I think it’s because he plays bass more like a guitar than like a bass.
Can’t you also do some ornamentation easier/at all on a short scale? Small bends, vibrato, etc?
I posted that before work and just got around to coming back.
It looks like you ordered the Yamaha! Supercool!
Since you were concerned about the weight of the bass on your shoulder, that alder one should be a treat. I am really a P-bass kind of guy, but sometimes that Carvin bass from the photos gets more time in the rotation because it is light.
My preference on strings is flatwounds all the time. That’s because my taste is in jazz upright-bass tones and 70’s thump, both best done with flatwounds.
I have roundwounds on one instrument: my Tony Franklin Fretless P-Bass (an oxymoron, but it’s a great instrument). It has his signature engraved in the neckplate, so I play it as he intended: roundwounds to get that fretless mwah sound.
With regards to a place to put your thumb, those thumbrests were provided stock on P-basses back in the early 70’s. The Fender thumb rest is a piece of cheap plastic, but Hipshot makes a nice chromed brass version that matches the original one (I copied that for my steel one).
They are pretty cheap, so get one and stick it to the pick guard with double-stick tape for a few days to see if you like it before drilling any holes.
The Fender one is traditionally secured with a long screw replacing one pick-guard screw, and a new screw hold drilled through the pick guard, with the front in line with the end of the fingerboard and slanted to follow the angle of the pick guard. Here’s a PDF of Fender’s template they provide.
Watching him play (skip to 2:30ish, he starts working out), he’s using really light gauge strings, and he seems to be tuned up at least a fifth or more. I also see quite a bit of vibrato, not something you’d see much on a 34" bass with normal strings and tuning. So I guess there’s your answer(s) for why he plays a short scale. Also, dude has huge hands; looks like he’d be cool with freaking bridge cables on a 40" neck.
It arrived! Took only one day to ship from Maryland to NJ.
So far, it’s a lot of fun. I like switching between active and passive bass sounds – lots of versatility there. Things I have to get used to:
I have to sit a little differently – lap has to be more parallel to the ground
The neck is unfinished, or less finished, or something
I think the string spacing might be a little different, because I think I’m missing more strings
I’m finding easier to hit the G string – before, it would sometimes slip off the neck. I think the neck is flatter.
This was weird – it came in a Spector box with no manual, no truss bar adjuster or anything. Also, the battery died almost immediately. How is that even possible? Did they stick a used battery into it to try it out?
I lowered the action a little bit – it was much higher than my old bass. It might still be higher, but I’m getting fewer buzzed notes, so that’s good.
Looks great, feels nice, fun to play! So far, so good, and it will inspire me to play more. Thanks again, everyone!
Okay, now that’s not cool. They sold it to you as a new instrument and they didn’t have the original packaging and case candy? I’d give them an earful. At the least they should have sold it as a demo instrument and dropped off a few bucks.
You mean the back of the neck? Some people like a grippier feel so some instruments come that way. It doesn’t look like a user mod does it? Someone just decided to sand the back of the neck? You’d be able to tell probably.
Congratulations on the new Bass Ritter. 
Many players prefer an unfinished neck. Supposedly your hand can move up/down easier.
I’ve never played a guitar/bass with an unfinished neck. Don’t know if I’d like it or not.
I’ll give them a call today to find out what’s up. It was their last one in that color, so maybe it had been on display, while not being a demo? I think Sam Ash and Guitar Center will sell you the display model at full price, too, right? Anyway, I’ll ask.
The unfinished neck is original. I imagine it’s not completely unfinished, just not as much polyurethane, or whatever, as my Peavey. I wonder how high-end of a bass the Peavey was in its time. The finished neck makes it seem more high-end, but it’s probably just a preference for some people.
Thanks, Ace! I see what you did there!
I know you already made your purchase, but I just wanted to mention for anyone interested in a Fender bass, or a Fender product in general, G&L, Leo Fender’s post-Fender company, makes essentially identical/improved instruments at a lower price and more customization options.
That neck sounds like what’s on the Carvin that is in my machine shop photos I posted above.
Carvin was known for building custom instruments with all kinds of options, and one option was a “tung oil finish neck”–that’s what the original owner chose for mine.
I like it, in a “it’s different from my other instruments” way, but not in a “it’s superior” way. A different feel.
Congrats on your new instrument!
Guitar Center sells display instruments at full price, but if there’s dings in the guitar you can harangue the manager to knock a bit off; in my experience though you always get the original packaging and contents if you buy that instrument. Dunno about Sam Ash. Sweetwater clearly markets instruments that have been returned as demos and knocks $ off the price.
Inspect it carefully for body dings; on the body where you rest it on your leg is easy to miss, and headstock dings are pretty common in guitar store demos. But look everywhere.
Have you checked the intonation?
Use your tuner.
Tune carefully
Check the octave note at the 12th fret. It should be within 8 cents. There’s a 100 cents in a half step, so that’s within 8% accurate.
I spoke to Island and they said that the Yamaha box was a little beat up so they used the Spector box, which was in better shape. The battery is what came from Yamaha – maybe it’s just an battery.
It seems to be pretty flawless.
I’ll check the intonation tomorrow, but I’m not sure if my cheap Korg tuner is all that accurate. Anyway, Rocksmith is reading it fine.
I’m enjoying the heck out of playing it! I’ve been fiddling the EQ to get a great reggae sound, a great violin bass sound, and so on.
Good. I wasn’t trying to harsh your buzz, but not including the manual and hex wrenches and stuff is just unprofessional and I’d wondered if there was more there there. Glad you’re enjoying it.
Question: how do you turn off the preamp? I mean so it’s not draining the battery, regardless if it’s in use, since you have a bypass. In my experience it’s having a guitar cable plugged in, which for my use case (I always leave it in when I put the guitar on a stand) is why my batteries are always dead, which is why I don’t use preamps. And may explain that dead battery, if the last in-store player did the same thing.
Hmm, I just checked the manual and it doesn’t say. I’m betting on guitar cable.
Congratulations on your new bass! She’s a beauty, and totally gig-worthy, as far as I can see.
I think you’ll find that the toggle switch turns the preamp on and off, and when it’s turned off, the knob next to the switch acts as a passive tone control.
BTW, here’s a page on Yamaha’s website that displays the specs for your bass:
Your bass has a neck that’s covered in satin polyurethane - a gloss “poly” neck will often feel a bit sticky, so lots of players prefer the somewhat smoother feel of a satin neck over a gloss neck. That’s why you see some players rub down the back of their gloss necks with steel wool (don’t do this; it can leave an ugly gray discoloration. Use super-fine sandpaper on a gloss finish instead, if you must). You won’t often see a mass-produced neck with an oil finish, since oil can rub off and so needs to be periodically reapplied.
Since you already know how to check your intonation, here’s a link to Scott’s Bass Lesson on setting the action. You’ll want to check the intonation again if you complete any of these steps:
Have fun!Based on the low battery light, which was lit whenever I flicked the pre-amp switch with that first nearly-dead battery, I’d say the pre-amp turns on if the switch is on and the cable is plugged in.
I don’t think the battery that came with it is even an alkaline battery, so it’s possible that it just nearly died after sitting around for a few years.
EtF, thanks! Here’s hoping I get good enough to play gigs, to take advantage of its gig-worthiness. It’s probably that satin finish, because there’s no way it would be unfinished – it would become completely discolored by my handling it. Anyway, it feels super-smooth.