A look at short scale guitars

Shibby

New member
Speaking of "short scale" I mean shorter than standard Gibson scale. I've found two axes that sounds interesting on paper but I've never seen them in person or played them.
First one is Fender Musicmaster/Duosonic with 22,5" scale and the second is Rickenbacker 325 with its 20,75".
I know that some people here like to play duos, mustangs and jags like Dangly but i really got to know if anyone have ever played that shortscale Ric, any opinins?
Also if you know cool shortscale axes let me know:)
 
Re: A look at short scale guitars

As for the REALLY short scale (student 22.5" or 3/4 scale) Fenders, I've played an early 65 Mustang and a more recent (actually 22.6" I believe) Duo RI...

Honestly, they feel a bit more cramped but unless someone has either REALLY big hands, or unshakeable preconcieved notions/unwillingness to adapt, there isn't much you can't do on the 22.5" scale...

Though in the end on those axes I'd prefer a 24" scale at almost any point. Nearly all of the 22.5" scalers have the thin A nut width which can be a bit cramped, probably more people will encounter a problem with that than the scale (though I believe those newer duos are quite a bit wider...)

Strung with 11s they don't feel overly floppy, and the sound is nice (though perhaps that's just because it was a 65 Stang in general... Though the Duo gave a nice sound too)

The cheap way to get into these is probably the MIM duo reissues (though the new ones are 24"), but actually on those axes it's the body, not the neck that makes them feel like toys... it's even smaller than a normal Duo body.

Keep in mind that on just about any Fender axe which is 22.5", you can swap on a 24" neck without problems (though because a few strange varieties of 24" scale neck have been made, I won't say the reverse is true, but generally)
 
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