Short Scale Guitars and Ergonomics

I am very pleased to find so many people and websites devoted to guitar design; particularly ergonomic guitar designs. But, despite the many new and different designs I see most guitars still have the same ‘ol standard scale lengths. I’ve been meaning to address this for a while, but I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write. Not that there is a great deal that needs to be said. This isn’t a treatise on guitar design. It is simply an argument in favor of more experimentation with differing scale lengths.

All the creative cutaways, and light weight materials in the world more make a 25.5″ scale guitar easier to play if you have very small hands, or arthritis. Also, if you are the kind of player who spends a great deal of time playing complex jazz chords, then the longer scale length can cause a great deal of stress on your hands. If you spend all day playing power chords or solos high up on the neck then it may not matter to you. I’m the former…not the power chord playing latter.

There aren’t many commercially available guitars with short scale lengths. Most of the ones that do exist are extremely short and poorly made childrens guitars. Then you have the Fender Jaguar, Mustang, and Jag-stang, and the Gibson Byrdland. Thats about all of the short scales that I can think of that you might (and thats a big “might”) be able to find in a guitar shop or on ebay.

The Fender models are 24″ solid-body single coil guitars. The Mustangs can occasionally be found for around $700.  The Jaguar is in excess of $1,100.  Jag-stangs can’t be found at all.  The Gibson Byrldland is a Jazzbox with a 23.5″ scale. That is extremely hard to find and can cost several thousand dollars. Epiphone does make a “cheaper” version of the Byrland at $2,000. As you can see finding a quality short scale guitar is not easy. Being able to afford one may be even harder. And if you aren’t keen on 60’s era vintage guitar design then you are out of luck.

So, designing and making your own is a good alternative….assuming that you have a woodshop, specialty tools, and a few board feet of hardwood. Otherwise it may cost you the same to build one as it would to buy an existing design.

I’m waiting for a guitar maker to start producing a few other short scale guitars, but I think I may be waiting for a while. If it doesn’t look like a fender or a gibson or doesn’t have jumbo frets on it, then good luck finding it. Major guitar manufacturers aren’t keen on producing a guitar that may not sell so they stick tightly to the same formula that has worked for decades. Guitar players and manufacturers are by thier nature very conservative when it come to instrument design. This is another area where bass players have once again proved that they are more flexible than thier six string counterparts. Bass designs continue to evolve and luthiers and even manufacturers don’t have an issue with changing the scale length of thier bass guitars. Most new basses are getting longer scales, but a few are getting shorter. Stanley Clarke often played short scale basses. So, did Paul McCartney. The designers of short scale basses have learner how to use quality components, woods, and design elements to minimize any potential issues that would arise with shorter length instruments. Guitar designers could learn alot from them.

Check out Shortscale.org for more information about short scale guitars.