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Piet Schierhorn
Starting Member
Germany
5 Posts |
 Posted - 06/22/2005 : 1:54:03 PM
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Does anybody here play short scale basses? I play an Epiphone Flying V most of the time, and I really like it. Originally not the greatest bass in the world, but with scalloped upper frets and a new neck pickup, it's nice for soloing out... and I prefer the short scale tone it has to most other basses.
My amp goes up to 11... |
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skewh
Junior Member
USA
194 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2005 : 2:52:18 PM
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I myself don't play one, but I know that Stanley Clarke often uses a short scale Alembic, and if a monster like Stanley uses them they can't be that bad. 
It's the sound of symmetry! |
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Golem
Junior Member
361 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2005 : 3:45:54 PM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by Piet Schierhorn[/i][br]Does anybody here play short scale basses? I play an Epiphone Flying V most of the time, and I really like it..... with scalloped upper frets and a new neck pickup, it's nice for soloing ....
Even though I'm lusting for a 41" scale
fretless, I really dig the shorties, too.
I know that to some, the short scale is
cool cuz it allows a bit more gu*taresque
playing. But I really like them for their
old school percussive bass qualities.
I've got 3 versions of the Fender: 2 old
Musicmasters [one stock, one hotrodded],
and a MIJ Mustang re-issue. Of the 3, the
oldies can't compare to the re-issue, and
it's that old school tone that I'm after!
I've also got a pair of typical f-hole
'335 body' semi-acoustics with the short
scale that was pretty much normal for the
genre. The fretless one sounds more like
an URB than any longer scale bigger bodied
basses I've encountered, and that's using
magnetic PU's, too. It seems to have to do
with something about short fat strings.
Then there's my 30 inch odd ducks. My Ugly
Duckling is a Kramer Duke. Looks ugly, and
even feels ugly with your eyes closed, but
plugged in it's a pocket version of the MM
StingRay. The other oddduck is an Epiphone
RumbleKat, which is the bass version of [I
think] the Epi AlleyKat guitar. It's also
known as the Allen Woody bass, even though
Woody never actually used one, or even saw
one before his early demise. But by my own
definition of what a short bass is really
all about, the RumbleKat nails it squarely.
It's also very pimped out. The only color
scheme available is burgundy and gold.
I'd say for reasonable $$ today for a short
scale bass, that it pretty much comes down
to the Mustang or the RumbleKat. I've tried
the Gretch 30", and it's just uninspiring.
I think 30" Dano Longhorn is discontinued,
but there's probably enuf of them surviving
on the planet to meet longterm demand.
I've tried the 30" viola bass reissues and
they feel uncomfortable to me, and offer a
limited but useful tone. They all seem to
be rather alike, so the Jay Turser would be
a good buy for anyone who likes the Viola
shape. I just wish that the original Beatle
Bass had been a Hofner Club, instead of the
Cavern. Then we'd be awash in Club basses.
They're very similar to the Cavern bass but
with a more normal shape.
BTW, some [not all] 30" basses can fit into
some [not all] guitar-sized gig bags, which
is another cool benefit. I can see why long
scale basses outnumber shorties but I don't
see how the ratio got so extreme. The short
scale is it's own thing and has a lot going
for it. It's probably just Freudian, so that
even if the Ultimate Celebrity Superstar of
bass played a 30" bass exclusively, I think
even that Star's signature model would be a
short lived phenominon, and then back to the
status quo in bassland.
Almost forgot the Jaco-relevant material ...
From my experience [not being Jaco] I found
intonation on 30" fretless to be very tricky.
'Cuz I'm the BASS, that's why ..... - Golem |
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Piet Schierhorn
Starting Member
Germany
5 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2005 : 4:07:02 PM
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Well, "guitaresque playing"... I actually do play a lot of chords, and it's easier on a short scale bass. 
Well, because of the shorter neck, the strings are pretty loose compared to "normal" basses. Makes bendings easy, but can get annoying when you want to play fast on the E string.
Btw, I play bass in a metal band (that's what the 16th notes on the E are for ), but also play all kinds of other music for fun. I'd never play bass in a jazz band since I'm originally a saxophone player and much better on that instrument... the Flying V is not ideal for jazz anyway.
My amp goes up to 11... |
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sunburstbasser
Senior Member
USA
1087 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2005 : 8:52:40 PM
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I've played a couple, and I personally wouldn't own one. I don't care for the tones I've heard out of them, and they feel too short to me.
But, my opinion is only one and I think I'm actually in the minority as far as really disliking them goes.
Reverend player
www.ebassist.com |
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Golem
Junior Member
361 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2005 : 09:15:25 AM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by sunburstbasser[/i]
[br]I've played a couple, and I personally wouldn't own one. I don't care for the tones I've heard out of them, and they feel too short to me.
But, my opinion is only one and I think I'm actually in the minority as far as really disliking them goes.
Somewhere short of "really disliking" would be
stuff like "rarely useful", "occasionally cool
for some stuff, sort of...", etc but the short
scale is pretty thin on the ground. Even if it
may be "somewhat useful" to some large number
of players, it seems that [picking numbers out
of thin air] that if multi-bass owners rarely
own more than, say, 4 basses ... then a short
scale "somewhat useful" bass typically falls
into the "maybe if I ever get a 6th bass" low
priority bag.
Also, with the distinct increase in the use of
5-strings as a bassist's primary ax, which has
grown so fast in just the last several years,
the short scale really falls short :-)
'Cuz I'm the BASS, that's why ..... - Golem |
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gblick
Junior Member
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2005 : 09:42:00 AM
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I used to have a short scale Alembic Series I.
I loved everything about it except that it was very neck-heavy, which is why I got rid of it.
Of course, now I wish I had it back. |
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Golem
Junior Member
361 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2005 : 11:10:32 AM
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And what *IS* a short scale bass,
really, anyway? Just last night I
encountered a friend singing solo
with himself as sole accompanist.
At first all I saw was a routine
6-string hollowbox gu*tar, but I
was hearing almost URB-like tone
and range. A great octaver pedal
plus careful EQ maybe? He had a
magnetic soundhole PU run direct
to the PA head and the one pedal
proved to be a tuner.....
He had strung a standard scale
gu*tar 4 semitones below normal
baritone tuning. That would make
it a 25" scale 6-string bass as
far as I can figger. I couldn't
believe how good it sounded at
such slack tuning, but hey....
BTW, he's usually a drummer, so
his performance is time-solid,
not the usual wandering time of
solo singers on solo gu*tars.
'Cuz I'm the BASS, that's why ..... - Golem |
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