ShortScale.org

I'm still waiting on the review unit to arrive, but hopefully it will be RSN. Looks like Elderly has a silver one in stock:

http://www.elderly.com/fmic/items/SVMJBSS-SIL.htm

What's the consensus on the color options? Which ones do you guys like best? I like the red just the way it is - it looks good with the black headstock, rosewood neck and the black pickguard. The black one looks good to me too, but I'd want to have a custom tortoiseshell pickguard cut for it. The silver one doesn't initially strike my fancy; I'd be tempted to strip all the parts off of it and shoot a few coats of a semi-transparent red or green nitrocellulose lacquer (then some clear lacquer) directly over the silver and make a candy finish out of it.

I love the color combination of red with white and black, but just red and black is a bit much for me. I think the CAR would look a lot better with a white pickguard, or with a maple neck.

Oh fucking hell. I'm gonna have to get a red one.

I'm going to wait until some other people get it so they can tell me what the pickup dimensions are, whether they're standard pickups.

And then I'm going to wait until these start being sold used.

honeyiscool wrote:I'm going to wait until some other people get it so they can tell me what the pickup dimensions are, whether they're standard pickups.

And then I'm going to wait until these start being sold used.

I'm just really annoyed, because I really wanted shortscale with P/J combo but a jag body, none existed so I bought an SX despite the GOD AWFUL headstock:



Then Fender goes and releases what is essentially the exact bass I wanted in the first place, in one of my favorite color combos with a god damned non-matching black headstock (which I love). FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....

How does it play, though? I heard those are real nice and on Talkbass, I heard one with Bartolini pickups in it and I was quite floored, really. I have a roommate (or me) who might want a short scale bass (or yet another in my case), you ever wanna off load that thing, let me know.

That said, you know, you're not going to get much money for it, especially now.

At least Fender had the decency to make it only $169.

It plays great no doubt, and if I get one of the squier's I'll be letting it go for bro prices. I actually like the stock pups, their sound really trashy-nice when run into a boatload of gain.

Neck is way comfortable... but that headstock... that fucking headstock...

I don't actually mind it. If you sand off the little tumor at the end I think it would look quite nice. I think it also looks a lot better horizontally than vertically.

That said, the old headstock is sooo much better, and easier to shape, too.

Yeah, I'm very picky about pickups but I've never met a stock P bass pickup I didn't like.

it sucks that the sx's have conversion necks, or some kind of non-fender shortscale neck, but my ss jazz bass is the shit. i have small hands, and it's super easy to play.

I don't think they're conversion necks, and I don't think there's really been a definitely set of specs for a Fender short scale neck, so I don't blame them.

That said, the Jazz does look sweet. Have I ever posted about the series/spin-a-split mod and how much that rocks? Basically, you wire the two pickups in series, and turn the second volume knob into the spin-a-split knob, so that you can dial out the humbucker and get a single coil sound back. You choose which pickup will be your loner pickup in this situation, I prefer the bridge. This mod is cool because it gives you something like a mix of Music Man, P-Bass, and Jazz bass sound as your default sound, then still gives you a Jazz sound when you dial the spin down.

honeyiscool wrote:I don't think there's really been a definitely set of specs for a Fender short scale neck

for a fender shortscale bass neck? i'm quite certain they've only made one type (Musicmaster/Mustang), and there was more than likely a specific size for it.

Well, they made some P-Bass Jrs. I mean, this is 28.6" scale, but yeah.



And the Bullet Bass B30:



The problem with using the Musicmaster/Mustang/Bronco dimensions is that they use guitar sized neck pockets vs. the larger P-Bass style neck pockets, and so not only would the string space be smaller than what people usually like (which complicates things like pickup choices), it would look a bit small in a bass body. So I don't think it would have necessarily been a good idea to copy the dimensions. Plus, 19 frets.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:

love the sticker and placement.........

I think I finally just figured out one of my great questions about Carl......

ya know how u always post pics of ur tele project and it looks like two pics on top of one another.....?... Its cuz u placing ur guitars above ur stove on that ledge, huh?

That is ur stove correct?......I have always wondered WTF!?.... LOL

ha, yeah. i cut that notch into the wall in my kitchen to open it up. guitars just sit so nicely there...

fine, i'll start editing out the stove so you'se quit getting so confused.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:ha, yeah. i cut that notch into the wall in my kitchen to open it up. guitars just sit so nicely there...

fine, i'll start editing out the stove so you'se quit getting so confused.

f that, its the mystery of Carl.......lol

and lol at guitars above the stove, now I think we have seen it all, geets in tub, geets on stove

in my defense, i don't keep them there.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:in my defense, i don't keep them there.

figured that, never thought u did, that would just be weird.....

honeyiscool wrote:I love the color combination of red with white and black, but just red and black is a bit much for me. I think the CAR would look a lot better with a white pickguard, or with a maple neck.

I'd love it if they had matching headstocks for the red and the silver...

honeyiscool wrote:A bit big for my tastes. Keep in mind, I want to use it on top of two vertically stacked SVT210AV cabs, which are only a foot wide. I'm probably just going to get an Orange Bass Terror at some point, since it's the perfect size. 500 watts and tube preamp? Yes please.

Yea those sound awesome, I love them, and if by chance I come into some extra money will totally consider one of those whenever I do go to get a second bass head. But for now, if I can find a good price on a used SVT 350 or 450 that's what I'll do. Or one of these ampeg PF 500's.

honeyiscool wrote:Well, they made some P-Bass Jrs. I mean, this is 28.6" scale, but yeah.



And the Bullet Bass B30:



The problem with using the Musicmaster/Mustang/Bronco dimensions is that they use guitar sized neck pockets vs. the larger P-Bass style neck pockets, and so not only would the string space be smaller than what people usually like (which complicates things like pickup choices), it would look a bit small in a bass body. So I don't think it would have necessarily been a good idea to copy the dimensions. Plus, 19 frets.

Fender and Squier also made a medium scale P-Bass in Japan in the mid-80s. I have one - or more accurately, may daughter now owns my old one. 84 or 85 (I don't recall which offhand), 32" scale. Looks like a regular P-Bass, but the neck's 2" shorter than usual. You couldn't tell unless you sat it side by side with a full-scale, or unless you play it.