Readers know that I am a big fan of the bass guitar. It was the first real instrument that I learned (I’m not counting the three horrendous years of saxophone in grade school), and I write a lot of my early songs on the bass before I picked up and learned guitar. I have always been a supporter of teaching the bass guitar to younger students, as one is learning one note on a fretboard is easier to comprehend first before attempting chords on a guitar.
I have seen many times young players with small arms and hands attempting to use a full-scale 34-inch bass guitar with great difficulty. It tells me that the parents did not do much research on purchasing a properly sized bass for the student, but just bought the cheapest bass they could find or let the store salesman talk them into it, saying “They’ll grow into it.” There are a number of shorter-scale bass guitars on the market, many of them very affordable, that can make lessons and performance for the young musician a lot easier.
I recently purchased two short-scale bass guitars made by Glarry to test them out and see if they are worthwhile for the student as far as value, comfort, playability, and performance. Both retail for under $100 on the Glarry website, but I was able to snag each one a lot cheaper through shopping at eBay and Amazon.
The first is the GW101 36-inch Kid’s Electric Bass Guitar. This bass is incredibly small, as the 36 inches refers to its entire length. The scale from nut to bridge is 25.5 inches. That’s actually the scale length of a Fender Stratocaster or Martin acoustic guitar! The body is a lot smaller as well. One YouTube video review of this bass showed the player gripping the entire body of the bass with one hand. If playing with the thumb or fingers, the player can actually rest the rest of the hand on one of the body curves and not need a resting piece mounted on or near the pickups.
Speaking of pickups, there are two Jazz Bass style pickups, and the controls are wired like a standard Jazz Bass (one volume for each pickup, and a single tone control). Since the pickups are so close to each other, there is very little difference in the tone that each creates, so going with a Precision Bass type pickup or a single pickup with two controls (volume and tone) might have brought the price down a bit. The light weight makes it very easy on the back, even a child will not have a problem with it strapped around him/her. The neck is also comfortable, with fret ends filed down so as not to snag on the hand.
The playability was good, not fantastic. The output is typical of a lower-end bass, giving a decent sound but nothing shattering. The dual pickups do serve as a humbucker mode, so some humming noise does cancel out, but not completely. It doesn’t take long to get used to the very short scale, although setting intonation may take a little effort. Besides a suitable bass for a young student, this would also make a good travel bass if needed.
My big complaint is the finish on the body. It was not sanded well, so running your hand over it feels like a piece of rough-cut wood, fearing getting a splinter. The paint job looks like it was done with some spray cans real fast just to cover up the wood. I would recommend rubbing in some good polish to the body so it feels a bit smoother.
The other bass guitar checked out is Glarry model 30-inch GB Electric Bass Guitar. This is a direct copy of the Fender Squier Bronco Bass, with a Mustang-style body and 30-inch scale, a length found on the Hofner 500/1 “Beatle” Bass as well as some Gibson and Epiphone models. The balance is OK, considering the smaller size, as many full-scale basses from Glarry and other Asian manufacturers use a lightweight wood for the body, so the weight of the headstock will pull down and put stress on the shoulder. This one has a slight problem like that, and could have used a smaller headstock. There is only one single coil pickup, and two controls for volume and tone.
The finish on the body and back of neck are quality. Running the fretting hand back and forth along the back of the neck was a smooth endeavor. The paint job is much better than the GW101, and is definitely comparable to upper-grade basses.
I like the playability and comfort of this bass a bit more. My first bass was a 30-inch scale, so I have always been able to play moving bass lines a lot better with my fretting hand, even though I’ve used mostly full-scale basses for the past 30 years. The pickup does kick out some hum noise, but not an annoying amount. The neck is also well finished with no snagging fret ends. This would be a definite first choice for a younger teen student, or even an adult with smaller hands. I have known many female bass players that play this type of bass due to the hand size. As with the GW101, an adjustment with the bridge saddles for proper intonation will be necessary.
Both basses came shipped with a cheap gig-bag, low-end strap, cables, pick, and hex keys for adjusting the neck and bridge saddles. The gig bag for the GW101 was really extremely low-quality, basically a glorified trash bag. When zipping it up with the bass inside, it could barely close around the headstock unless you put the tuning gears in a flat position, which means re-tuning the bass when playing again. Unfortunately, it will be nearly impossible to find a good gig bag or case for this size bass. Maybe a large ukulele gig bag?
As for the cables, the GW101 came with a very low-quality one. After a dozen uses, this type will start to crackle and short out. I am not sure if it was a packaging error, but the GB bass came with a good-quality webbed-covered 10-foot cord, which usually go for about $20.00 at Sweetwater or Guitar Center. Both have bridges and tuning gears that are expected on lower-priced instruments. They serve their purpose, but are not high quality, so if the bass was being used extensively, replacement would eventually be necessary. However, they work fine for a student that is just beginning to learn the bass.
At the bluegrass festival last weekend, at least three bands had bass players using electric basses instead of the more traditional upright bass. So playing an electric bass is not as unusual as expected in bluegrass. For the parents having a young child or teen interested in playing bass in bluegrass, or any other format, these two basses are worth considering. They are extremely affordable, and there is not a lot of investment lost if the kid loses interest and the instrument goes on the garage sale block.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 