Short scale bass finger patterns

carlos

Can anybody experienced w/ 30" scale basses tell me if major 3rd stretches are possible, let's say from F to A on the bottom E string? Assume regular-sized hands. On a 25.5" guitar I can do a perfect fourth stretch without much issue, but on 30" can I? 
Sorry if it's a daft question, but it's not like I can go to a guitar shop and try it out these days.

fretmeister

I can do it on a 32 inch scale, but it's not really comfy. 
I'd be finding different fingering patterns on the 32.

Eppi

Not a daft question at all, an interesting one.

A bass scale is measured differently, so the 30'' refers to the distance from the nut to the tailpiece or string anchor and not the bridge saddle. So the answer is yes you can.

I have a 30"scale Hofner violin bass and I can just do it with my smallish hands. It is a bigger stretch though than a standard scale 25.5" guitar.

fretmeister

Eppi said:

Not a daft question at all, an interesting one.

A bass scale is measured differently, so the 30'' refers to the distance from the nut to the tailpiece or string anchor and not the bridge saddle. So the answer is yes you can.

I have a 30"scale Hofner violin bass and I can just do it with my smallish hands. It is a bigger stretch though than a standard scale 25.5" guitar.

That's wrong.

Scale length is always from the nut to 12th fret and then doubled.

Eppi

Yep.... got that bit wrong... should have checked!

fretmeister

Eppi said:

Yep.... got that bit wrong... should have checked!

I managed the first 10 years of playing without realising! 

carlos

Thanks for replies. It seems I can just about make a major 3rd on a 30" scale. 

MattBanshee

I can do this on a full scale P (just checked) so don't see why not?

Eppi

I have just measured the distance you would need to cover from F to A  on my 30" scale bass;  you would need to clear 5"
from your first finger to your little finger.

DLM

It's not just the size of your paws, but how stretchy they are. Plenty of short-fingered people can stretch further than those with significantly longer digits. Then there's still the question of whether it sounds good... I can just about make the major third on my standard-scale Sandberg 5, but just about doesn't make the notes sound very good, and I'm risking knackering my hands in the process.

Alexlotl

I have tiny hands and can do it on my Mustang Bass. It's far from comfortable though, and while I can do it, I wouldn't!

mbe

No way, I can't stretch to that on my Mustang.

pintspiller

Can't do it on my full-size. I sold my shortscale and doubt if it could have done it as I can barely do it on my Gordon Smith.

Andyjr1515

If you google 'stewmac fret calculator', theres a neat facility on their website to be able to put any scale length in inches or mm and it will give you the distances from the nut to each of the frets.
Pop some bits of masking tape on your fretboard and pencil the distances, then see if you can reach.

And yes, the scale length is calculated the same for basses, guitars, ukuleles, bouzoukis, si.....