Short scale bass impressions

[Despair]

I was loaned an Ibanez Mikro GSRM20, and I am really impressed with it. I'm not much of a bassist, I've found normal scale basses really rough on my joints, I wind up straining my fingers entirely too easily. Much less of a problem on the short scale (28.6" bass. The bass I got to mess around with is a cheap Rogue 5-string with a Musicman + Jazz with oversized poles setup, it's decent for playability, but the active preamp is flaky, and the longer scale means I injure joints in my hands if I'm careless).

Most surprising thing is how beefy the tone is. Very thick and warm. Great for James Jamerson tones, just roll the Jazz pickup off, and the tone way back, anchor my thumb on the end of the fretboard, and play with 1 finger above the Precision pickup. Not as cutting as you might want for hard rock or metal bass, but not totally out of reach, either.

The 22-fret neck has a less obnoxious heel than most of my guitars, and I like the sound of the high notes better on it than most of the long scale basses I've played.

It pretty much does what I'd expect out of a P+J passive bass, if a bit thicker/darker than a 34-35" scale bass. 2V/1T.

On the thinnest strap of any of my non-acoustic guitars it is the least tiring on my back (well, the G-400 might be less tiring on my back, but it's exhausting trying to keep the neck at a playable angle, ridiculous neck dive on that SG, a sad flaw in an otherwise nice guitar).

A lot of fun, I highly recommend checking out a short scale bass. The shorter scale makes it easier to get thick low-end focused tones, great for Motown. Blend in the jazz pickup for cut, though it wants some outboard EQ to reach GnR levels of cut.

I will want another Mikro GSRM20 when the owner takes it back. Though maybe active electronics and a different Jazz pickup...

[ICTGoober]

Most any Ibanez is good stuff, so no surprise the Mikro lines are crowd pleasers.

[Despair]

A while back I tried an Ibanez 6-string bass that I didn't care for at all. Made it mildly awkward playing on the E string, and uncomfortable to reach the low B, and I didn't really need a high B, for high notes I'd go up the neck. Maybe if I had longer fingers...

And the tone wasn't very distinct, it had soapbar humbuckers with 12 polepieces per coil, and active electronics, but it had it's own sound, even split-coil it was only vaguely like a Jazz bass, when humbucking couldn't really do the growl of a Music Man, and really was nothing like a P-Bass. And the sound of it just didn't grab me.

Maybe I would have made it work if it was a 5-string BEADG instead of 6-string BEADGB... It was an excellent bass, but not for me.

[Aceman]

I'm not judging you for playing a girlie-man children's bass.

yes I am

[NegativeEase]

The majority of short scale basses sound vastly inferior to full scale in my experience but they are a ton of fun to play. Things like the Mustangs, SGs and more recently the Reverend SS etc etc just dont fill the void of a full scale -especially recording IME

Recently I did a tour where the bass player wanted to play a vintage short scale Mossrite bass, it sounded okay, not great and lacked sustain or a full sound -we switched up between a Ampeg SVT, Orange AD200, GK 800RB, and even an old Peavey -none of which made the bass any better, but when we tried a vontgae Sunn 300T using the on board compression, EQ, and channel mixing -holy crap that bass came alive and had the thud of a full scale and rivaled a full scale.

Ive never tried the Ibanez SS stuff, glad you like it and maybe they are better at mitigating the general issues most bass makers have suffered

[Mr. B]

I like the short scale Ibanez TMB-30 even better than the Mikro. The string spacing on the TMB-30 is in-between Jazz and P-bass spacing, which I find more comfortable than any other string spacing. Great for slap, but not too far apart for fast picking with a pick either. Yamaha BB basses use a similar spacing, but they don't offer a short-scale bass.

[formula73]

Short scale = maximum fundamental thud.

negease: sounds like maybe that old mosrite was a piece of ****, which isn’t really surprising. Short scales have come a long way.

[ErikH]

Never played a short-scale that I liked. I'm too used to a long-scale basses (34"). Add a Hipshot Bass Xtender and I can get everything I need from a 4-string.
I really dig the Ibanez Soundgear basses.

[Clint 55]

I like the sound of short scale basses. The lower tension makes makes them warmer and thuddier instead of tight and low midrangey like regular scale. I don't think they're knock offs at all.

[beaubrummels]

I tried a Fender Bronco, Ibanez Mikro, Epiphone EB-#, etc. The best playing and sounding short scale bass I found was the Gretch G2202 Junior Jet. I use it to compose lines and practice lines before doing a take on an actual bass. There have been a couple times where I just kept the Gretsch track as it was close enough to my Rickenbacker in character and sounded fine in the mix.

[chadd]

I tried a Fender Bronco, Ibanez Mikro, Epiphone EB-#, etc. The best playing and sounding short scale bass I found was the Gretch G2202 Junior Jet. I use it to compose lines and practice lines before doing a take on an actual bass. There have been a couple times where I just kept the Gretsch track as it was close enough to my Rickenbacker in character and sounded fine in the mix.

I've been playing a cheap uke bass with rubber strings in the shop lately. A really fun little toy that actually sounds ridiculously good when plugged in.

[alex1fly]

I love my Squier Bronco. Sounds every bit as much of a P Bass as any P Bass I've ever owned, played, heard, etc. After a pro setup with some nut filing it intonates perfectly. No trade-offs.

I play a lot of long scale bass too and I do find that it takes me several sessions before my hands are comfortable on them if I'm coming from guitar.