ShortScale.org

newbies first post...recent (not really) re-convert to short scale guitars and basses seeks counsel:

just purchased a squier late 90's duo sonic on ebay. waiting sucks so making plans what to do when she gets here...

my first (loaner!) electric guitar back in the mid-seventies was a beautiful little mustang--never new her year though. I've wanted one forever but I have more of a squier budget because i have poor control over my GAS and GMS (the M is for Modding) tendencies (my wife says...).

Based on as sweet relationship with my not-yet-too-modified squier bronco bass (cosmetic refinish down to wood and pickguard so far...), I bought the 22.7 duo planning full well on adding some sort of tremolo/vibrato (let's avoid the technicalities). Don't like the idea of a bigsby on a pretty little duo, but either the mustang or jazzmaster "looks" like a good idea....

Plan includes lipstick pickups (artec, gfs, or tog) and down to wood refinish. I tend to have finished all my electrics (all squier but one) with an ebony stain and satin lacquer with white pearl guards but migrating to black guards on everything slowly--matches the black dots on maple squier necks (which i love) very nicely. (it sucks to be marginally OC and have GAS/GMS)

Definitely going for vintage and surfy...not afraid to rout and refinish...

I have scoped out some possible components on Ebay, GFS, and TOG that look like they might work either way...but haven't bought anything else yet (gonna have to sell some other "long" guitars and now-no-longer needed parts first)

Would trade promise of pictures as I mod her for any sage advice, opinions, or ideas...especially from anyone else who might have travelled down a similar path.

revroy

sell it and buy a mustang.

Gfs has a nice surface mount trem, styled like the old harmony trems. that's as far as I'd take it if even that far, putting a Tom or something on their to allow for it is just way more effort than pay off.

I had one, great little guitar and to me the limitations are part of the charm. I did replace the bridge with a toranado bridge to make it a string thru for sine extra string tension which these are desperately lacking.

Granted I also put a 24" conversion neck on it and a jaguar control play so my advice on limiting your mods is more do as I say, not as I do.

endsjustifymeans wrote:Gfs has a nice surface mount trem, styled like the old harmony trems. that's as far as I'd take it if even that far, putting a Tom or something on their to allow for it is just way more effort than pay off.

I had one, great little guitar and to me the limitations are part of the charm. I did replace the bridge with a toranado bridge to make it a string thru for sine extra string tension which these are desperately lacking.

Granted I also put a 24" conversion neck on it and a jaguar control play so my advice on limiting your mods is more do as I say, not as I do.

amen on the do as i say not as i do thing...

i had given thought to making it a string-through instead. i'm planning to do the same thing to my bronco bass with a musicmaster bass bridge. I'm really planning for this to be my regular playing-out guitar instead of my strat and will probably have to do whatever it takes to come up with a trem/vibrato. That's kind of what makes it fun though...figuring it out then butchering it then figuring out again how to make it look good and work right...and then, if all goes well, having one person say "that's kinda cool, never seen one like that, but why didn't you just buy a mustang or a jazzmaster or just play your strat?"

revroy

I'm not 100% sure about this, but wont the body be too thin for a Jaguar tremolo?

TheBurbz wrote:I'm not 100% sure about this, but wont the body be too thin for a Jaguar tremolo?

i'm kinda wondering about this, too. I read another post on the subject elsewhere, maybe somewhere else here, and it turned out that it was thick enough with or without shortening the spring tension bolt, but i'm not sure there is that much consistency with body thickness from fender to squier (or from squier to squier for that matter) and it may have been an aftermarket body, so i can't wait to get it to measure and figure. This may be a deciding factor, although i've seen at least one example on a forum where it was done. If I can find it again, i'll post the link just for giggles and arguing's sake.

of course the next fun part will be finding out the dimensions on any available trem. it seems ebay (or most parts websites) for some reason doesn't require dimensioned technical drawings of parts so things like this might be simple to figure out...nor are squier (or fender) dimensioned drawings readily available. If anyone knows a source of either please let me know. One would think someone out there doesn't like mad scientists like me chopping up guitars and creating aberrations of factory guitar nature...

revroy

Are you thinking about my Mustang?

the only picture I have of it is a group shot.

portugalwillie wrote:Are you thinking about my Mustang?

the only picture I have of it is a group shot.

It could have been. That is just pretty sweet looking. Thanks for the post. Any fears I had of how the Jazzmaster trem would look on the stang/duo body have just faded into oblivion.

do you still have the mustang bridge under there or did you change that to the jazzmaster one as well? I notice you put the buzz stop on so had to wonder which bridge.

revroy

The body was hand built. It is not a Fender Mustang body. The bridge is a jaguar bridge . . . I've always liked those better.


People swear by the mustang bridges but I've found that it doesn't help the strings falling out of the saddles. Maybe I just strum way to hard.

or you haven't filed the grooves down. jaguar and jazzmaster bridges are the same, IIRC, and they're behind the mustang bridge in terms of out of the box playability. the jaguar one that was on my jag was shit even filed down. i finally had to change it out, and haven't looked back.

I never had a problem with my first Jaguar (after I filed the bridge a bit)

but when I play your Jag I knock the low E string out all the time.

HAMFIST.

tbh, that might be those shit strings i warned you about. i've got a set of 11's to throw on it that i'll give ya next time we slam some high life in a parking lot somewhere.

haha, I'm looking forward to it.