Two years ago i was asked by someone I knew from a bass player's internet forum to make a neck for a 5 string short scale (30") bass. I don't know how he got the idea for that but I agreed to make it for him. He had already made a routing pattern for it and bought a neck blank and a ebony fretboard blank but didn't trust his own skill to make a proper neck out of it. So he asked me to do it. He wanted it to have a quite flat D neck profile, no fret dots, only side dots. And he wanted a truss rod adjustable from the body side, which I had never done, so for me that was the biggest challenge. It took me some thinking on how to do it, but I found a way.
The neck blank was just a little too narrow for his headstock design so I glued two pieces of maple on the sides to sort that.
Making the neck profile he desired was the next challenge, but it worked out ok.
Put the side dots in and finished it with a few coats of oil.
The guy was very happy with the result, so happy he even payed me more for it than I had asked.
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception"
Groucho Marx
Two years ago i was asked by someone I knew
So, not a friend this time??
😉
Serious Question (I know, unusual).
What's the benefit of having a short-scale bass? Apart from the headstock not being quite so far away, so I guess there are some playability benefits (are there?), what other reasons for a shorter scale?
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What's the benefit of having a short-scale bass?
@tv1010101 I don’t really know but I had a thought. Could it be to do with alternative tunings? If the string is longer, it has to be under more tension to tune to standard tuning. A short scale would mean the strings are easier to bend because they are less tight. If you tuned down to a lower key, the strings would be very loose and probably very difficult to play effectively, if at all. With a longer scale length, you can tune down and it would still be under enough tension without being unplayable.
This same question can be applied to multi scale guitars?
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
This same question can be applied to multi scale guitars?
I've got one of those ... but that's for another discussion, another day!!
IIRC, Alan Lancaster - Quo's original bassist back in the early 70's - used to play a short-scale bass. Not sure he was much into string bending though ...
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
It reminds me of when I was on one of the courses I did at the Bailey workshop. There was a young man there who was making a fretless bass with a trem on it. Now, if there is one thing you don't need at all on a fretless bass it's a trem.
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception"
Groucho Marx
Now, if there is one thing you don't need at all on a fretless bass it's a trem.
If there is one thing you don't need at all on a fretless bass with a trem, it's strings.
😆
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk