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Should I buy a short scale?

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  • Picked this up....

    Really impressed, it automatically felt familiar and easy to play as opposed to a full scale bass. 

    Cost me less than most of my pedals too!
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    If it feels right in your hands, it is right. I vaguely recall trying an olive green example in a music shop. A high mass bridge would have been on my upgrades shopping list. I cannot recall what I thought about the pickups. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • Balrog68Balrog68 Frets: 100
    Very nice! 
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  • @BeardyAndy you still enjoying the Gretsch? How are the pickups? 
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  • @BeardyAndy you still enjoying the Gretsch? How are the pickups? 
    Yes, very much. I don't have a lot to go on but there's certainly nothing wrong with them.

    The neck feels great too, that was my biggest worry because it was the neck that has stopped me buying budget Gretsch guitars in the past. I need to get in there and fit some CTS pots as the stock ones are as you'd expect but thats all i plan on doing with it. Loving the short scale.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    ICBM said:
    The best of all bass scale lengths if you're coming from guitar.
    Herein lies the fundamental problem. 

    Obviously, in simple mechanical terms, the electric bass guitar is just an over-sized regular electric guitar, minus two strings. 

    In music terms, in a band context, the bass fulfils a different function to guitar and requires a different mind set.

    In most music genres, if you consider the bass guitar to be a low frequency continuation of the guitar chords, you are probably not serving the music very well. Firstly, there are better choices of note that could be made. Secondly, it is usually better to relate the bass guitar part to the drums.
    Be seeing you.
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  • When I bought a bass nearly 2 years ago I made a conscious decision not to buy a short scale. I wanted it to feel like a different instrument.

    And for me it's paid off very well. After 30 minutes on the bass a normal 6 string feels like a toy and it's much easier to stretch for that extra 9th in Message in a Bottle for example.

    I actually now wish I'd bought a Bass much earlier. 

    One other purchase I'd recommend a Metronome.

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  • Tone71Tone71 Frets: 619
    edited January 2021
    Picked this up....

    Really impressed, it automatically felt familiar and easy to play as opposed to a full scale bass. 

    Cost me less than most of my pedals too!
    Good buy, I have one of those and find it really comfy to play, sounds good too.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    The thing that puzzles me a bit about a lot of short-scale basses - including that Gretsch - is that the bridge is so far forward on the body. It looks like there would be room to make it a full 34" scale without the whole thing being any longer at all.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    One thing I did notice in the years leading up to lockdown is that a lot of the live bands I saw were using short scale basses. In a live situation, they had really good tones and certainly didn't sound lacking compared to full scale length basses. If anything, the players using shorter scale basses had the best tones. I'd say there were also more bass player playing short scale basses then regular by about 3:1. 
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  • I'm 6'4" and started on bass before moving to guitar.  For me scale length is not an issue on a standard scale bass and my current basses are all standard scale (Ric 4003, Warwick Corvette and a P Bass).  Its worth considering that there is often a tonal difference with short scale basses (Reverb did a cool short vid on this recently which is on YouTube) and they tend to have a pronounced lower mid honk to them which can mean if you are looking for a modern sound with a fair bit of clarity in the top end this can be harder to achieve.  I would say if you are comfortable with a full scale bass thats what I would go with (you'll very quickly adapt to the neck).  I also agree with an earlier comment that neck proportion is probably a bigger factor.  Something like a 50s P Bass will likely have a cricket bat of a neck and I find that a more uncomfortable factor than the scale.  Something like a Jazz is much narrower at the nut and you might find that more to your liking.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Standard scale … RIC 4003? Only in Edinburgh. ;)
    Be seeing you.
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  • Standard scale … RIC 4003? Only in Edinburgh. ;)
    Well standard scale by Ric’s own odd design quirks haha! Also, I’m in Glasgow not Edinburgh...be careful! (kidding)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    absolutpepper said:

    Well standard scale by Ric’s own odd design quirks haha!
    It sort-of is... Fender's 34" scale is based on their 25.5" guitar scale, extended by five frets. Likewise, Rick's 33.25" is based on their 24.75" guitar scale extended by five frets. So if those two guitar scales are considered 'standard', then the two bass scales are as well. There's little enough difference that it really doesn't change much.

    I should have explained the comment above, that Ricks are especially suitable for players converting from guitar - it was meant as a bit of a joke because they're often played with a pick in a 'guitary' style and with fuzz or distortion (even discounting Lemmy!), but I forgot to write that bit :). Otherwise, they're no more or less suitable than any other bass really.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • maw4neumaw4neu Frets: 549
    Fender Mustang Bass = Winner ! ! ! . . . 
    Id just like to point out that, despite all the video and DNA evidence, it genuinely wasn't me, your Honour  ! 

    Feedback : https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58125/
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  • I quite fancy a short scale bass.  Bass was my main instrument for many years and I still have some really nice basses, but I haven't played them for ages.  The result is they feel enormous when I do pick one up these days.  I think I'd be more likely to pick up a bass if it felt more like a guitar.  I'd probably want to use a pick as well because I'd be so rusty trying to play with fingers.
    “To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Blueingreen said:
    I'd be more likely to pick up a bass if it felt more like a guitar.  
    Earlier today, I chanced upon a Philip McKnight YouTube video demonstration of the DiMarzio Relentless middle pickup in a Squier Mini P Bass. Pretty damned good.
    Be seeing you.
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