Musings- Short scale Vs Long scale Bass Guitars

Is this the end of the ‘Short scale connoisseur’?

It all started as a result of purchasing a set of incorrect length strings (got long scale instead of short scale), which started me thinking…. What if I get one cheapo long scale bass, wouldn’t that be nice to round out my bass collection? And that set me down a slippery slope of buying up all sorts of long scale guitars and plans to buy many, many more. Moohaaha!

Now that I’m 3 Long scale bass guitars in (after 6 months), does it mean that I’ve turned my back on the Shorties?

Well, the plan was to slowly buy up more long scales, until 50% of my bass guitar collection were long scales to short scale. And the thinking was to alternate each month, as in one month I just played long scale, and then the next month to give my back a rest, I’ll just play short scales. But let me tell you, once you’ve gone ‘Long’, it’s hard to go back!

The first time I picked up a long scale bass, I thought it was so heavy, so unwieldy, and the dimensions just felt all wrong in the hands like it was all bloated. But now when I pick up a short scale bass, the exact opposite occurs, it feels light as a toy, dinky in the hands like a child’s play-thing, and now the dimensions feel all wrong in the hands again, like it had been shrunken in the wash! Funny how the body adapts.

And I thought a short scale would be much easier to play now, since I’ve been training to reach for the wider frets on a long scale, my mind was thinking a short scale should be a breeze to play. But oddly enough, it’s not. After a few minutes my fretting hand started to cramp up, as it wasn’t used to being squished into a claw like shape to get the correct fingering on each fret. And then my muscle memory was all out of sorts, I would go for a note, and over-shoot the desired fret. Aiya! And with the shorter neck, all of a sudden, I felt all squished in, my elbows were tucked into my body, and not to mention my mental image of myself playing now, imagining how others saw me, and the mental image wasn’t flattering. I pictured a grown man playing a child sized instrument- I can’t believe I had done this for 2 entire years! How embarrassing!

So, does it mean it’s the end of the short scale connoisseur?

Maybe just for now, I really want to get a full year of long scale bass playing under my belt, where I’m confident that my body has developed the muscle memory for the beastier instrument. And once I’m good with that, I think then I’ll start to flip flop between the two lengths just so that I don’t have 7 guitars which are sitting around gathering dust. Otherwise, there will be a few short scale bass guitars going ‘free to a good home’.

Benefits of Long scale bass guitars:

1. There are so many choices out there! Brands, styles, colours! You name it, there’s one out there!
2. There’s 5 strings and active basses (no off-the-shelf 5 string or active short scale basses)
3. Parts and accessories are all catered for Long scale
4. And now I look the part of a proper bass player and I’ve lost the shame of being a Shortie