A basis for basses

[Sarah93003]

My father was quite an accomplished bass player in his younger days and it has crossed my mind more than once of taking up the bass. I know he loved his 1963 Hofner bass, but I'm not crazy about the shape of it. I see Fender P and J basses quite a lot but have wondered about Mosrite and others.

What type of bass would you bass players recommend for me to invest in? Are short scale basses okay?

Thank you in advance for sharing your vast knowledge!

[dubtrub]

Since you posted this in the the vintage Mosrite section I presume you are referring to the short 24" scale Mosrites on the Celebrity body. To me that would be an absolute waste of a bass guitar. I think it is more of a novelty than it would be practical as I think it would be lacking in what a bass is suppose to deliver. The longer the scale the more it sounds like a bass should sound. However, owning both Fender 32" scale and Mosrite 30" scale, they are both pretty decent for the most part. The pro bass players that I've talked with all seem to prefer the longer scale over the shorter. Unfortunately Mosrite never made a longer than 30" scale.

[jfine]

If you're primarily a guitar player, short-scale (30") basses work fine, as the fret spacing isn't quite so long. They can sound good, in kind of a retro-'60's sort of way--don't expect slap 'n' pop bite from a short scale bass! Hallmark makes that Swept-Wing bass that looks pretty cool, and there are rumors that they're working on a Mosrite-style bass. Long-scale basses have more punch, but for the way I play bass (with a pick, solidly in the pocket, and not very often!) I find that I like a short scale--but one of my favorite basses is the Fender Jazz, so go figure! I don't play much bass--I don't even own one; I'm a guitar player who doubles on bass occasionally, but when I play bass, I'm extremely conscious of not sounding like a guitar player playing bass (even though that's what I am), and I hate playing guitar with bass players who are frustrated guitar players, so any bass that will enable me to sound like a bass player is a good one. If I'm playing a bright-sounding bass, I use the Carol Kaye approach of using a heavy pick and rolling the tone control back until the click goes away. Maybe some real bass players will chime in here.

[Sarah93003]

I'm not stuck on Mosrite for a bass, nor a short scale bass. Since being on this forum I've read more about basses than ever before. I realize there are so many variations available, but I don't know what would be desirable, etc. One pickup, two pickups, solid body, hollow body, etc. short scale, long scale, etc. It makes sense to me that longer would be better as those big strings would vibrate more, etc.

I see Fender Precision and Jazz basses mostly when bands are playing locally. I've listened to basses on YouTube and I like the sound of Rickenbacker and Zon. I don't think either of these are in my prices range however.

[MWaldorf]

I think the usability of a Mosrite bass was well established by Bob Bogle. Jack Bruce did alright in Cream with his Bass VI holding the low end; I'm not sure if his later Gibson bass was long scale or short scale.

[Olav]

If you're into the sound of long scale bass guitars I don't recommend short scale instruments.
Though I actually like short scale bass guitars and the way they sound better, they are not as precise as long scale basses. (I'm a guitarist though... definitely not a bassist)
String tension is at the base of this, just as a 'Gibson scaled' guitar will not play/sound like a 'Fender scaled' guitar.
Get the scale 'too' long like on some extended range guitars (I'm thinking 7 and 8 string in ridiculous scale/justMHO) and the sound even gets sloppy. That's my take though.

[Veenture]

Sarah, while you're still searching and haven't made up your mind yert, you may wish to check out these links too:

http://www.wilsonguitarventures.com/vmb75.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aria-DMB-380-Electr ... 415435e544

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aria-STB-JB-Standar ... 2038619894

http://cgi.ebay.com/1960s-Ideal-Aria-Gr ... 4cf37c5395

I wouldn't recommend spending a whole lot of money when starting out on your first bass. See how you take to one (scale) first?

Personally, I would definitely go for two pickups -you get a far wider range of tones

[edit] I'm still very happy with the sound and playability of my Aria VMB75 bass (34"scale) that I snagged off ebay a few months back. And ARIA ain't half bad for the price either!
Good luck.

[stl80]

Good topic. I have a cheap long-scale that I got just for the heck of it. The thing I don't like about it is that its neck heavy...let go and it dives for the floor. A buddy of mine has a mint mid-60's Gibson EB-3 that his dad owned that I think I have first dibs on when he decides to sell it. I've been thinking about getting an Epi EB-3 in the mean time just to try it out.
Jim

[Tronman]

I have an Epiphone EB-3. It's really well-made and sounds great, but it's only available in long scale. I think there was a run of short scale Epiphones in the not-to-distant past. I do miss my '65 Gibson EB-3. Never should have sold it.

Jack Bruce's EB-3 was a short scale. I know because a friend of mine bought it from a music store in NYC, only later to find out that it had been stolen from Bruce. He returned it to Bruce, who in turn, gave him a bass from his collection (don't know what kind though).

[Haole Jim]

In this opinion, a Frender Squier Precision or Jazz Bass (wider and narower necks, respectively, both 34" standard scales) are great entry-level basses. A Fender Mexico of either version is relatively inexpensive and will be a long-term keeper.

Or go the full-crazy route like Paul and get a Made In USA Reissue Precision or Jazz, those are superb.

The Epi SG-style is available in both short and long scale. The Epi Thunderbird is long scale and a rather nice bass, as well. Note on the T-Bird; its neck "sticks out further," so your natural (Fender Bass) left arm position will be "two frets high" on the T-Bird. ('Have happily used an Ibanez '74 or so lawsuit Thunderbird IV as church bass for way over a hundred and a quarter Masses and services.)

The SG Faded Gibson single pickup is short scale and will do you just fine with the real name on the headstock for about $700.

Mel, when Jack Bruce played Chicago a zillion years ago with Cream, he used a Gibson EB-0 SG style with a single big, rectangular pup. Both he and Eric used Fender Showman amps with a single 15" JBL.