As a complete and total bass nerd, I really appreciate time and the effort you put into making your videos. You have quickly become one of my favorite sites to check into. Wish you success and hope you get the following you deserve.

Love your videos Jonathan. I have wrist and thumb problems so I’ve swapped to SS recently. Very informative and always positive. Keep them coming!

You have no idea how useful this video just so happened to be for me. I happened to buy a used contemporary hofner on reverb and the strings it came with were just some random roundwounds. Didn't think anything of it until I barely tuned the low e slightly sharp and the thing snapped and unraveled. At the end of the day, I'm not happy at the news of having to spend 50 bucks on beatle strings, but you did me solid.

This is EXACTLY the information I was looking for. Thank you so very much.

I wish I had seen this video before purchasing flatwound hofner strings... Exactly like you predicted at 16:45, the E string was too long and it broke. Very informative.

rotosound RS 77M jazz bass strings will fit Hofners properly. They're flatwound medium scale standard gauge (40-50-75-90 ).I used them for 40 years before switching to the more expensive Labellas

Thank you so much, all your videos are so interesting and helpful.

Very helpful with new information that I have not seen elsewhere.

Newtone Strings (UK) for custom length rounds. Pyramid Strings (Germany) for custom length flats and tapes.

I play mostly guitar, but also a bit of bass (34" scale). I plan to build a 30" scale bass soon and you've been one of my go-to YT channels to learn the particularities of short scale basses. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

The takeaway here is that, whatever your string needs, La Bella has you covered.

You have put a lot of effort into this video and it's much appreciated. I have a Ibanez Mikro and you have done my homework for me. I'm enjoying all your short scale videos.

Thank you good sir. Glad I came across your videos, especially this fine installment. You are an incredibly engaging and informative poster. I recently purchased the exact Hofner model as you showcase and have been looking at strings to replace the roundwounds that are included from the factory. Though I have been looking at short scale flatwound strings, I would have quite possibly purchased the wrong set had it not been for this video.

Another incredible video Jonathan, thank you for your time, attention to detail and terrific ability to make the complex simple

Thank you for producing this informative and entertaining content. It's helpful and I'm saving it as a reference. You're very good at explaining things clearly, concisely and in a manner that's easy-to-understand. It's appreciated. As an aside, kudos must be given for the excellent t-shirt. All the best!

I found the most comfortable and best sounding strings for my short scale basses is the D’Addario Chrome XL flat wounds.

Bravo! And thank you, Jonathan. Lots of helpful info I didn't know, including where and when to bend the 'rules'. I hope it was as useful to others

I am a guitarist but just started to look at short or medium scale bass for me and my 12 years old daughter to start and I am glad that I found your channel. You've been very helpful sir.

As a newbie bass player, but a long time guitarist, thank you so much for a very informative video.

Thank you very much! These videos are very informative and very helpful especially for someone like me who just got interested in the electric bass guitar and is clueless about the instrument. Excellent work, thanks!

I appreciate the video, thanks! I've been using D'Addario Medium scale half-rounds on my 73 Mustang Bass (String-thru) for years which fit perfectly. The taper winding starts for the E,A and D strings just over an inch beyond the nut. No taper on the G. Current set is approaching 4 years and they still sound great. Which is fortunate because D'Addario has stopped making this set! So like you I may need to break the rule and get a regular scale with full string width wound on some of the tuners. Oh well. I know in the past (I've owned this bass since 1979) I've used regular scales with no problems, like you report. Cheers and thanks.

Ernie Ball just came out with a set of cobalt flats for 30" scale bass. The gauges run 50 to 110 which yield pretty much the same tension on a short scale as 45 to 105s yield on a long scale. They sound similar to D'Addario Chromes with that bright zing. They are a little gritty and I can feel the difference when I play with a pick. So what I do is take some 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper and sand the area where I use the pick, smooths them out nicely and doesn't affect the sound. Hope this helps fellow shorty low enders.

Thank you for making this incredible video! I wish I had seen it three years ago before all my re- stringing false starts. I have owned ten short-scale basses, including pretty much every 28.6 on the market. I prefer flatwounds and put flatwounds on every single one, though recently I did put a set of D'Addario short-scale nylon tape wounds on my Jackson Minion and it sounds incredible (so Motown). So here's the skinny on flatwounds because I have used four different kinds. First of all, DR short-scales do not work on a 28.6 because DRs are 33.5 inches from the bridge end to the silk, which is too long. For a 28.6, length to silk cannot exceed 32 inches. The DRs will probably work on a 30 inch, however. Sadly, Ibanez does not make a set of miKro flats. Here are the short-scale flats that I have used, all of which fit a 28.6 perfectly: GHS D'Addario LaBella Dunlop My favorite are the Dunlops because of how they feel, though I would characterize the D'Addarios as the brightest. LaBellas I found to be too dull, with GHS somewhere in the middle. If you have a five-string 28.6, such as in the Ibanez GSRM with five strings, I found the best five-string set to be the Dunlops. I found that LaBella five set B string to be so floppy that I could not even get a sound out of it. The same discussion may not hold for a 30-inch short scale. My favorite place to read about strings is on the Fret Nation website.

Knowing that Fender used long scale on the JMJ, I tried them on the Mustang through-body. No issues (I replicated stock string length when cutting). I also had a conundrum with my Guild Starfire 1 bass, which is a 30.75” scale. I thought it would be medium scale like the Mustang, but I had to remove some of the silk from the E and A strings on the Jim Dunlop medium scale flats because the Guild bass has an asymmetrical tailpiece and the silks of the E and A went over the nut slightly. In the future, I’ll probably have to go to long scale flats in the future. Another unique thing about the Guild Starfire 1 is that the headstock tuners aren’t in a row like Fender, but 2 per side, so the A and G strings are 2.5” longer than the E and D strings… The Dunlops are expensive, but you might love them on the string-through body Mustang because they sound great and are lower tension than LaBella.

