Shorter than Short

Guchot · Post by **Guchot** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:25 am

Good morning everyone

Thank you for adding me to the Forum. I'm here to look for Guitars with a scale that is shorter than short.

But first, let me introduce myself. I'm a 47 Years old Male, from Cologne, Germany. I started playing the guitar with 44 years of age. I stopped it because, don't know why, I can't spread my fingers wide enough to handle a normal scale. And please, don't say ist all practice. I even consulted a doctor and he said the same.. I can't do it. So I switched to Ukulele. Much shorter Scale, a lot easier to play.

But, a few month ago I came across a very Cheap Jack & Danny Brothers Guitar in Tele-Style with a Scale of 22". I bought it for 99â‚¬ and was really happy with ist. It's not possible to play it in Standard-Tuning (at least not with the original strings), so It tuned it to ADGCEA, which is a familiar tuning for me, due to the Ukulele

I can play this little Baby better than any Guitar I ever had my Hands on. But I have two concerns. First, the Tele is due to the two SingleCoils a little limited to certain types of Music. Second, my Mini Tele is made more or less as a Toy or Kiddie-Guitar. So I'm afraid it will fall apart sometimes.

So here is the final question *drum roll*. Does anybody know Makers of Guitars with a scale of 22" ? Doesn't matter if Vintage or New. I know that there is actually a Ibanez with that Scale on the Market, but I don't like the Style. And I know Rickebacker, but don't know how to find the Money to get one

My favourite would be a Les Paul Mini and I found that Epiphone has one. But this is not avaialable in Germany so far and what I've seen on pictures looks very "toy-ish" to me.

Any hint is apreciated

Regards from Cologne, Germany
Guido

PS: Please excuse my clumsy english, it's not my native language.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:33 am

If you don't mind 22.5" or 22.75", there's the 1990s Fender and Squier Duo Sonics, and also the new Squier Mini Strat.

There's also some vintage Fenders and Gibsons, but they'll be expensive.

If you want a nice mini Les Paul, try Lotus or Firefox, not so easy to find. Also they have a 19" scale.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:43 am

vintage duo-sonics, musicmasters, and mustangs can be had with 24" or 22.5" necks
24" on the left ------------ 22.5" on the right

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:50 am

this was my 1998? Squier Duo Sonic. I sold it to ArgyleLewis 4 years ago. hopefully he still has it.

this one is 22.2" i think

if you have the ability to order from Japan, you can get the new ReIssue in many color options, while we here in america get baby puke yellow.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:21 pm

Yep, Duo Sonics can be a cheap buy too. The only thing I would say is that the MIM/Squier ones have a relatively wide nut, which is a actually as much a factor in finger stretching as the scale (I know: I have tiny hands and have tried every variation). The vintage Duo's are likely to ve a bit smaller in the nut and all up the neck - this is absolutely a benefit for all hand related problems!

NickS has a Fender Swinger that he kindly let me play and that was 22.5" with a small nut and it was the easiest neck I've ever played.

The Squier/MIM duos are cheap enough second hand to try them out thou, and then maybe save up and try and fine an old Fender one?

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:40 pm

Fender Japan make those "Smart Size" strats too. 22.5" scale (I think):

LANK

cur · Post by **cur** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:16 pm

Ibanez MIKRO 22" I know you mentioned you didn't like the style, but putting it up for others to see.

Stagg J200 18.5"

Laguna LE50 22.75"

sx RST 1/2 23"

The laguna and ibanez have normal sized nuts and the stagg one has a more narrow nut. I personally like the wider fretboard on them because it makes them easier to play.

Golden_Sonic · Post by **Golden_Sonic** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:07 pm

If you're searching for a short scale guitar, I recommend you a Squier Classic Vibe '50 Duo Sonic, a very nice and reliable guitar at a ridiculous price; the matter is that it has been discontinued so you have to buy a secondhand one: here in Italy the price for an used Squier Duo Sonic is around 200/250 â‚¬ but, with a little luck, you can find it for a lower price.
I would also suggest you the Squier Vintage Modified Mustang but I don't know if you can find its neck as reliable as that of the Duo (Squier Mustang's neck is a little chunky, but I think that it is comfortable too).
As last resort, you can try a SX 3/4 Stratocaster, look for them on Ebay.

cur · Post by **cur** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 4:10 pm

I think the OP was looking for shorter than 24" scale. But the SV duo neck is very comfortable and easy to play. Really nice neck.

