Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ryan on February 7, 2016 at 6:17pm

I said tuners, but I meant geared tuners

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on February 7, 2016 at 7:08pm

Bass strings require the larger (bass) tuners because of the extra tension.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on February 7, 2016 at 7:31pm

Small scale - how short a scale  are you making it? 30-32" is generally regarded as being short scale, as opposed to a more standard 34", all of which will need regular bass strings and bass machineheads. If you go shorter than that, for example around 27-28", it's generally regarded as "baritone" guitar which use regular guitar machineheads, but you do need to be careful about selecting strings of the right length.

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Hinrichsen on February 8, 2016 at 1:20am

You can use bass vi strings or strings for the höfner violin bass. They are for about 30 inch scales and work well with regular guitar tuning machines sincw they are tapered towards the end.

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Permalink Reply by JL on February 8, 2016 at 1:57am

If you use bass strings, use bass tuners, the thicker strings need the extra circumference.

As to short and very short scale basses: GC sells a 3/4 scale Junior that's set up with a 28" scale. I acquired a 1/2 scale (25.5" scale) child/student bass guitar from a yard sale for $10 that only needed to be rewired and new strings.  I used a cheap set of standard bass strings on it that I already had on hand and it works great and sounds good. 

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on February 8, 2016 at 6:39am

Its really short scale probably like a baritone uke size maybe even concert uke size, I have some bass strings from Aliexpress and the large e fits though the tuner and those strings were like $4.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on February 8, 2016 at 8:52am

Then you could use the Bass VI strings like Thorsten mentioned.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on February 8, 2016 at 7:23pm

For a bass on a uke scale, to do it justice you need uke bass strings. These are really thick polyurethane or silicone rubber and they are not cheap. You'll also need bass machineheads. Do a Google search on "uke bass" or "Ashbory bass" to get the general idea.

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Permalink Reply by Titch the Clown on February 8, 2016 at 11:37pm

+1 Search for ubass strings.

The one additional piece of advice is to think about the string spacing. Because there is such a big difference in diameter on the uke bass strings the difference between equal edge to edge (same distance between the strings) and equal to center (the centers of the strings are equal distances) is quite marked. Most commercially made uke bases are equal edge to edge. Dan Hulbert made one that was equal to center and it really looked quite different.

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on February 8, 2016 at 4:16pm

I used cheapo guitar tuners on a two string bass, a 32" scale using the lower two strings with no issues so far, about six months.  I figure if the tuners act up I can open the holes for bass tuners later.

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Permalink Reply by JL on February 8, 2016 at 11:44pm

the two lower strings of a guitar set or a bass set?  If you got a 105 string on a guitar tuner, I'm dying to see a pic...

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on February 9, 2016 at 2:46pm

JL, my strings were Fender Studio Bass strings, the low string is 090, but even smaller at the end as the outer winding ends before it goes into the tuner.  See the pic -

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