ShortScale.org

You might recall that I've been hankering after a new bass, but I'm holding off because 1) I've got a bloody wedding to pay for in April and 2) I'm torn between getting a P bass (obviously the best bass but maybe too big for a tiny man like me) or something like a Mustang or Musicmaster. As an interim measure I've ended up borrowing a pal's P bass on long term loan, namely Cameron of Thank fame who I swear owns like 10 basses but essentially only plays two of them. Partly because it scratches the itch of that "new bass feeling" whilst I'm trying to make sensible financial decisions pre-wedding, and partly because it gives me a chance to judge whether a P bass actually suits me or not. I realise P-style basses are ten-a-penny but prior to the Ibanez TMB30 the only basses I've owned have been a Tanglewood Rebel 4k (11th birthday present, kept it for like 13 years and honestly liked it a lot but regrettably it ended up rotting in a friend of a friend's basement and then mysteriously disappearing) and an Epiphone EB3 (looked cool as shit but felt awful and sounded middling), so I don't have much experience of either a Precision or a Jazz.


Here it is! I believe it's a Standard Series, so pretty run of the mill. The neck does have a skunk stripe which is generally an ick for me, but the bass is nice enough otherwise than I can look past it. Played it at Solderer practice for the first time this evening and had a good time. It sounds great, certainly a major step up from my Talman. The scale length didn't bother me as much as I thought it might, in fact the main difference I noticed was the increased string tension, rather than any discomfort from stretching further. I might experiment with a lighter gauge, but more likely I'll just try to build up some resistance and get used to it.

Gonna see how I fare with a few more rehearsals and maybe a gig or two, but so far I'm happy!

You most be out of the Loony Tunes region.

plopswagon wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 12:56 pm You most be out of the Loony Tunes region.

Wacky Racists featuring strongly, though.

I should also mention in the background here you can see the Ampeg cab I picked up for obscenely cheap a few weeks ago (£50!). It weighs what feels like a comedic amount less than the Hartke 4x10 I was using before, and it's on wheels.

Very nice!

On that side note, I'm always amazed by how cheap you can pick up older bass amps for, thanks to neodymium magnets and class D amps. My teenage dream of a Trace Eliot stack is now pretty cheap. I suppose things go in circles, and if I was smart, I'd buy a room full of massive bass amps.

In other sort of related news, an old friend's dad is clearing out is garage and is looking to move on an old Orange bass amp...

Yep, that Hartke LH500 is probably the nicest bass head I've used and I paid £150 for it. As it stands, our practice space essentially is a room full of massive bass amps. At last count I think there's six bass cabs in there (and five of those come out on tour with Thank lol).

Bass heads now have 20,000 watts and you have to put something heavy on them to keep them from blowing away at outdoor gigs.