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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 14, 2015 at 8:57am

While most modern bass guitars are either 30" or 34" scale, there are other bass guitars that are shorter.

I have a vintage Teisco short scale electric bass waiting for restoration that is a 23.75" scale. And there are other basses that run even shorter...like the Ubass, which is a ukulele bass that uses rubber-type strings instead of typical guitar strings.

A better way to sort this out is to search online for commercial made short scale basses for two main purposes...scale lengths used and more important, which gauge strings to use with the shorter scale.

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on January 14, 2015 at 9:34am

I was thinking more of a 25" scale length or there about like standard cbg.

and perhaps with frets.

I know it might sound a daft question but would a standard 25.5" scale frets be ok for the 3 string bass?

I've look on the internet for bass scales etc but don't seem to find what I'm looking for.

I know kiddies bass are much smaller but I need to know the fret markers etc.

I cant just stick the 12th fret any where can I.lol

just found stewmac .com

this the scale that came up on a 25.5"

 

25.500mm fret scale
fret		from nut		fret to fret
1		1.431mm		1.431mm (nut-1)
2		2.782mm		1.351mm (1-2)
3		4.057mm		1.275mm (2-3)
4		5.261mm		1.203mm (3-4)
5		6.397mm		1.136mm (4-5)
6		7.469mm		1.072mm (5-6)
7		8.481mm		1.012mm (6-7)
8		9.436mm		0.955mm (7-8)
9		10.338mm		0.902mm (8-9)
10		11.189mm		0.851mm (9-10)
11		11.992mm		0.803mm (10-11)
12*		12.750mm		0.758mm (11-12)
13		13.466mm		0.716mm (12-13)
14		14.141mm		0.675mm (13-14)
* Frets that are red are "octaves".

 I alread have bass strings but these where off a standard bass 34" I think .

can these be use or do I need to get shorter ones?

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 14, 2015 at 12:01pm

You can use strings from a 34" scale bass on a shorter scale neck. But you won't get the strings to their designed note without strings being too floppy or too tight. You'll have to settle for an alternate tuning.

Just read a great thread on another site about this very thing. A response from a guitar technician spoke volumes about using long scale bass strings on short scale builds.

The thread is here at: http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=51656

The technician pots his response under "sickstring".

Basically, he states that a 34" scale bass string, when clipped shorter to attach to tuning peg, will cause the string to, well, I'm going to copy & paste exactly what he wrote:

" ...it's very common for long-scale bass strings to break the wrap wire when being wound on short scale bass posts.

Wound strings have the wrap wire anchored to the core at both ends. On short scale bass strings, this anchor point, holding the wrap to the core, is desiged to fall between the nut and the tuning post, so that the wraps stay tight when the string is clipped. Long scale strings have that anchor point several inches further back than short scale strings, and if you trim long scale strings to fit a short scale bass there's a good chance of cutting the string lower down than its anchor, which will "kill" the string by decoupling the wrap wire and the core, so the string will not intonate. This problem is practically guaranteed to happen if you use higher end strings like DRs using a round core.

Even if you crimp the string carefully before trimming it, it's also common to see the wrap wire itself break when winding the thick portion of the string into the post if you put long scale strings on a short scale bass. It's more likely on short scale basses with 2 per side tuners, or tuners with smaller diameter posts. "

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Permalink Reply by Titch the Clown on January 14, 2015 at 10:21am

If you want a shorter scale tuned to standard bass tuning you may find heavier (thicker) strings useful.
The alternative is to have strings that are looser, this might then mean you will need to make the action higher. (Making the bridge and nut higher.) This will have consequences for the intonation, or how much pressing the strings down into the frets affects the pitch of the note being played. You may need to adjust this by moving the bridge slightly further away.

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on January 15, 2015 at 12:04am

thanks for the reply.

interesting read wayfinder thanks.

looks like the short scale as they say is 30".

look in ebay listings for strings etc and the short scale length is 81.5cm or to you guys 32.1/16".

so I suppose I'd better stick to 31" as intended in the 1st place.

still not sure whether to make it 2 stringed bass or 3.

making it 2 string bass would make things much easier I suppose without faffing about putting truss rods etc.

as for what strings which might be best do you guys think if I make it a 2 string bass.

I only know 1-2-3-4 with 4 being the thickest.

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on January 15, 2015 at 8:04am

I made my mind up and decided on a two string Bass.

I can either make it a 30" or a 31" scale.

can't change it now as I've glued every thing up apart from the back.

will do that tomorrow once I'm satisfied with in side the box.

check my spare string and they're to big about 40" in length.

so I will need to buy two strings.

I would like to have two choices to play on it frets/slide so that wood leave the weedwacker strings out.

with them being covered in cloth I doubt you can use slide.

so what gauge string would you guys recommend?

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