Official Bass Forum Substitute Thread™

[Astronaut]

Here you go, boys. This thread is the new Bass forum.

[Seafroggys]

Sweet

I have short stubby fingers. Sometimes my jazz bass seems huge. What's a good short scale that's not terribly expensive?

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by Astronaut

Here you go, boys. This thread is the new Bass forum.

Feels like home!

Originally Posted by Seafroggys

Sweet

I have short stubby fingers. Sometimes my jazz bass seems huge. What's a good short scale that's not terribly expensive?

What's your price range? Are you looking for something similar to your jazz tonally?

[Astronaut]

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

Feels like home!

I'm glad! I hope you all decide to stay awhile, after being given the middle finger by Jeremy and all.

I've found that when playing bass, my "style" is completely different from when I play guitar. Like, I don't make the same kind of music at all.

[Jeffs Carrot]

Originally Posted by Seafroggys

Sweet

I have short stubby fingers. Sometimes my jazz bass seems huge. What's a good short scale that's not terribly expensive?

http://www.rondomusic.com/ursa2jrrn3ts.html

Short scale and cheap

[Seafroggys]

Ah yes Rondos, heard great things about them. (and that link is pretty much the look of my bass exactly, minus the length)

Well bass isn't my main instrument, so I'm not keen on putting in too much dough. My MIM Jazz used was like $350, that was about the most I was going for back then. I saw a 68 Gibson EB-3 for $800 a few months ago and I was tempted to buy that, would have been a waste but oh soo awesome

Tonally? I like midrangey stuff...so yeah, similar to the jazz bass.

[BenJammin]

Short scale basses are fun. Good technique can work to overcome scale length and string spacing, though, so I'd recommend trying to learn to work with your jazz before considering a new instrument.

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by Seafroggys

Ah yes Rondos, heard great things about them. (and that link is pretty much the look of my bass exactly, minus the length)

Well bass isn't my main instrument, so I'm not keen on putting in too much dough. My MIM Jazz used was like $350, that was about the most I was going for back then. I saw a 68 Gibson EB-3 for $800 a few months ago and I was tempted to buy that, would have been a waste but oh soo awesome

Tonally? I like midrangey stuff...so yeah, similar to the jazz bass.

I agree with Ben's statement that technique can easily overcome the scale and will save you the dough. The neck width on a typical Fender 4-string bass is the same as the nut width on a 6-string strat. The scale length and neck thickness are generally the big differences.

Being a guitarist, you're probably used to using one-finger-per-fret, which is not as common for the lower frets on a bass. In the first few positions, for ergonomics alone, I typically find myself using fingers 1,2,4 for frets 1,2,3 (much like upright players) unless the line requires some interesting ring finger stretch.

If you want a short scale, I'd recommend the new Squier SS Jags. I find them to balance better than a 34" jazz. They have scale lengths of 30" (most others are 32"), and a P/J pickup configuration for a nice sexy combination of high and low mids. It's also under $200 and there's a good chance you can play one locally. That even leaves you enough for a pickup upgrade if you wanted to go that route.

[Seafroggys]

I'm a drummer, but thanks for the advice

I can play my jazz just fine, but I really do have abnormally small fingers.

[Jeffs Carrot]

Good call on the Squier

You can find some real jems with them if you look around enough. Often better builds than the MIM fenders, especially the fret work!

[mx]

Originally Posted by Astronaut

I'm glad! I hope you all decide to stay awhile, after being given the middle finger by Jeremy and all.

Wasn't meant to be a middle finger - but the traffic didn't justify a forum. Some of the bass forum's most recent threads were from July.

[Astronaut]

Originally Posted by mx

Wasn't meant to be a middle finger - but the traffic didn't justify a forum. Some of the bass forum's most recent threads were from July.

I know exactly where you were comin' from, Jeremy. I was just speaking a little tongue-in-cheek.

[FunkMetalBass]

So, that 9-string bass that I designed and want to have CNC'd...should it be bolt-on or neck-thru? We're probably going to run through more pinewood CNC testing in a few weeks, and so I think I need to finalize the design before then.

[Astronaut]

I like the sustain of neck-throughs, personally. I know some people who swear that bolt-ons get better tone though.

[Jeffs Carrot]

It's hard to tell a real difference between any of them unless you let the idea of it get to your head. I think a huge part of good tone happens when everything mixes just right together. Good build quality,good pickups, good electronics ect. You can come across some really dead set-neck and neck through guitars because the build quality is poor and the seating is horribly done. Same thing goes for a bolt on, bad neck pocket fit, mis-aligned neck all can contribute to horrible tone.

You need the right recipe of everything to make a good tone machine.

[FunkMetalBass]

I already have all of the CAD done for the bolt-on, so for the sake of ease and design testing, I'll go ahead and make the first one a bolt on.

I think I'll eventually get around to drafting up the neck-through version because it'll make upper-fret access just a little easier and hopefully increase sustain on some of the lower notes. I notice that my low F# string on my bolt-on seems to lack the sustain that the other strings do, and I can't help but wonder if the bolt-on aspect is to blame.

[Seafroggys]

How does an Epi EB-3 compare as a short scale bass, compared to some of the Squiers or Rondos mentioned earlier?

[Jeffs Carrot]

Not bad at all

But a lil overpriced for what it is

[Az_Holl]

The EB-3 isnt short-scale. Maybe you meant the EB-0?

[Seafroggys]

Yes, I think that's it. Although weren't the original EB-3 Gibsons in the 60's short scale?

Anyway, yeah, the EB-0 is what I meant.