Pros vs. cons of short scale guitars?

[newey]

I've always liked the looks of the Fender short scale guitars- Musicmaster, Duosonic, Bronco, et al.) but never played one.

I owned a couple of 3/4 neck guitars in my younger days, and always had problems keeping them in tune- but they were not quality guitars to begin with, so I don't know if that necessarily had anything to do with the scale length or just crappy tuners, etc.

Obviously, if you want to solo way up the neck, not the thing to have, but other than that, are there pros and/or cons to a short scale?

Thinking of a future project here, but some other opinions would be nice before I jump into the deep end . . .

[lpf3]

newey,
one thing is the shorter scale will have looser strings. I think part of the fender "snap' is tighter strings due to the 25.5 " scale. Another thing is smaller frets [shorter reach for us club -fingered old carpenters]. For me the noticeable difference in tone and feel between a 25.5" and a 24.75" definitely inspires me to play differently. I think if you're talking about a 24" or shorter you'll find the difference more pronounced. Probably real easy to play.

[ashcatlt]

I've played exactly 2 vintage shortscale guitars - a mustang and a musicmaster - and enjoyed playing both of them. Taking into consideration the "budget" features they were actually quite a treat to play.

I'm not prepared at this time to write an essay on the pros/cons, just stopped by to say I like them.

I'm curently trying to figure out how to explain to my wife that I need a shortscale guitar that I can keep in Nashville tuning. I thought about buying her one (she doesn't play) for that one dude's birthday... (you know, with the fat guy) ...except we don't celebrate...

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm trying to convince her that I need a Nut Extender.

[newey]

LP-

the shorter scale will have looser strings

But does that equate to going out of tune quicker?

And Ash-

Nashville tuning

Haven't ever heard that one, I assume you're talking about an alternate tuning for slide, but what's the scheme? Open A? And why would the scale matter?

trying to convince her that I need a Nut Extender

Several punch lines come to mind, but I think I'll just leave that lay there, not gonna touch that one . . . ;D

[ashcatlt]

Nashville tuning is easiest described as the same tuning as the second set of strings on a 12 string. The low strings are strung and tuned an octave higher. I actually often will string the the low E an octave above that.

I don't have any good reason why the scale matters for that. Just feels right to me.

[lpf3]

Well, the only comparison I can make about tuning stability is between my tele & my Epi ,the Epi's scale is .75 shorter with no tuning issues. Seems to me knockin off another .75, like a jag or jazzmaster, wouldn't make any difference as far as staying in tune. Imagine a 12 string set with only the higher octave strings & y'all got Nashville tuning. It's still E A D G B E only the 1st 4 strings are an octave higher. It's commonly used to double rhythm guitar parts for recording . If you listen to country, southern rock etc. you've heard it a million times, kinda back in the mix, just to add some fat y'understand. Don't know what a short scale would add to this except maybe not to break those tight strings? Obviously I haven't learned to start new paragraphs while typing yet but I'm workin on it

[crazymanandy]

There's no reason a short scale guitar should not hold tune as well as a longer scaled guitar. If it does not hold tune, the source of the issue is somewhere else.

Why do you say it would be hard to solo up the neck? Are you referring to the shorter fret spacing?

CMA

[crazymanandy]

ashcatlt said:

I don't have any good reason why the scale matters for that. Just feels right to me.

That sounds like a good reason to me!

Since your up-tuning, it probably helps to start with less tension (i.e. a shorter scale length).

[newey]

CMA-

Are you referring to the shorter fret spacing?

Yes. And fewer of them.

[crazymanandy]

Fewer frets? I thought most Gibsons had the standard 22 frets? And since it's your own project, you can have as many frets as you like. The shorter fret spacing didn't seem to deter all those classic rock players. I think you'll be ok.

CMA

[ashcatlt]

Little frets doesn't stop any of those mandolin pickers either!

[newey]

Well, I talked originally about the Fender short scale gutars, not Gibs. The original Duo-Sonics and Musicmasters were 22.5" scale, 21 fret necks. Later in the 1960's, they could be had with either that, or with a 24" scale w/ 22 frets (a Mustang neck).

My first guitar, a 3/4 neck MIJ cheapo, had a grand total of nineteen frets.

But it sounds like the consensus here is that there shouldn't be tuning problems if properly equipped, and I'm hearing more pros than cons on playability, so maybe that is a future project in waiting. I've always kinda liked the narrow-waisted body style of those guitars,

[mlrpa]

On my Peavey T15, with 23 1/2" scale and 23 frets, I never had any issue with the smaller frets in the higher registers. The spacing is what boggled me. I'd reach for the 15th fret, and accidently hit the infamous 16 1/2 fret. (Yep, the dreaded "H" note.) String tension pretty much felt the same. But never had a tuning issue.