Should I go to a short scale?

[darmstrong]

Hi all, I've played 25.5" scale (Strat) for many years. Well, as I get older I guess I get meaner, so I want a sound to match. Telecaster time! I'm working out the details of a partscaster - swamp ash, BL 280/290. (Sorry I'm taking so long, Rob)

Anyway I was playing my little neice's Squier mini-strat over thanksgiving, and even with it's short-short-short scale it sounded rather amazingly Strat-like to my ears. (Liked her little Peavey "trans-tube" amp, too.)

Now I'm thinking... Shoot, I've got short fingers and short arms (actually I'm not all that tall), and maybe having the first fret a bit closer to me and closer to to the second fret might be kinda nice. I don't crave lower string tension (I use 11's now), only the shorter fret spacing. So if I go from to 12's can I still get a pretty snappy, hard-hitting Tele sound?

[Bill Hullett]

You know Warmoth makes a bolt on Tele neck that alters the scale length to a Gibsons....What has been going thru my mind is....get a mahogany tele body from them routed for one P~90 and a short scale neck (mahogany/rosewood) Viola' a great Les Paul Jr./Tele
Maybe you could call it a "LEO~PAUL" JR.
:-)
Bill Hullett

[Ronetele]

I've got pretty long arms, but pretty short fingers and also not very wide hands. I like playing Duos as they have slightly smaller slightly shorter necks. Load 'em with good pickups and they rock. I've got two. One is pretty recent issue, was very inexpensive and I use it as a travel guitar. The other is the offspring of the mating of a '64 Duo with a Gibson/Epi of unknown origin. It's a never ending project. Check it out:

http://www.mimi.com/music/instrument...64Duosonic.htm

And then there is my very short scale National Resolectric. The whole guitar is only 34" long. The think is a total trip to play. Talk about a mean guitar, this is one outraged machine!

http://www.mimi.com/music/instrument...esolectric.htm

[darmstrong]

Hi Bill Yeah, I'm buying the parts (probably from USACG) and very tempted by the "conversion" necks.

Hey ronetele those are *really* cool guitars! How about an mp3 of that resonator for your web site? I'd love to hear it!

Dave

[Deaf Eddie]

... Warmoth "Gibson Scale Conversion" necks - one on a Tele and one on a Strat (both obviously parts-o-casters). Since I'm a Gibson guy from 'way back, these are the best feeling/playing "Fender-ish" guitars I own.

All good and no bad, IMHO. Go for it!

[darmstrong]

OK, I'm goin' for it!

[Bob Rogers]

Tune down to D and put a capo on the second fret. See how you like it.

[marshallmelloman]

Is that right Bob? Is a Gibson like a Tele from the second fret?

[genelovesjez]

This might do the trick:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=38083

It only takes you down to 25.0 from 25.5.

As far as short-scale guitars, my advice would be that you make sure it's what you want. I had a Jaguar for a short time (no pun intended), and I just couldn't get used to the lack of sustain. Not all short-scales play the same way, so I would advise a very thorough tryout if possible.

[Deaf Eddie]

Tune down to D and put a capo on the second fret. See how you like it.

Actually, that's way shorter... even a capo on the first fret would be shorter than Gibbie-scale - but closer. Still, that's kind of a good idea, for a "feelie" test...

BTW, my Tele with the scale-conversion is a mahogany neck on a mahogany thinline - it's my "go-to" Tele (of the three parts-o-casters I have). Love that axe!

[Bob Rogers]

Originally Posted by marshallmelloman

Is that right Bob? Is a Gibson like a Tele from the second fret?

It's shorter than a Gibson. 22.72 inches according to a formula I found somewhere on the net. I like to use the second fret for kids with small hands cause the dot markers are at "1,3,5."

[darmstrong]

Thanks for the input, folks. I have tried playing capo'd at the first fret, and I like it, but I have some concerns about tone. Will heavy strings help keep the tension and sustain up?

[slauson slim]

That model Gibson has a very short scale neck 23" and something.

[hippietim]

Originally Posted by Bob Rogers

Tune down to D and put a capo on the second fret. See how you like it.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to go grab a Gibson and give it a spin for a while?

[Bill Hullett]

Darmstrong....I think that you don't have to worry about tone too much...consider this....Billy Gibbons plays Les Pauls tuned down to "C" with #8's!!!!! its all in the touch!
Bill Hullett

[Ronetele]

Whoa, that's amazing. Bill, is there more to read on this?

Guess I'm all wet to think that pinch harmonics require a taut string. I'm going to try that on my next restring.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by hippietim

Wouldn't it just be simpler to go grab a Gibson and give it a spin for a while?

NOOOOOO! ...Before playing a G****n, I'd rather use the Warmoth conversion neck, and if that doesn't work, I'd quit playing electric guitar....

[hippietim]

Originally Posted by Raymond

NOOOOOO! ...Before playing a G****n, I'd rather use the Warmoth conversion neck, and if that doesn't work, I'd quit playing electric guitar....

Umm...

You are missing the point. The idea is to see how it feels before dropping the $$$ on the new neck. Besides, Gibsons kick butt.

[Deaf Eddie]

... but I don't think you are gonna lose much tone by switching to a slightly shorter scale, everything else being the same. But there is, for me, a noticable difference in the playabilty.

Ya say ya want Billy Gibbon-ish pinched harmonics?
Wire a pair of pups in series/out of phase, dial up a little crunch, and you'll have a hard time NOT getting pinched harmonics! My short-scaled all-mahogany thinline described (above) does that "La Grange" thang 'til Tuesday... with .009 Fender Bullets. It has a STOCK AmStd Tele pup in the bridge, and a Vintage Vibe RW/WP Strat pup in the neck, with a SuperSwitch wired in the Five-Tone-Tele scheme.

Dewd - it rawks!

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by hippietim

You are missing the point. The idea is to see how it feels before dropping the $$$ on the new neck. Besides, Gibsons kick butt.

Please Hippie, don't take it to seriously...

Elaborating a little bit here I'd say this:
- I truly hate G****ns electrics. I can't even type the name!!!. I remember when doing the transition from acoustic to electric, that I tried a G****n first because my acoustic is an Epiphone. It was a very disappointed experience....I tried SGs and Les Pauls, and I hated all of them.
- A Telecaster is the only electric guitar I can play (yes, I don't like Strats either) but I acknowledge that a shorter scale could help playing some tough chords, especially in blues. So, I think that a short scale replacement neck would make more sense because, I'd get to still play a Tele. Playing a G****n to test the short scale would not help me because I can't play those guitars....

Just MHO....