Short scale bass review

Hi . I’d love it if you folks would do a review of what you think of a few of the best short scale basses out there.
Thanks

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Welcome aboard, @neobassist . . . :slight_smile:

I have a Gibson SG short scale myself, but I mainly use a Fender 34" scale.

There’s LOTS of opinions on short scale basses out there! I’m sure someone will get back to you very shortly on this.

Cheers, Joe

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I’m brand new so not going to be very helpful as far as what’s best or comparisons. I’ll just say when I went to my music store and told them I was new, they recommended the Ibanez SRMD200. Their reasoning, it was in the starter range price was, has P&J pickups so you can see how both are and it happens to be short scale which they thought would be good due to my short stature and stubby fingers :rofl: So far I’m playing it every day which is good

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I love the Fender Mustang.
I had an older model MIJ, with just the P bass set up, and it was killer. I sold it to a student who was much smaller than me (I’m 6’4") and it was just a goof around instrument for me - I wasn’t using it in any bands.
I still miss it!
Their new model is killer, and I play it at the shop I give lessons at when a student stands me up… or I just forgot they legitimately cancelled. (I’m about 50/50 with that…)

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@neobassist Welcome to the BassBuzz forum!

When you have time, join us on the Introduce Yourself thread.

Choosing an instrument is a very personal experience. I recommend reading this.

Other than that, I give a big +1 to what @Gio said. The Mustang is really cool!

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I haven’t actually tried any, but I’d likely go for the new Sandberg Lionel if I wanted one.

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I’d want to try a supro.

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Yep, i’d like to give it a try too, but there’s no way in the meantime to do it in Ukraine cause there are no dealers of Supro. That’s just sad. And the shipping cost from usa is plain ridiculous.

Somewhere on internets i’ve seen that in the 2000’s there was a reissue of fender japan jazz bass smart size (30” if i recall correctly). But the only one i’ve found is on ebay in UK.

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Medium scale (32") basses are fun too. Slightly smaller than full scale, but still feel familiar. The Yamaha Motion Basses are pretty inexpensive used, and Ibanez is currently making the Mezzo.

The MB’s are cute little P/Js:

image

as are the Mezzos:

Ibanez also makes the Mikro, which is super short at 28.5":

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Why not go all the way :grin:

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Dude! Those are really cool and that bass player really makes that little guy sing.

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I really like BassTheWorld.

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Gregor’s English is quite good, but he just can’t lose that undeniable East German accent :joy:
But, yeah, they have some good contents… and some interesting characters as their resident bass players!

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Or their non-residents!

Who was it with the Sandberg fetish again? :slight_smile:

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“…broken in…”!?! I had no idea… :astonished:

Men, godt gået Ida!! :denmark:

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Whoa, the Yamaha Motion Bass just got added to my shopping list. I’m really digging this PJ variant with angled pickups.

I’m definitely planning on trying something medium scale as my next potential purchase. I’m curious whether it turns out to be the ‘goldilocks’ scale for me or just it’s own thing, interesting but different.

Anyway, I have a Squier Jaguar SS. It was a toss-up between that and a Gretsch, I’d played neither but I’d had my eye on the Jag for some time.
People like them. I like mine and have no regrets about buying it but they’re not without their flaws;

  • minor thing but the stock strings are very light and it’s hard to get a low action
  • the J pickup has a reputation for being weak and I agree, it is unsatisfying
  • the tuning machines are not the greatest

If I was just starting out though I would follow the advice of a couple of teachers I spoke to and just start on standard scale, buy an affordable Squier or Yamaha maybe 2nd hand, and decide what you really want later.

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They are super fun, look great (some are veeeeery '80s in a good way, some are gorgeous natural wood, etc). They made them for a long time, MIJ’s are not hard to find, are not expensive, and feel great to play. I had a lot of fun with one in a store. Good choice :slight_smile:

I think they sound cool.

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I’m a short scale fan. Someone mentioned the Supro, and I’d love to try one. I’ve looked at the Gretsch Junior, The Squiers, and the Jackson’s at the low end, and only the Gretsch seemed decent. I’m curious about the Dean, but haven’t been able to touch one. I just sold my Epiphone Allen Woody Rumblekat, which I liked except for the tuners and nut. I had two different MIM Fender Offset Mustangs and had to max out the truss rod on both to get the neck almost straight. The Chinese Allen Woody was much better. Ernie Ball Music Man has released different limited edition short scale Stingrays and these are so amazing in both quality, tone and feel, that I felt it was worth it to buy two of them, one demo and one used. They are so light and the body contours are so fitting, it’s amazing! If you want to try something that may be very close, Sterling by Music Man is about to release a copy that has a street price of $549. I suspect that this will eat the MIM Fender’s lunch.

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That may have been me. I have a mahogany Supro Huntington II with piezo bridge.
I have six basses altogether (the others are 3 x Precision and 2 x Jazz), but the Supro is rapidly becoming my main ‘go to’ bass.
The tonal range and clarity of the pickups is amazing, and it’s just loads of fun to play.
I absolutely love it.

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They just look like really nice little basses.

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