ShortScale.org

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Look into used Fender Duosonic, Cyclone, Musicmaster guitars for cheaper alternatives to the Mustang. Last I looked, CIJ Mustangs could be picked-up pretty cheap, so why not save up?

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What the living fuck.

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Reign it in a bit, wow. You posted your question in a section for short scale Fender guitars. One would assume you would read this and not post it anyway. Sucks you had a guitar stolen too, can't imagine that happening to me again, it's awful.

So what exactly is the problem with the Squier Mustangs or Duo-Sonics? I seriously can't think of another shortscale under $300 that isn't a clunky piece of crap. Unless you want a Washburn Hannah Montana model, they are OK, but not as good as the Squiers.
Seriously - you are looking for the Squier Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic or a used MIM Fender Duo-Sonic.

If you don't want to spend Fender Mustang money then Matthew's right, the Squier Mustangs and Duo-Sonics are probably your best bet.

When you say you found the Squier VM Mustang "bulkier", were you talking about the body or the neck?

There are also the two types of Squier VM Jaguar: the traditional styled one and then the HH version:



I think Epiphone make a 22" scale Les Paul (called the Express) if that's more your bag but, Fenders/Squiers aside, there aren't that many decent but cheap shortscales about.

Oh, and a lot of Jagmasters are 24" scale too (some are 25.5"). A non-Vista one shouldn't be too expensive.

Plus there is the Super-Sonic but I doubt you'll find one of those for cheaps.

Short scale, cheap
Behold the LAGUNA!!!


Non-Fender

I wonder if one of those CIJ not-Fender-Japan clone brands (I'm reluctant to call them 'knock-offs' because quite a lot of stuff from Ibanez and Tokai are good quality in their own right) do anything similar. I've seen Bacchus (a Deviser subsiduary brand) do variants on the Fender designs - I had my eye on a gorgeous shortscale J-style bass but they seem to do limited runs and their old site is hard to navigate with Google Translate, and isn't updated very often.

I'll be back over there in a few weeks, and might see if I can find another one of those Bilinda-stangs*.

*the Mustang with a Jag/JM trem. It was CAR and would've caused all manner of aggro at the airport, so I decided against it.

Wow, nailed it!

Concretebadger wrote:the Mustang with a Jag/JM trem. It was CAR and would've caused all manner of aggro at the airport, so I decided against it.

Last year I flew back form Japan with THREE neck-off guitars in my suitcases. And this year, two Telecasters the same way, also from Japan. It's not at all a problem, the combined value was under the import limit for Australia, anyway.

timhulio wrote:What the living fuck.

+1

Yeah, what the fuck.

Buuuuut....

The cv duo sonic is THE BEST GUITAR IN THE WORLD EVER, so feel free to take this advice.

Is this non-fender enough? It's certainly short enough scale.

Where oh where did bittersweet go?

timhulio wrote:What the living fuck.

The Silvertone 1478 is cool and has it's own style .. 24scale , twanky and has a Bigsby . As for light? Not Mustang light but pretty light .



Danelectros and Silvertones are pretty short in scale and not bulky and certainly light .. Just just have to try various models to see which fits you .
Gretsch Electromatics like the G5434 , G5400 , G5425 and G2220 can be had for cheap.. More medium scale but you can get around a fretboard like a shortscale ..
The guitars mentioned can be had BRAND NEW for under $500US . Just over half of a Stang . Used you can get far cheaper . And if you're worried about image you won't look like a retard with any of these .. Pretty respectable pieces .

yeah dude you could find a silvertone 1448 for like 300/400 on a good day if you hunt for it. get dem BECK TONEZ and they're shortscale. not to mention vintage style points. one pickup, volume and tone. things are awesome. been on the hunt for one forever.