ShortScale.org

good morning shortscalers!

i´m pretty new into the shortscale topic!
right now i´m playing stratocaster style guitar from german guitar guy
günther eyb and a framus mayfield with 24.75 scale.
lately i ordered a "squier mini" with 22.75 scale. and of course this thing
sounds crappy and the body is pretty small.
but really unfortunately i had to find out that playing on that small neck is
much more easier to me than on standard stratocaster scale neck!

my thought is to put up a stratocaster style guitar with 22.75 neck.
but i don´t know if:
-it depends on the scale length if the guitar stays in tune or will easily detune
-if its possible to build a neck with 22 frets
-and put that neck into comfortable possition that you can play easily on the
higher frets (cause i heard the shorter the neck the more it go´s into the body)
-and maybe if there´s a body out there that is bigger than that one of fender or squier mini strats.


would be really great if somebody could help me with these questions or has some hints for that project!!!

thx a lot folks!!

nik

you could keep an eye out for a mexican or squier duo-sonic. this kind of thing:

stewart wrote:you could keep an eye out for a mexican or squier duo-sonic. this kind of thing:

For me the pic shows "Account inactive"

for me, too!
but thx for answer anyway!

really? i can see it plain as day. black 90s duo. ah well, just search 'duo sonic' on google images and one will crop up.

huh, works for me.

It may be a browser issue. I'll try Firefox when I get home.

so anyway, thx for answering!
but has somebody any idea about this:
i don´t know if:
-it depends on the scale length if the guitar stays in tune or will easily detune
-and put that neck into comfortable possition that you can play easily on the
higher frets (cause i heard the shorter the neck the more it go´s into the body)
-and maybe if there´s a body out there that is bigger than that one of fender or squier mini strats.

cheers,

n!k

N!K wrote:i don´t know if:
-it depends on the scale length if the guitar stays in tune or will easily detune

i don't think it will affect the tuning, but you'll probably need reasonably heavy strings (11s or 12s)

N!K wrote:-and put that neck into comfortable possition that you can play easily on the
higher frets (cause i heard the shorter the neck the more it go´s into the body)

i think that's more likely to happen with conversion necks, like the ones on the duo sonic reissues. true 22.75" necks should be ok (although someone might want to confirm that)

N!K wrote:-and maybe if there´s a body out there that is bigger than that one of fender or squier mini strats.

again, look at duo sonic/musicmaster bodies. you can find refinished or stripped vintage ones on ebay fairly often, fairly cheaply. i got a '62 body for about 80 euros a few months ago.

stewart wrote: i don't think it will affect the tuning, but you'll probably need reasonably heavy strings (11s or 12s)

yes i thought so! and maybe good mechanics and tremolo of course have its influence on that

stewart wrote:i think that's more likely to happen with conversion necks

what is conversion neck? my dictonary translates this word with not fitting things...?

stewart wrote:again, look at duo sonic/musicmaster bodies. you can find refinished or stripped vintage ones on ebay fairly often, fairly cheaply. i got a '62 body for about 80 euros a few months ago.

ahh, alright! now second time i got it:)im gonna try to get a body like this!
by the way: i´d like to know what size has the tremolo on it? i mean, measured from lowest to highest string?

thanks a lot stewart! this helps me coming further with this project!!
i ask a guitar builder to make me a neck. and he wanted to have 480€ for it...this is bit too much i think...

a conversion neck is designed to change the scale of the guitar without modifying the body. for example, a guitar with a 25.5" scale length could have a conversion neck fitted to make the scale length 24".

not sure what it is you're asking about the tremolo.

thx stewart!!

i definetly search a neck where the frets are more close to eachother.

guess a conversion neck has this if i understood the concept.
but what about other shortscale guitars without conversion neck?is then only the body smaller?
mmh...sorry for asking, but i do not really know how to figure that out only by
pictures on ebay & etc....yeah, maybe by counting the frets...
around here in my part of germany there are not a lot vintage or rare kind of stuff
guitar shops. strictly speaking: none...haha;)
so i cannot try all those things....

cheers!!

Where to begin..............,

I have a Squier mini strat bought here in the states, and the pickups are no worse than any squier strat of any size, so while it does not sound great it certainly doesn't sound like crap..........maybe the ones available in europe are different. In any case, pickups can be swapped.

For what it is, that it sounds like you want, I would simply make a slightly larger body and use the neck from your squier mini, if it has a sound neck. I wouldn't use a full size body as it would be greatly out of proportion and look pretty weird, not too mention heavy.

A good place to start would be to trace your current strat body, then trace the mini strat body inside of that, then draw between the two, keeping the best dimensions of both. A decent approach would be to get a full size strat off ebay ( there are some with decent pickups and you would have all the electronics and a full size pickguard to cut down ( and a trem). Just don't try to cut down the body, use a blank.

As for the trem, the reason most 3/4 scale guitars don't have them is the sensitivity. If your used to really wanging on a trem, you'll have to relearn how to use one. It takes a lot less to get the same sound from a short scale. A friend of mine wanted a wilkinson trem and locking nut on his 3/4 Les Paul and I installed them. It was a major job and the trem arm was too long and was right over the volume when in use. I made a new arm for it, slight shorter and with a crook in it that did the trick. The shorter arm also made it stiffer and a little harder to use which wasn't a bad thing, as it reduced the sensitivity with the shorter scale.

As strings, I use 10s and 11s on mine, depending on the mood I'm in. My friend started with 12s on his mini LP but switched to 11s once he was used to the trem

hey dave,

thanks a a lot for your answer!
yes, maybe it looks really stupid to put a 3/4 neck on a full sized body.
right now i am on the ebay way to get me a vintage neck there and then....mmh, get me
a smaller body!
actually i wanted to send this squier mini back to the shop. but i still have it, cause its so
much fun with that neck!
right now i play 11s on it. but i fear that i have to put 12s on it because the low e-string always
goes out of tune if i hit it a little harder...

That problem with the high "E" may just be the string trees, I replaced mine with rollers and haven't had tuning problems since


sorry, my idiot ass just noticed "low E string" The strings may need stretching some more before they stablize. I have a quick method for that. My son is a bass player and when I change the strings I just let him bang it for a couple of hours.........lol. They stay in tune just fine after that

yibeyy,

so i decided to keep that squier mini strat and will only replace the mechanics, nut and tremolo....and this is gonna
be my backup guitar than...
i was about to ebay me a ´64 neck....but me dumb axx fell asleep cause it was for my german time 04:00 ....
but i will get one...im sure!
im not sure what to do with the body, yet....i cannot make the size smaller by myself cause it will look like a flying V than....haha...
mmmh, lets see....

b.t.w. who tells me that i vintage body is a vintage body?
there are no dates on....
so its just about trust?