Why do you play a shortscale?

wadeaminute · Post by **wadeaminute** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:21 am

Have you felt a Squier Super-Sonic neck? That's why.
Plus they are upside-down.
My 1970 Compstang has a similar neck - small, round, and narrow.
My plan in 1996 was to buy a left-handed Sonic Blue Jag-Stang and flip it right-handed. The local guitar shop guy told me that he could order me that, but that it reminded him of this new Squier guitar that I should check out. Then that blue sparkly guitar went on sale for $299 in 1998. Done. Then I found another brand new one in 2005 in a shop. Then bought four more.
But I chose Sloan. 'Cuz Sloan is rad.

Post by **dots** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:37 am

Punkacc9 wrote:The jag-Stang was my first shortscale but I never really played it.

sorta similar here. i got one new in '97, but the notoriously shoddy setup jstangs shipped with combined with my relative n00bishness caused me to do silly things like change to a lil screamin' demon in the neck and a jb in the bridge. . . i even put sperzel locking tuners on it. i undid all of these mods later (texas special in the neck, stuck with the jb in the bridge, but put klusons back on). once i set it up proper, i really liked it, but i had already gotten a ri comp stang, and i liked it better. then came the toronado. then came the avri jag. shortscales just seem to suit me for a lot of reasons. i've never been one to care much about the weight, and a jag has some great contours to keep it comfy. like i said in the strat thread, i like the extra reach i get on a shortscale, though i have noticed since i've been playing the martin a lot, switching to a jag is a little disorienting at first. it feels like a toy!

Awstin · Post by **Awstin** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:28 am

Squier mini Strats have amazing necks believe it or not. IMHO. I love that 22.75 scale.

holyCATS1415 · Post by **holyCATS1415** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:37 am

Medical Reasons I guess. Fucked up my wrist ages ago on a skateboard, I can play standard scales alright but stuff on the first fret kind of hurts when I have to reach too far.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:08 am

Small body, small hands, teh kurdtz, because my Jaguar turned out to be one (didn't realize at first), etc...

I wanted a Mustang because of Cobain and because I was so small, but they'd just stopped importing them from Japan in '98 and the price jumped from $450 to $650 so I thought "fuck that" before realizing Jag-Stangs were still $450, so I snagged one. I thought it'd be the same thing. It was so dissapointing that I bought a Jaguar ($600) the following year which turned out to be a much better guitar. But as I said, I didn't realize the Jag was a shorty for awhile, I just had always found it to be the flashiest looking Fender since like 6 months before I even played guitar (and my brother would take me to GC where they'd be sitting out with all the other Fenders, looking way more top-of-the-line with all their chrome and switches and shit). And of course there was also a Kurt connection there as well as a shitload of other popular artists at the time (looking as similar to a Jazzmaster as they do, odds are your favourite alt-rocker either played one or the other or an SG/Les Paul).

Me and the Jag hit it off and while I've long since gone with Strats, Les Pauls, Teles and a bunch of other shit (turns out I don't need to play small necks for comfort even though I'm still small and have small hands) the Jag still means the most to me because it was the first time I stopped dicking around buying guitars and actually learned how to play the fucking things a bit more properly.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:37 am

I'm small, have small hands, etc.

It just hit me, reading this thread and looking around the room, that every guitar I own is either a short scale or a Gibson scale, except for one full-scale bass. I can manage it, but it sure isn't comfy, and I look like a six-year-old holding it. I gravitated toward the Super-Sonic when I was 13 and traded up from the 7/8 size student guitar I started on, because it was the most comfortable guitar in the store (and also, let's be honest, TEH SPARKLZ). It took me years to understand, quantifiably, why that was. I picked up a couple of BC Richs in high school when I was trying to be metal. Switching to the Gibson scale wasn't a challenge, but they're a teensy bit wider at the nut than I prefer. My goldilocks neck seems to be a B width.

I feel like I need to own a Strat at some point just because everybody and their dog plays one, but I'm so set in my ways now that I would probably hate the neck.

Freddy V-C · Post by **Freddy V-C** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:26 pm

Pretty much because when I was 13 I saw Josh from The Horrors playing a Jaguar and he looked COOL AS FUCK.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 7:46 pm

Am I the only person on this site that only saw teh Kurtz playing Strats and Univox early on? Granted I didn't have cable to watch videos until the In Utero era and only saw repeats of live shit with him on a Strat, but damn. I thought mustangs were the domain of Mudhoney and Jags were Sonic Youth.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 8:15 pm

my first real guitar was a jagstang(96) i got it used in 99 and it fit like a glove, the only guitar i had before that was a strat copy for like 4 years with a super skinny neck(it was an epi, so it may have been a 24. 3/4 scale) but since i grew accustomed to the feel of the jagstang neck and scale i naturally fell into the world of jaguars and never felt a reason to leave. altho when i built my teleccaster all those years ago i went the exact opposite and did a 25.5 scale just to have something different. something i do not regret since i used it alot for detuning and baritone stuff.

