Short Scale Bass Options

vojtasTS29 · Post by **vojtasTS29** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:28 pm

get the musicmaster. they are sexy.

http://hudebnibazar.cz/fender-musicmast ... /ID923675/
This is from the czech republic, but try to mail the guy. The bass is just rad as hell.

bluzdoctor · Post by **bluzdoctor** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:03 am

That's a cool bass. When will it be available?

George wrote:the new gary jarman cribs bass is 32" which is between fender's short (30") and full scale (34"), and the sleeker jazz bass style of neck with a narrower nut.

quite like the look of it myself

George · Post by **George** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:38 am

"late july 2016"

it's called "Squier FSR Gary Jarman The Cribs Signature Bass" or something (lol)

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:57 am

So not the most dynamic tonally, but I have this and really like the feel. I don't care for my chemical romance much, but also haven't let them put me off what I think is a really cool looking and nice feeling bass.

henkstroem · Post by **henkstroem** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:06 am

I teach bass so I have several/have encountered even more smaller size basses. Quick lowdown with automobile equivalents for some perspective:

Squier Bronco "The Jeep"
Simple, does the job, takes a great deal of violence before it breaks. Strat pickup works shockingly well. Only downside is that the tuners are of quite low quality. The hold tune like most tuners, but tend to get damaged quite easy.

Epiphone eb-0 "The Rollswagen"
Crazy plastic kit version of a classic luxury car that is kinda cool in a national lampoon kinda way. Good for some stuff, definitely not all. Bridge is crap on these for student use, multiple issues. Ive had a gibson eb-3 for years and am used to and even like the bridge model but it is not great when in a $150 bass. Pickup is a weird very lo-middy tone, nice tuners. Neck will break when dropped. Horroble sticky black nut.

HÃ¶fner Club Bass C-series "The Alfa Romeo"
Sleek looks, nice finish, great sounds, but it really likes the shop better than your garage. This will explode to a million pieces when dropped. Tuners are from a classical guitar. A fender p-bass user will be scared to break stuff all the time. On the other hand it sounds amazing for a $300 piece of plywood. Also worth its price for the great pick tones alone. Not for the student, though.

Gretsch Junior Jet "The Ford Mustang"
It ain't a Ferrari for sure, but reliable family car technology with a big engine is kinda awesome too. This is basically a single pickup HÃ¶fner Club with a solid body and bolt-on hardware. P bass bridge, small schaller style tuners. Nice pickup and electronics. It's got its own thing going on, still not a mental own thing like eb-0. Kinda posh looking compared to the Bronco but just as, or even more sturdy.

Theres a few. Emphasis on classroom use, as that is where I mostly use these. I have one each, HÃ¶fner for personal use and the rest in schools. For reliability, I would choose the Gretsch. For cool pick sounds and gadget-factor HÃ¶fner. For Gibson bass sounds, a Gibson. Strapped of cash the Bronco.

In an ideal world daphne blue Musicmasters for students and a really well worn LPB Mustang Bass for myself.

bluzdoctor · Post by **bluzdoctor** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 3:33 am

Wow, great reviews. And the car analogy works for me. I've actually heard lots of good things about the Gretsch Jets, both the one-and-two-pickup versions.

I noodled around a bit on a Hofner Beatle bass a bit today. It was super light and had nice tone. Tuners seemed cheap.

I also played a Squier Jaguar SS, and it was surprisingly heavy. Didn't seem short scale, unlike the Bronco, which was like playing a guitar with four strings.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 6:52 am

You might also want to check out Vox.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:41 pm

damn that was a great read. I like the analogies

bluzdoctor · Post by **bluzdoctor** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:43 am

See below

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:37 pm

Nick wrote:Epiphone EB-0/EB-3.

The Epiphone EB-3 is actually 34" scale like the old Gibson EB-3L, I wish it was short as the bolt-on EB-0 (which is indeed 30.5") appeals to me infinitely less sound-wise with its lone mudbucker. The more recent "Gibson SG Bass" was a 30.5" EB-3.

henkstroem · Post by **henkstroem** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:05 pm

paul_ wrote:
Nick wrote:Epiphone EB-0/EB-3.
The Epiphone EB-3 is actually 34" scale like the old Gibson EB-3L, I wish it was short as the bolt-on EB-0 (which is indeed 30.5") appeals to me infinitely less sound-wise with its lone mudbucker. The more recent "Gibson SG Bass" was a 30.5" EB-3.

Epiphone used to make a Elitist model EB-3 that was the shorter scale one.

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 4:03 pm

I love Squiers, but a nice 1970s Musicmaster bass would be ideal. Here's my 1978 model (unfortunately sold):

bluzdoctor · Post by **bluzdoctor** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:22 am

bluzdoctor wrote:Thanks for all suggestions and info. I settled on a short scale Fender Japan '62Jazz bass. An eBay find, it is called JB62SS FOR "Smart size" Body and neck are 15% smaller than reg JB, while scale is 29.5"

I'll review after it arrives and I get playing time.

So I'm selling my 1983 MIJ Fender Bullet long scale on Talk Bass classifieds if any interest. SOLD...

Here are pics of new bass:

Fender Japan Jazz Bass 62 short scale by bluzdoctor[/img]

Fender Japan JB62SS by bluzdoctor

Fender
Japan JB62SS by bluzdoctor http://[/img]

Fender Japan Jazz Bass 62 short scale by bluzdoctor

Short Scale Bass Options

Finally bought Fender JB62 SS

Re: Got a short scale bass