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Changing scale

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:35 am
by GreenCustom24
Hey guys. You're probably getting tired of all my project idea posts... Haha Got another one. Should be an easy answer though! Just can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for online somehow...

Just found out about the Squier Bullet Mustangs. I'm very intrigued and want to buy one to mod the crap out of it. At first I had the idea to just do the basics. New bridge pickup, tuners, etc. But then I thought more about it. I've wanted a Strat scale Mustang for a long time. This seems like a great opportunity to do just that. I know the neck will (should) fit just fine in the pocket... but obviously the bridge needs to be slid back a bit.

The big question I have is how much? Pretty sure I already know but I just want to be 100% sure. Since it's going from 24" scale to 25.5" (1.5" difference), I only need to move it back half that distance, correct? The neck length takes care of the other half? So I should only need to re-drill the mounting holes 3/4" back from where it is stock?

Re: Changing scale

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:40 am
by Fakir Mustache
GreenCustom24 wrote:The big question I have is how much? Pretty sure I already know but I just want to be 100% sure. Since it's going from 24" scale to 25.5" (1.5" difference), I only need to move it back half that distance, correct? The neck length takes care of the other half? So I should only need to re-drill the mounting holes 3/4" back from where it is stock?
Yeah, if you can find a 12 fret neck, but I've never seen a strat neck with only 12 frets.

Actually if you have a strat body, just measure that. You shouldn't have to re-drill the mounting holes.

There may be some drawbacks, the lead pickup with sound bassier (which may or may not be good, depending on personal sound preferences), and it might get a bit neck heavy.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:52 am
by GreenCustom24
If there's a joke in there about a 12 fret neck, I'm totally missing it. Ha

It's just my understanding that the bridge only need to be moved half the difference when swapping necks/scales.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:06 pm
by Fakir Mustache
Not a joke, if you only had 12 frets on the neck and then there was the body joint, the 12th fret is the middle distance.

Basically the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret is the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge, but you need to add a couple mm more for intonation.

Measure on another guitar to see what I mean.

Re: Changing scale

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:05 pm
by Shaguar
GreenCustom24 wrote:
The big question I have is how much? Pretty sure I already know but I just want to be 100% sure. Since it's going from 24" scale to 25.5" (1.5" difference), I only need to move it back half that distance, correct? The neck length takes care of the other half? So I should only need to re-drill the mounting holes 3/4" back from where it is stock?
Yes.

Re: Changing scale

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:20 am
by GreenCustom24
Shaguar wrote:Yes.
Thanks dude!

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 9:13 am
by Fakir Mustache
10 ? "I MUST STOP HELPING NOOBS! ";
20 GOTO 10

RUN_

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 10:22 pm
by Shaguar
The easiest thing to do would be to attach your 25.5 scale neck to it then measure 25.5" from the nut to locate the new bridge. It should give you 3/4" as you've already concluded.