My favorite guitar is my SX 24" strat. I put a jagmaster conversion neck on it, heavy steel trem block and tex mex fender pups in it. then used a 100 volume pot and 250 tone pots. the thing sounds great and is rock solid. So basically I just used the body by the time I was done with it. But their (SX) 24" conversion necks are nice and have a narrower nut than the jagmaster neck I used.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 4:14 pm

I'd say Duo Sonic too !! Ideal for your needs.

bluesngrunge · Post by **bluesngrunge** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:46 pm

cur wrote:Ibanez MIKRO 22" I know you mentioned you didn't like the style, but putting it up for others to see.

Stagg J200 18.5"

Laguna LE50 22.75"

sx RST 1/2 23"

The laguna and ibanez have normal sized nuts and the stagg one has a more narrow nut. I personally like the wider fretboard on them because it makes them easier to play.

Holy shit I wanna do an metal on that stag!

Leisureclub · Post by **Leisureclub** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:02 pm

Guchot wrote: I stopped it because, don't know why, I can't spread my fingers wide enough to handle a normal scale. And please, don't say ist all practice. I even consulted a doctor and he said the same.. I can't do it. So I switched to Ukulele. Much shorter Scale, a lot easier to play.

I'm in a similar boat. I'm scale limited because of an elbow injury that won't allow me to pivot it at all.

I would recommend seeing if you can stretch to 24" scale. If you can, it will make buying cool guitars much, much easier. I can't go that far, but for me a lot of it is dependent on how the guitar sits or hangs. The instruments nut can't go any further left than shoulder width for me. In theory, I could play anything and just push the bridge farther to the right but in practice it doesn't really work.

Most of the bases have already been covered. I own an example of the bulk of most Fender's posted so I can comment further if it seems needed.

I will add that there are a bunch of 3/4 scale Rickenbacker's and they're typically very comfortable.

BearBoy wrote:Fender Japan make those "Smart Size" strats too. 22.5" scale (I think):

I've got one, measured it when it came in the mail and it was an odd, random number IIRC. Something between 22" and 23". I could be really wrong and misremembering too though. I love the guitar acoustically but the bridge rail pickup is absolutely garbage and teh single coils are only slightly better. Guitar sounds like it's being played through a tin can.

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:23 pm

Leisureclub wrote:
BearBoy wrote:Fender Japan make those "Smart Size" strats too. 22.5" scale (I think):
I've got one, measured it when it came in the mail and it was an odd, random number IIRC. Something between 22" and 23". I could be really wrong and misremembering too though. I love the guitar acoustically but the bridge rail pickup is absolutely garbage and teh single coils are only slightly better. Guitar sounds like it's being played through a tin can.

They quote it as 285mm on the Fender Japan website. Fender Japan quote half scale lengths for some reason so the full scale length is 570mm (22.44").

That's assuming that the specs on the website are accurate.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:25 pm

robroe wrote:this was my 1998? Squier Duo Sonic. I sold it to ArgyleLewis 4 years ago. hopefully he still has it.

this one is 22.2" i think

I had it 3 years ago and sold it after a year? I think.

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:45 pm

I think the Rickenbacker 325 c58 is 20.5".

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:53 pm

Even smaller is the Mandocaster. They are also making reissues for a fraction of the cost.

h8mtv · Post by **h8mtv** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:04 am

I love my ibanez mikro.

Leisureclub · Post by **Leisureclub** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:26 am

BearBoy wrote: They quote it as 285mm on the Fender Japan website. Fender Japan quote half scale lengths for some reason so the full scale length is 570mm (22.44").

That's assuming that the specs on the website are accurate.

That sounds right. I specifically remember wondering if either the neck or body would be compatible with anything else and realizing that they're not. Mine is the sunburst with the maple fretboard. It really is a pretty cool guitar but doesn't really sound anything like a Stratocaster. I didn't expect it to, and honestly I'm not sure what I expected. A friend of mine moved out there and he owed me some money so I had him send me one of those instead.

aen · Post by **aen** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:13 am

It seems like those 22.2" scale duos used to be everywhere, and pretty damn affordable on shortscale. That would be my first recommendation. Of course it used to be you could snag a super short scale vintage duo sonic for not-crazy-money, but I have a feeling those days are over, unless Nick has given up on his...

cur · Post by **cur** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 4:53 am

h8mtv wrote:I love my ibanez mikro.

I like them to, but the first one I ever picked up at GC had fret ends so sharp when I ran my hand up the neck I got slashed like with a razor blade. But the neck was great and the width was perfect me. Ever since, I check for sharp fret ends before playing a new guitar.

Leisure, you ever think of playing lap steel? Can you move your shoulder like that?

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