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 8:55 pm

I don't.

Awstin · Post by **Awstin** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:05 pm

The jag-Stang was my first fender

Only because I got it for a killer $300 deal from a local. All original 96 sonic blue. Good condition.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:31 pm

I'd never seen a Swinger before and I bought it because it looked unusual and it was cheap (Â£80). So I voted COOL.

Phil O'Keefe · Post by **Phil O'Keefe** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:09 am

I'm 5'8", with fairly short fingers, so there's definitely a comfort / ease of play advantage with the 24" scale Fenders.

When I was a teenager, and those guitars were still available new, we all kind of looked down on them as "student models." No one wanted to be considered a "student" - at least not once you got to a certain level of playing ability. Partially because of that, like all of my friends, I played Strats, Les Pauls and Telecasters. But as I got older, I realized just how silly that whole position was. They were made in the same factory, but the same craftspeople who made all the rest of the Fender guitars. The materials are generally good, as are the electronics. I can upgrade electronics if I need to, but still have a guitar that feels more comfortable to play. I still have all my full-scale guitars, but I find myself playing my Duo Sonic far more often than anything else - just based on the fact that it sounds great, and plays super-easy. And yes, the fact that it looks cool doesn't hurt in the least either.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:52 am

I always lusted after a Jag from day dot when I seen Cobain playing one obviously. I ended up getting an original Jazzmaster by freak coincidence & it kinda looked more like a Cobain Jag than a standard Jag did with the larger pickups etc.. Over the years, I still wanted a Jag.... eventually got one about 5 years back. In some ways, I had to learn to love it... but with a few amendments, it's awesome. I'm so used to the scale, responsiveness that a Jag brings that I don't feel I need anything else.... I work in a guitar shop, I've tried most things.... looking for the next hit but still come home, and strum my Jag and nothing comes close in terms of feel / sound 'I' can achieve from it. Its become like my favourite slippers. I knows its good points and bad points and can accommodate to suit. It's mainly really fun to play... and the way I've modded it, I can achieve the majority of sounds I could ever wish. HIgh gain / low gain, etc etc.... The Jazzmaster just sits in its case 99% of the time !!!!!!!!

gofive · Post by **gofive** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:13 am

Fell in love with my Super-Sonic first and foremost. I bought it for the looks back in the day. Then fell in love with the Cyclone and yeah.

Now I only do 24 and 24.75 simply because it's what I've grown used too. Change is too scary for me now!

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 4:18 am

I play shortscale, initially, because they look awesome, and I like the soundâ€¦ but I was attracted to the Jaguar and Mustang before I really know what they specifically sounded likeâ€¦ or even that, say, a humbucker sounded different than a single coil, so it's all about the looks.

In terms of playability, I find very little difference between 24", 24.75" and 25.5" scales. I play mandolin through bass, so that degree of variation is pretty small. The tonal differences that I enjoy with shorties like Jags and Mustangs are likely less to do with scale length and more to do with their circuit designs.
That said, I do play shortscale basses as well as full scale, and do find playability differences and some tonal difference there; but then, that's a 4" difference. I think I may prefer the feel of a 30" scale, but, I'm not really sure

the 30" scale on a VI makes it far more playable than if it were 34", but a 30" 4-string isn't much easier to play than a 34"â€¦ but does have a bit more thickness, which works most of the time, but not always.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:58 am

kurdtz

jagstang was my first guitar in 1994.

fender has never replicated the neck sadly

Awstin · Post by **Awstin** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:02 pm

NickS wrote:I'd never seen a Swinger before and I bought it because it looked unusual and it was cheap (Â£80). So I voted COOL.

Whaaaaa? Was this when they came out or did you just get one killer deal?

jculpjr · Post by **jculpjr** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:52 pm

Voted "looks cool" because it's the closest to my reasoning.

I like the duo-sonic and Mustang because of their shapes, pickup configurations and sound and they just happen to be short scales.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:18 pm

I never cared for Nirvana. But I saw Nick Cave and the bad Seeds in 1990 (aged 15) and Blixa Bargeld played an small blue Guitar. Not only did it look damn cool, but it sounded like the Oscar Wilde of the mangled cats. When I had the money some years later I went to a small shop in Wilmersdorf. They had a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster. I bought the Jazzmaster because it sounded fatter.

So I started playing Shortscales when I first bought a CV Duo Sonic and finally that little blue guitar (reincarnated in a MG65 reissue Mustang). I have since sold both, as Teles and Jazzmasters work better for me. Still have that Duo SonicII I bought here, and a Musicmaster Bass. Whenever I play bass it needs to be a shortscale. I'm too slow on the big ones.

Why do you play a shortscale?

Why are you here?