Super comprehensive video Jon! great job!

I have been looking for this exact info. I have a Bronco bass that I want to put flats on. Im a guitarist and flats are way more expensive than strings I am used to. This takes out all the guess work. Im going to get some short scale Chromes and give it a go. Thanks again.

Another highly informative video Jonathan! Think I'm going to order the La Bella flats for my Squier Mustang - Thanks again

Just found your channel, Jonathan. I am a new subscriber. All of my basses are short scale except one, which is the 32 scale Ibanez Mezzo. I have flats and tapes on all of my basses. RotoSound tru bass RS88M are medium scale tape wounds that will fit the Hofner Beatle bass and the Club bass. RotoSound jazz bass 77 RS77S are flat wound strings that will fit the Ibanez Mikro and the Squier Mini basses. My next short scale bass will be the Ibanez EHB1000S, which is headless. Apparently it doesn't matter what scale of strings that you put on it, because you will be cutting them off after you put them in the "Ibanez custom head piece".

Thanks for the info about the Hofner Beatle bass . I have bought one and was buying a wrong set of strings, and instead I have bought the Labella Beatles short scale strings as you recommanded in your vidéo.Thanks

For short scale strings, I really like Stringjoy.

Great detailed video!! Thanks

Great info! 🌞

Thanks for the video man 🙏🏼🙏🏼

love your content, thank you.

As a bass beginner, already decided on a Short Scale Bass, this is a very informative, well explained video on the 'reality' of short scale/medium scale string lengths that need to be considered in any restringing effort. On 2 of your videos directed at Gretsch Jet Junior Bass 'stringing' examples, it seemed the Thomastik Jazz Flat Wounds (JF344) had packaging labeled- Long Scale, how did you get them to work on your Gretsch? Sorry, keyed this mid-video, you answered later- I like them so much, I didn't care about 'the rules'. ;)

I've just bought 2nd hand CV Mustang Bass, so I've found so much useful information on your channel, Jonathan. Appreciate it! And I've ordered Chromes 45-100, Dunlop 40-100, Dunlop 45-105 (all are flatwounds). Which of these strings do you prefer? Sometimes, for several songs I will drop the 4th string in D. In the first sign, in compare with my Coolz Japan Jazz Bass, CVMB is lacking fullness, width of tone (however , I got CVMB with absolutely dead roundwound strings). I hope new strings will do it's job! Thank you very much! Best regards.

Good Info!

Hey really interesting video, I appreciate your effort! I was wondering at the end if the special light gauge laBella strings for the Club and Beatle Bass were less floppy than the TI strings? The gauge of the laBella strings seems pretty light to me and thus should be more lose right? What experience did you have in the past with different string gauges on your SC-Basses? From my experience the low E usually misses some clarity and definition due to the shorter scale length and I've heard that you could compensate that with a heavier gauge. Would be interesting to hear your opinion on this :) Keep up the good work!

Thanks, interesting video

Boy did i need this video. so professionally presented. I'm a jazz guitar player that just got into bass guitar. I'm also intrigued with lead bass. I just got great deals on a Jackson minion bass and a Gretsch g2220. I have Labella Jazz tapes (Guitar strings) on order for the Jackson. That will become my lead bass experiment. I'm shopping for flatwound strings for the Gretsch. I like D'Adario Chromes on my guitars so I'm leaning in that direction. Any recommendations? Thanks again for a great video. I learned a lot.

Hi Dr. Wong, I'd like to know what your thoughts are on installing a string thru body bridge on a Squier Mini P. Would you go with a 30" scale string or something else ?

Gad, I hate dead spots on basses. I don't keep / buy a bass if it is inflicted. My Squier Bronco and Korean Rogue Violin basses are completely devoid of this scourge as is my all carbon Steinberger XL-2A. My Hofner has a few minor spots, but it's so thuddy, you don't really notice them a whole bunch. My 77 B.C. Rich Mockingbird has one, but it just sits in it's case waiting to be sold someday. I like GHS Pressurewounds for the 30" and 32" (Hofner and Rogue).

Nicely put together video! Back in the 60s my dad put together a kit bass (kinda a Hofner knockoff) which is *super* super short scale - I measured it at about 25"! Needless to say, finding strings for it is an endless struggle (I believe Fernandes used to make a set for their travel basses, but they're no longer in production). Do you have any ideas or suggestions as to what might fit?

Darnit .. i was hoping youd tell me the exact string to use on my 24" scale martin 000cjr-10e to stop the crazy roll that these strings are having. Why isn't everything always perfect??? Hey, good video though thanks. Watched the whole vid.

Great all around productions, thank you! What size bass strings for 32 scale Squire jag?

So can I put Ernie Ball Short Scale Flatwounds on my Hofner Club Bass? They use the 32" scale, and you said that the Hofner is a 30", but really a 32" because of the tail piece. Thanks.

My martin 000cjr-10e short scale bass is trash cause the nylon strings roll terribly and they say dont use steel strings .

I'm about to buy my first short scale bass (Harley Benton PB-Shorty for lefty), but there aren't short scale strings available in my country so I'm a little scared in the long term that I can't find strings that fit, would it be too bad if I just use a regular "mainstream" string type? like for example an Ernie Ball or Daddario Regular (50-105) or Hybrid (45-100)?

#92_helpFullAndFun_thanks🇺🇸🇮🇱✝️

I'm thinking of getting a 5 string 27" scale bass (Valiant Mini Bass 5) but I'm afraid I won't be able to get any new strings for it 🤔

what is the difference between a round round and a flat round string?