Shortscale bass

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Sat May 21, 2011 10:15 pm

woah never seen one of those B30 bass's before. They are cool.

rich · Post by **rich** » Wed May 25, 2011 8:47 pm

i asked the guy at guitar center about these and he said he hadn't heard of them and wouldn't be ordering any. probably gonna order from sweetwater next week.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed May 25, 2011 9:30 pm

Sweetwater just got them in today, I could have ordered one but I really don't need one. Really want.

rich · Post by **rich** » Wed May 25, 2011 9:37 pm

my sweetwater rep just called me. speak of the devil! he said they had one black one (the color i told him i was thinking of getting) and more on the way. i'll wait til next week i think.

rich · Post by **rich** » Fri May 27, 2011 12:57 am

couldn't wait. i'll keep you posted.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Fri May 27, 2011 1:02 am

Sweet. My roommate is getting one of the long-scale Jaguar Specials, I'm supposed to install pickups and do some set up so we'll see how that one is.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri May 27, 2011 2:04 am

I've played the standard scale Squire Jaguar Bass. Though I was REALLY skeptical about them going in, but, I rather liked it after I actually played it. I have decent expectations of the shortscales.

BillClay · Post by **BillClay** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:58 am

I absolutely hated the 34 squier jag bass I played, but I could see a shorter scale one with decent pups and flatwounds fixing most of the problems I had with the bigger guy. seriously though, those pickups sounded like hollowed out ass shit, and not in a good way.

drBenway · Post by **drBenway** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:19 am

Everytime I see this thread pop up I hope that someone has posted pics/vids of the bass. Disappointed, me no likey..

I'm positive that I will buy a squier bass in 2011. However, I'm torn between these:

Bronco
Shortscale jag
Vintage Modified Jazz

I've played none of them but I like the look of all three. What to do, what to do....

rich · Post by **rich** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:27 pm

so i got this today. looks good. plays good. the jazz pickup/pot doesn't work. from what i understand (and from playing the regular scale version of this) each pickup has its own volume pot. the p bass pu works fine. i just took the control plate off and everything looks in order. this sucks. very cool bass other than that.

rich · Post by **rich** » Wed Jun 01, 2011 10:58 pm

she looks good!

► Show Spoiler

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 12:22 am

REVIEW

I may get one of those in that color, too!

rich · Post by **rich** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:12 am

gonna take it by my friend's tomorrow for a little soldering party... i assume it's a cold joint giving me no jazz pickup. i'll take more pics and give you a proper run through once that is remedied.

Phil O'Keefe · Post by **Phil O'Keefe** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 1:47 am

The one Fender promised to send to me for review has not arrived yet. I think I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what's up.

rich · Post by **rich** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:01 am

took this after practice tonight to put it into perspective.

► Show Spoiler

drBenway · Post by **drBenway** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 9:43 am

Looking good!

Black definitely seems like the way to with on this one. How was the factory setup and strings?

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:10 am

My roommate just got the Jaguar Special Bass in standard scale. Holy crap, the thing plays like buttah. I was playing tech and changed pickups (DiMarzio Model PJ) and strings (D'Addario Chromes) before ever playing it stock, since that's what he wanted. But I got it from Sweetwater and all the instruments I've gotten from there have had a very good setup so I don't doubt this one did as well, but I don't really care for rounds, so... (I probably would have gone La Bella instead of Chromes)

If it were my bass, I would probably take the active circuit out since the bass sounds beautiful without the midboost. I love that the short scale version has a fully passive circuit. Can you measure and tell me if the pickups are standard dimension? I'd imagine they are. Personally, I'd love to stick an Area J bridge in there. I really don't need another short scale bass, especially since my Aero-equipped Mustang Bass gets that old school P-bass sound with the Rotosound strings, but I'd just like to know in case.

The wiring is actually quite good. I saw dime-sized Alpha branded 250k pots (my favorites!), and very thorough shielding, with black shielding paint throughout the pickup cavities and control cavity, and grounding wire to connect the shields.

I would totally not hesitate to buy one of these in long scale for myself either. They're dirt cheap and they play fantastic, too. Awesome thin neck. The only minor issue is slight neck dive but that's nothing that light tuners won't take of. Where else can you get a nice stylish Fender designed bass with the ever useful PJ configuration for less than $200?

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 2:18 pm

Poo brown LUST!

rich · Post by **rich** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 2:19 pm

well, that review pretty much works for the ss one. it's funny you mentioned taking the active circuit out of the full scale jag. my main man guitar fixer is gonna do that for another friend today when i take my jag by to get that jazz pu working. anyway, i figure the pickup problem is a fluke. it doesn't feel quite as solid as the long scale to me, but that could just be due to the plunky factory strings. i'll definitely be putting some heavier strings on it, but between getting this bass and markocaster's patriot i'm broke as a joke right now. it seems to have a bit more neck dive than the full scale, too. so what? yeah, the pickups are standard dimensions. lots of wiggle room there if you need it. setup is great. neck is smooth. action is right. the body is about 93% of the full scale (mostly missing in the upper horn), and the pickguard and control plate are smaller (what with the four pots v. three pots), but it has the exact same bridge, pickups, tuners and strap buttons. aside from the pu prob, everything rules. and $169 shipped from sweetwater is where it's at. the last ss bass i had was a rondo p bass knockoff, and the jag runs circles around it. let me know if you want pics of anything specific.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:36 pm

Nice! I don't know if have tried La Bella strings, but I really suggest these for flats:

http://www.juststrings.com/labellaelect ... short.html

Heck, rounds, too:

http://www.juststrings.com/labellaelect ... short.html

These are expensive, I know, but I honestly believe that these are the best in-production strings right now (as in not custom set). I have the 760FX-S on my Musicmaster Bass and love it. They're quite stiff, though, so you might not want the highest gauge, maybe the next one up.

I hope your Jazz pickup isn't completely dead, but if it is, it's probably a fixable short, as in unwrap a couple of windings and it's probably fine. In any case, it should be a cheap fix. Anyway, standard Jazz pickups are dime a dozen.

I really don't like sending instruments back for electronics problems because they're so easily fixed and there's no guarantee your next instrument will feel as good as the current one.