Music Man St. Vincent Bass

[uwe]

I have a couple of 32" scale basses, not on one of them is the E string comparable to a long scale as regards presence, harmonics and authority; heck, it's in my ears not even comparable on a Ric which is just "lesser long scale", but on a Ric you can live with it, on a medium scale it's a drawback.

It has nothing to do with string gauge or quality, everything with scale.

I'm not a short scale knocker at all. D and G are superior in sound on a short scale no doubt (unless perhaps you are a slapper and need the rebound that goes with a higher tension), but the E is superior on a long scale if you want to use it in a traditional sense. Just as the D string pays the price on a 35", it is then so over-taut, it suffers in sound.

Funnily enough I have never played a Dingwall seriously and plugged, it would probably be a revelatory experience for me though my understanding is that they go from long scale on the higher strings to more-than-long-scale on the lower ones (which IMHO only makes sense if you have a B string or tune down). I'd like to play a 4-string that goes from 30" on the G to 34" on the E in regular tuning, but that is probably not doable, the frets would be too slanted then as they'd be going in 1 1/3" steps from 30" (G) to 31 1/3" (D) to 32 2/3" (A) to 34" (E), that is likely too much a gap to bridge.

[Pilgrim]

32" is perfect. Cos as you know anything between 33 and 45 is wrong, Uwe.

32" works fine for me on this one:

[Rob]

32" works fine for me on this one:

Yer a Dork Pil!  That bass is awesome.


You know upright players often have different string sets on E or G to round out the tone. . . . .

[Dave W]

32" is perfect. Cos as you know anything between 33 and 45 is wrong, Uwe.

I must be the only other person who gets your reference.

Uwe's mind is distracted by the 500th anniversary of the reformation.

[uwe]

Of course I got that, Dave, what do you think of me?!  , drew a smile to my face, but forgot to mention it in my answer, apologies! 40 was good though, yellow cases are best ("Fall Gelb"). Though it really should have been "Fall Orange", don't you think? 



I thought those - again orange - Gretsches were 34", mine is? They have a nice mellow tone, but I don't find them terribly assertive within a band, certainly not EB-650ish, but then it's mostly not the job of a hollowbody to be assertive.

Don't get me started on the Reformationsjahr! Glad it's soon over. You know how I'm Catholic (and under Catholic dogma all other Churches - the orthodox one excepted - are mere Nebenkirchen, ancilliary churches  ) and if one of our former brethren went bad, what's the cause for celebration?!  Just goes to show that whenever the Holy Inquisition doesn't do its job timely and properly, you end up with all these problems and general unrest.  Where I come from (a Catholic stronghold in a mostly Protestant region) you do garden work (or the Catholic farmers used to drive manure) on Protestant holidays. 

That is at least how I have unsettled and disparaged my - mostly Protestant - colleagues here at work this year. Unsettling Protestants as a make-believe radical Catholic is fun, 500 years have passed and these guys are still insecure about what they are. No comparison to the timeless monolith that is the Catholic Church! You can argue about the existence of God, but the Catholic Church is an undeniable fact. 

[Dave W]

I guess you won't be ordering these then. 

[Highlander]

Religion ist verboten... 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz-RL4gVTiY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX6dehxobjU

[tore00]

My best sounding bass in a 32" Frankenstein with a Stu Hamm Fender USA 24 frets Pau Ferro neck, a poplar body and handmade by myself pickups and a crazy wiring that allows me to switch the three pickups in series/parallel with many combinations.

It is short, light and easy to play.

[clankenstein]

Pictures please.

[Pilgrim]

[I thought those - again orange - Gretsches were 34", mine is? They have a nice mellow tone, but I don't find them terribly assertive within a band, certainly not EB-650ish, but then it's mostly not the job of a hollowbody to be assertive.]

Although Gretsch makes a lot of 30" basses now, that 5123 series is indeed a 32" scale. I suspect many of the older Gretsch models were 34", but they make basses mostly in 30 and 34, this being an exception. It plays like a 30 to me, which I like. Like our late friend Dr. Bill, I find these days that a shorter scale is easier to play, so the 32" is a bit more friendly than a 34.

Although IIRC, because of the body and headstock design it's actually a bit longer overall from tip to bottom than my 34" Casady was.

[Alanko]

Here is a humorous take on Scottish sectarianism:



I might be the only person here who understands the characters.... let me know!

[Dave W]

I couldn't even understand most of what they were saying, especially the lead character.

[Chris P.]

That limited run 32" Gretsch with TV Jones pickups. I had one at home for a review and it's one of the few basses I regret buying, but money was tight.

[Pilgrim]

That limited run 32" Gretsch with TV Jones pickups. I had one at home for a review and it's one of the few basses I regret buying, but money was tight.

That was an experimental deal between Gretsch and Guitar Center in Nov/Dec 2010. The local stores didn't even know about it at first.

The thread on TB about it is here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/new-gretsch-electromatic-hollowbody-bass.713507/

Now they make the 5440 (34") and 5442 (30") which are both similar to the 5123.  No 32" scale hollowbody in production at present.

When I saw the thread on this in 2010 and saw the price, I called the local GC and told them that if they could get one for me, I'd buy it. They did, I did, and I'm happy about it!

[Highlander]

I might be the only person here who understands the characters.... let me know!

Get awa' ya wee sassenach... I have enough issues with the Gaelic variations between Skye, the Uists, Harris and Lewis, and then there's those Norse folk on the Northern Isles that REALLY don't like the Gaels that much either...