Small but beefy sounding bass recommendations?

[beauzooka]

Here some short scale bass suggestions for ya:

Fender JMJ sig Mustang
Reverend Wattplower or Dub King
Supro Huntington

[Snake Hips]

Starcaster bass.

[BoringPostcards]

Another vote for the Fallout, because G&L make the best basses.

[s_mcsleazy]

squier CV mustang with flats. works for me.

[wkc]

Reverend Wattplower, or Sentinel (discontinued). Few things in the world are as authoritative as their P-blade pickup.

Nordstrand Acinonyx is supposed to be full of deep heavy sounds.

[Rob]

I'm a Jazz Bass guy 80% of the time, but if I really need that heavy beef, I go to the Mustang Bass with flats. BolognaTone™.

[MrFingers]

Mustang is like a P-bass, but more punchy & thuddy. If you want a low-end whallop, there is no substitute for the EB0

[ludobag1]

Squier mustang bass micky way this is what i have and it growl ,maybe hard to find but a mustang bass with a humbucker wil do

[burpgun]

Lotta good recommendations here. It’s a shame Squier stopped making the Jaguar shortie because that thing is an all time champ, love mine. Maybe the current medium scale Jaguar would scratch the itch?

Only thing o can add here is avoid Gibson SG basses. They look awesome but sound terrible. The one I had was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever owned despite feeling so nice.

[MrFingers]

The one I had was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever owned despite feeling so nice.

Here to second that. What an anaemic piece of garbage that was. My proper EB3 on the other hand

[ohm-men]

Squier Sonic Bronco Bass, nice bass for little money....
And as mentionded here, Squier Mustang bass with a nice set of flats, my personal favorite....

And as far as oddballs go, Jolana Iris Bass.... Love that one....
Kind of Iron Curtain Mustang Bass....

[F15hface]

Maybe the current medium scale Jaguar would scratch the itch?

Gotta say I've played the Squier CV 32" scale jaguar and it was great. 98% of the sound of a P-Bass but felt much easier to get around on. I was really surprised by the difference 2" made.

[HarktheUmpire]

The one I had was the most disappointing bass I’ve ever owned despite feeling so nice.

Here to second that. What an anaemic piece of garbage that was. My proper EB3 on the other hand

Absolutely! An EB3 I like, but EB0s are just awful afaic.

There’s loads of good suggestions in this thread though. I don’t think there were ever more great shortscale basses available than now.

[JackFawkes]

So we were talking about maybe putting some new pickups in it and stumbled on these: https://www.sentellpickups.net/bass
There seem to be some really nice options here that would improve things and get it closer to maybe a '51 P sound or similar without having to route anything. The humbucking pickup would probably be great in the studio too.

I don't have any experience with that pickup maker, but ultimately I think this sort of thing is the best approach.
In my opinion, the reality of the situation is:
The Bass (the neck and body, scale length, etc.) = ergonomics
The Pickup(s) and Strings = the sound
If you want a fundamentally different sound, what you really need is different pickups and/or strings. Of course getting an entirely different bass accomplishes that, but then it may or may not have the ergonomics that the player likes. Unless you're trying to preserve the current bass as-is, different pickups are the most direct way to capture a different sound.

Jack

P.S.: For aftermarket bass pickups, I'm pretty partial to Nordstrand. The marketing copy of the products on their website is horrid in my opinion, but if you give them a call they're extremely friendly and knowledgeable and can point a person to an excellent solution in their product catalog or wind something that will give you what you're looking for.

[luau]

Thanks for the recs, everyone.

So we were talking about maybe putting some new pickups in it and stumbled on these:

Novak makes one that I've thought about putting in mine, but never have. MM Bass V