Can You Make A Decent 5 String Bass With A 34" Scale?

[fyb]

Hello all . . . I'm working my way though a few guitar builds and I was toying with the idea of doing a bass too. I'm a guitar player primarily so I really don't know much about basses ... I got a cheapy Rogue bass from Musician's Friend ~5 years ago just for something to mess around on and record simple basslines on my song ideas. The bass had a 34" scale and the B string is virtually unusable ... it's not as loud as the other 4 strings and the tone of that string has been likened by some to the sound of flatulence :o This could all very well be due to the fact that it's a crappy $100 chinese bass, but I was wondering if the scale had much to do with it??

If I make a bass, I'd like to do a 5 string but I'd (obviously) need to have the 5th string usable. Could I make a 34" scale one with a decent B or should I go to 35"? What else should I know to make a bass with a solid B string??

Thanks!!!!

[Supernova9]

Could I make a 34" scale one with a decent B?

Yes. But judging from this and your earlier post, you need to read a whole lot more, and learn to use the search option on these forums. Fender Jazz Basses and P basses come in 5 string form, and they're 34".

[fyb]

Could I make a 34" scale one with a decent B?

Yes. But judging from this and your earlier post, you need to read a whole lot more, and learn to use the search option on these forums. Fender Jazz Basses and P basses come in 5 string form, and they're 34".

Well, I searched for 'tap tone' earlier and only found one decent thread and 2/3 of that seemed like insults and mudslinging. I'm still looking for a bit more info, so I asked the question.

Since I didn't have much luck with that, I just wrote this question out. I just did a seach and found some useful stuff though.

Oh, and there's always more to read. My guitar projects are coming out pretty well, so I thought I'd find some info on basses.

[WezV]

I dont like the 5th string on bass guitars with a 34" scale length. Is your bass strung through the body or through the back of the bridge? some people have suggested that it sounds better when it is strung thru the body, that starts all kinds of tension arguments. There is even a little gadget you can buy that is essentially a little peice of pipe that you attach behind the bridge and you run the string through it before the bridge. It creates a little extra length of string and apparently tightens up the string like on a thru body strung bass(although we all know that the extra length of string cant possibly alter the tension of the vibrating length of string)

I would go with 35" scale just to be sure

[fyb]

I dont like the 5th string on bass guitars with a 34" scale length. Is your bass strung through the body or through the back of the bridge? some people have suggested that it sounds better when it is strung thru the body, that starts all kinds of tension arguments. There is even a little gadget you can buy that is essentially a little peice of pipe that you attach behind the bridge and you run the string through it before the bridge. It creates a little extra length of string and apparently tightens up the string like on a thru body strung bass(although we all know that the extra length of string cant possibly alter the tension of the vibrating length of string)

I would go with 35" scale just to be sure

Well, the string doesn't go through the body, I think I'd want to do that if I were building one anyway.

[Primal]

Yes, 35" scale is pretty much essential for low B strings, in my opinion.