New shorty in my stable

spellcaster · Post by **spellcaster** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:37 am

I've always been a big fan of short scale guitars and have guitars starting at 24" scale and basses starting at 25 1/2" scale. I've always wanted a "student-size" Fender but haven't found one that I like and can afford. I recently bought a used Classic Vibe DuoSonic and converted it into a shorty with a 65 Musicmaster II 22 1/2" scale neck. It involved a bridge change and some tweaking, but it's worked out great....

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:16 am

That looks great!

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:50 pm

Dwarfed by that speaker!

brandon. · Post by **brandon.** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:10 pm

what's that cab?!

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:30 pm

How's the intonation? The normal CV Duo Sonic neck is a conversion neck, so I would be concerned the scale and intonation will be off.

The only thing I don't like about the mid 60s Musicmaster/Duo Sonic necks was the size and placement of the Fender sticker. It makes the headstock look huge compared to the size of the letter.

cur · Post by **cur** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:09 pm

taylornutt wrote:How's the intonation? The normal CV Duo Sonic neck is a conversion neck, so I would be concerned the scale and intonation will be off.

The only thing I don't like about the mid 60s Musicmaster/Duo Sonic necks was the size and placement of the Fender sticker. It makes the headstock look huge compared to the size of the letter.

Check out the bridge he put on it. Extra long range saddles all the way to thee end.

Looks cool.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:13 pm

woah, good job on that! That's the way I'd of liked the CV duo sonics to look.

spellcaster · Post by **spellcaster** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 5:59 pm

Thanks guys! The reaction from people is one of the payoffs when a guitar gets built or modded. The towering cabinet is a 68 Dual Showman with two 15" JBL's that I use with my blackface Twin Reverb head.

I didn't realize when I started that the Squier neck was a conversion neck designed to be put on a body with 25 1/2" scale bridge placement. I talked to a guy who'd put a mid 60's Mustang neck on a 56 DuoSonic body successfully so I assumed it would work the other way as well. When I mounted the neck, I found I was short 3/8" of saddle travel. I found a bridge plate with the same string spread that was long enough front-to-back to allow for longer saddles and screws. The fact that it solved the non-compensated saddle issue was a bonus. So far, I've only intonated it by ear so I could test it, but I'll be sitting down with my Peterson Strobe tuner to dial it in this afternoon. Intonation definitely won't be a problem though.

Now that the DuoSonics done (at least for now), I can get back to my Thinline Cabronita build. This one's got a 71 Musicmaster 24" scale neck, Filtertron pickups, Villex pickup booster and rechargeable built-in wireless.