? Yeah, that seems about right. C'mon, admit it, serious or not the OP really was an archetypal Troll Post!
And tbh anything I can add at this point is just pig-piling...so I apologize in advance.

But be that as it may...

why would anyone handicap themselves by playing a bass that is longer than necessary.

See that bolded stuff? Those my friend are examples of what is known as Failures Of The Imagination.

Do you like clubbing your lead guitarist and/or singer in the head?

My 34" scale Steinberger L-2 is shorter than your 30" scale whatever. Now who's the sadist?