ShortScale.org

Hey all, wish I had a better first post to make, but I'm in a rush to make a purchase and was wondering if anybody knows if a 98 Squier Affinity series Duo-Sonic neck(never new there was such a thing til' I bought it) would fit the pocket of a vintage Duo, Mustang, or short scale from the 60's or 70's. I have no knowledge whatsoever on what changes Fender has made in regards to neck pockets over the years and what is interchangeable with what. I don't even have any tools at my disposal right now to give measurements on the neck dimensions, I'm just hoping that on a longshot someone might have an answer that can get me started on a project with a corresponding build thread once I have some idea of how I can marry this neck to a vintage body with vintage electronics. Thanks a bunch.

will not work with vintage duo /mustang / 24" scale stuff

90's reissues were a conversion 22.7" neck they will work with a strat scale.

In a lot of things I've read, they say that most of the vintage "student model" guitars like mustangs and broncos, etc were available in both 24' and 22.5' scale lengths. Knowing Fender's habit of using the same bodies with minor alterations for different guitars, I assumed that there wouldn't be differences between the short scale and shortest scale bodies, but that the necks would be interchangeable. Isn't 22.7 close enough to 22.5 to fit with just a saddle adjustment?

nope, not close enough, i had a mid 90's 22.7" on my 74 mustang for a while, no matter what i did without actually moving the bridge back a bit further it would not intonate properly past the 8th fret, i was fine with that for about a year, but got fed up when trying to record, or play anything beyond open chords





the necks are what is commonly known as a conversion neck.
other conversion necks are, the current squier cv duo 24" conversion
current run jagmaster 24"
(if you find a 90's vista jagmaster neck it will work as it is a true 24" scale neck)

where the saddles should sit (thanks to mezz) with a 90s duo neck on a mustang/bronco/music master/ etc..

BillClay wrote:In a lot of things I've read, they say that most of the vintage "student model" guitars like mustangs and broncos, etc were available in both 24' and 22.5' scale lengths. Knowing Fender's habit of using the same bodies with minor alterations for different guitars, I assumed that there wouldn't be differences between the short scale and shortest scale bodies, but that the necks would be interchangeable. Isn't 22.7 close enough to 22.5 to fit with just a saddle adjustment?

it's close in length, yes, but the fret placement will be different. because of their respective intended bridge placement they will end at different points on the scale. what I'm saying is.... the vintage are 21 fret and the 90s are 22 fret.

well that kinda blows, looks like I'll have to build my own body to stick the stupid thing on. Thanks for the help and the pics.

errr.... I mean...

Mages wrote:the vintage are 21 fret and the 90s are 22 fret 20 fret.

BillClay wrote:well that kinda blows, looks like I'll have to build my own body to stick the stupid thing on. Thanks for the help and the pics.

or maybe just do some research before you buy random stuff?

This is conjecture, but probably pretty accurate.

The CV Duo and Jagmaster II have necks that give them roughly a 24" scale. The Squier "conversion" neck came into being through the dissatisfaction over the Jagmaster's (first reissue) long scale and its un-Jaguar-ness. So with a shit ton of Jagmaster bodies still left in the factory, Fender switched from the 25.5" necks to the newly designed(?) "conversion" necks that made use of the bodies routed for 25.5" scale necks. I believe the actual scale of the Jagmaster II isn't exactly 24" as that math would never work. Hence, these necks aren't drop-in replacements for Mustangs, Jaguars, Jagstangs, etc.

However, they ARE drop-in replacements for guitars of the 25.5" scale variety (ie Strats and Teles). Although my Jagmaster is long-gone, its neck lives on bolted to a Strat and it fucking rocks!

Sparky wrote:I believe the actual scale of the Jagmaster II isn't exactly 24" as that math would never work. Hence, these necks aren't drop-in replacements for Mustangs, Jaguars, Jagstangs, etc.

no, they are 24" it's just that, being that it was originally designed for a 25.5" neck, the bridge is in a different place in relation to the neck pocket than on mustangs and jaguars. so the frets are going to end at a different point on the scale.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:

BillClay wrote:well that kinda blows, looks like I'll have to build my own body to stick the stupid thing on. Thanks for the help and the pics.

or maybe just do some research before you buy random stuff?

Naw man, this was my research. It's actually a fine neck that I got at a fantastic price with the intent to build my own body for it. I just became curious as to wether or not it could be a drop in replacement for a vintage body, and within these last 10 or so posts I've learned more about it and said guitar bodies than I could find anywhere else on the internet. After I finish one or two tele builds I can go back to trying to figure out just what I want to do with it.

worst case scenario make yourself a killer shortscale telecaster

Not sure if it was clear from the discussion, but the fact that it's a conversion neck means you can use any body with the bridge placed for a 25.5" scale length - so a standard Strat or Tele type body, or a Jazzmaster body, etc etc etc. Lots of options there.

serfx wrote:worst case scenario make yourself a killer shortscale telecaster

That would be a sick ass beast, but I think I wanna go offset for this one, I've been thinking of making a Cyclone Plus with the lace red dually in the bridge and blue single in the neck. Thanks again for all your responses, you guys are going above and beyond with the pictures and measurements!

if you're buying a cyclone body double check to see what the scale length is, if you're building one, do it up, and start a thread in the Guitar Projects, actually any build toss it in there and document the shit out of it..

good luck.
and welcome to shortscale.

cyclones are gibson scale.

if you're making a body, just put the bridge wherever you want to compensate for the scale you'd like.

I'm not gonna buy a cyclone body, I'm just gonna build a cyclone style guitar from scratch to fit the neck. That's how I intend to roll.