New Bass Day

[rnolan]

Well not for me but my friend I'm teaching bought a nice Stirling by Music Man Stingray short scale bass (https://intl.sterlingbymusicman.com/products/stingray-short-scale?variant=31853457801288) Daphne Blue, maple neck and fingerboard, Neodymium Pickup.  Very nice bass, she fell in love with it while we were trying out some amps.  Her first bass purchase was a baby Taylor acoustic/electric, then she got an Ibenez Micro (she a small person with small hands), not a bad bass considering how cheap they are.  The Stingray was a great buy though, as all Music Man basses I've come across, they sound great direct into the desk/PA.

[Zilthy]

Nice!  I've come to love short scale basses.   These days I have and use that Ibanez Mikro Bass myself, but if it were my main instrument still, I'd probably look further and the Stingray would be on my shortlist to checkout.

[rabidgerry]

Nice!  I've come to love short scale basses.   These days I have and use that Ibanez Mikro Bass myself, but if it were my main instrument still, I'd probably look further and the Stingray would be on my shortlist to checkout.

Personally I am a shortscale user also.  I considered that Ibanez Mikro.  What are they like Zilthy?  As far as I am aware they are even shorter than shortscale.  I was actually considering medium scale Ibanez for my next bass.  Currently I own a Cort Action jnr and I really like and find useful for over 10 years.  However  wish it had more pickups and combinations.

[Zilthy]

Personally I am a shortscale user also.  I considered that Ibanez Mikro.  What are they like Zilthy?  As far as I am aware they are even shorter than shortscale.  I was actually considering medium scale Ibanez for my next bass.  Currently I own a Cort Action jnr and I really like and find useful for over 10 years.  However  wish it had more pickups and combinations.

It is really fun to play, and it is a very short scale, 28.6".    I saw one in the local music shop and picked it up to try for grins and giggles.   Some 45 minutes later I was still sitting there playing it with a smile on my face and bought it on the spot.

I wouldn't say it has the best pickups in the world, but action fit and finish are nice and it sounds good on any of the recordings I've done with it and it's much less jarring to go from guitar to the bass, especially since I don't play bass much any more.

[rabidgerry]

Yeah this is why I use one also (a short scale I mean).  But I feel I need another for a broader selection tones.

I like their 32" scales basses too, these are like the bigger brothers to the Mikro, the SR Mezzo basses.

I nearly went for the Mikro and then talked myself saying "it cannot be!".  That's promising though that you have used one and it sounds good.  I wonder are strings a nightmare to buy?  I find it even difficult to get strings for my Cort.  Another reason I fancied the 32" medium scale Mezzo.

[Zilthy]

Here is the Mikro bass in action:

https://youtu.be/FkqUFr8I_O4

And for the purists, I also play with fingers, I preferred the sound and attack with a pick in this one. :)

As far as strings, not a problem.   You can even get Ibanez strings for it, but other strings work though they need to be trimmed after winding, and won't be taking them off and putting them back on again after that.

[rabidgerry]

I had seen the vids before but still didn't trust the 

There is more science to the strings than you might imagine with short scales.  You can't just stick a set of long scales on and cut them.  And the science explains the weird findings I have had over the years of short scale sounding out of tune no matter how in tune it is.

Here is some info.  It's all shit to do with the tension etc etc  I have experienced the weirdness first hand as well so now I know why.  Last strings I got where diaddario and fine.  But died very fast.  Then to my surprise Ernie Ball short scale strings at the minute sound really good despite me hating their guitar strings for seemingly always breaking on me.

http://www.shortscalebass.co.uk/short-scale-string-choice/

[rabidgerry]

I had seen the vids before but still didn't trust them    I'd rather hear about from someone like yourself 

There is more science to the strings than you might imagine with short scales.  You can't just stick a set of long scales on and cut them.  And the science explains the weird findings I have had over the years of short scale sounding out of tune no matter how in tune it is.

Here is some info.  It's all shit to do with the tension etc etc  I have experienced the weirdness first hand as well so now I know why.  Last strings I got where diaddario and fine.  But died very fast.  Then to my surprise Ernie Ball short scale strings at the minute sound really good despite me hating their guitar strings for seemingly always breaking on me.

http://www.shortscalebass.co.uk/short-scale-string-choice/

[rnolan]

Hey RG, the Mikro is a great buy for the money, it was less than $400 AUD.  I played it the other night working out a riff for my friend and the B on the low E string sounded flat then sharp etc, just didn't sound the note.  Not sure if it's the strings (which it came with) or a dead spot on the fret board  . The PUs' (as Zilthy said) are pretty ordinary, so P bass set up, 1 vol for each PU and overall tone.  I like that it's small, poplar body so it's also light and really easy to play.
The MM Sterling short scale is a much better instrument. 30" scale, mahogany body maple neck and fingerboard.  One PU with neodymium pole pieces (8).  The volume pot is a push/push which does a boost (it's not active so not sure what they do here, e.g. keep a bit back then let it all out?).  It's got a 3 way selector pot which switches the PU from series, single coil and parallel, nice variations and an overall tone.  It was around $1500 AUD.  String wise, DR make a nice short scale set but my favs are the strings that came with my Alembic SC short scale.  Alembic CX-3/45 S.  They are elliptical winds with the low side of the ellipse on top.  Really easy on the fingers and frets, sound and feel great.  I bought 2 packets for the price of one from Alembic's Yahoo store having a sale.

[Zilthy]

The MM Sterling short scale is a much better instrument.

That is definitely true, and I think there would be a problem if it wasn't.

I love the Mikro Bass and it fits my use case perfectly.   I don't think it is meant to be a 'main' instrument, but it is great for me as a bass to have to lay down bass tracks.   If I played bass as a main still, I would definitely be looking at another instrument.  But even if bass was my main still, I would likely have one as its' size and weight make it a great travel bass.

I bought another one this Christmas for my young niece as a Christmas present, It's also much better for a small child to learn on, though I am not sure how much she likes it.   It's hard to tell since her new kitten was much more exciting, and I cannot fault her there!

[Peter H. Boer]

And for the purists, I also play with fingers, I preferred the sound and attack with a pick in this one. :)

That's what I do, let the song decide whether fingers or pick is better suited.