ShortScale.org

Guy over at HC found this at a yard sale for $75. Says he's going to give it to his 7 year old son.















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because it's a child's guitar, obviously.

stewart wrote:because it's a child's guitar, obviously.

Well, it was, both by intent and predominant realized use. Or more accurately an adolescent's guitar, 7 year old is a little precocious. Basically it was a guitar of choice for many a 9th grader's garage band, back in the day when this was made.

Later some people decided y'know actually this sounds pretty good, and some people "never grew up", have small hands & arms hence prefer the short scale. But when the thing was made, it was indeed obvious, as marketed, that it was an adolescent's guitar.

lots of items are marketed as one thing or another. there's no real physical reason why it WAS a child or adolescent's guitar, only the price it had in the catalogue and the adverts that were used to sell it.

it has the same scale length as a jaguar, which was top of the range in the mid '60s, and was built using the same materials as the rest of the fender range at the time. don't get me wrong, i'm glad the hermetically sealed cedarwood cabinet crowd think they're inferior, as it means people like me can still afford to buy them. i just find it amusing when i see tonehounds writing them off with nary a backwards glance.

Lucky him!

And how some guitars just get sexier with age ? That's pretty . Very pretty.

Rox wrote:And how some guitars just get sexier with age ? That's pretty . Very pretty.

uh, it's clearly been sanded down.

stewart wrote:lots of items are marketed as one thing or another. there's no real physical reason why it WAS a child or adolescent's guitar, only the price it had in the catalogue and the adverts that were used to sell it.

I could agree if you said there was no reason it was ONLY suitable for adolescents. But there certainly were physical reasons why it was disproportionally attractive to adolescents, and for parents buying for adolescents. Besides being cheaper- which mom and dad cared about quite a bit- these guitars were lighter, shorter scale and had weaker pickups than the "adult" guitars all their heroes were using. The Jaguar was the sole exception, regarding scale length only, and frankly that guitar fell out of the limelight very fast, in part for that very reason. Basically, it was a flop. The truth is, most adult players with bigger hands do not really prefer the short scale. I do myself, but most don't.

If the guy wants to get a guitar for his kid, doesn't it make sense that he get him a relatively light, short scale one, where the kid can more likely actually pick the thing up and reach the frets? And wouldn't you agree that this one is a better instrument than most of whatever else he would be able to get the kid for comparable money?

Now your point might be that the guy might well consider it for himself to play too, and this I wouldn't argue. But that does not diminish the point that it is probably a very good choice for his kid, better than most, for real, physical reasons IMO. Several years from now, anyway.

Mages wrote:

Rox wrote:And how some guitars just get sexier with age ? That's pretty . Very pretty.

uh, it's clearly been sanded down.

Which still adds to it's appeal. Shows history ....

MMPicker wrote:

stewart wrote:lots of items are marketed as one thing or another. there's no real physical reason why it WAS a child or adolescent's guitar, only the price it had in the catalogue and the adverts that were used to sell it.

I could agree if you said there was no reason it was ONLY suitable for adolescents. But there certainly were physical reasons why it was disproportionally attractive to adolescents, and for parents buying for adolescents. Besides being cheaper- which mom and dad cared about quite a bit- these guitars were lighter, shorter scale and had weaker pickups than the "adult" guitars all their heroes were using. The Jaguar was the sole exception, regarding scale length only, and frankly that guitar fell out of the limelight very fast, in part for that very reason. Basically, it was a flop. The truth is, most adult players with bigger hands do not really prefer the short scale. I do myself, but most don't.

If the guy wants to get a guitar for his kid, doesn't it make sense that he get him a relatively light, short scale one, where the kid can more likely actually pick the thing up and reach the frets? And wouldn't you agree that this one is a better instrument than most of whatever else he would be able to get the kid for comparable money?

Now your point might be that the guy might well consider it for himself to play too, and this I wouldn't argue. But that does not diminish the point that it is probably a very good choice for his kid, better than most, for real, physical reasons IMO. Several years from now, anyway.

you really feel that there's a significant difference between 24" and 25.5" scale guitars? i own both and switch between them without even noticing, and i have small hands. also, my duo-sonic II doesn't have weaker pickups than my '66 jaguar by any means. if anything it's the better sounding guitar of the two.

anyway, i see your point(s), i'm not militant about it, you just took a facetious comment and went all explanatory on it. no biggie.