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Topic: Modifying Stringmaster scale |
Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 6:43 am |
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OK, put down the pitchforks please, I'm just curious from a theoretical perspective at this point!
So, I have a 24.5" scale Stringmaster. Given the style I'm pursuing and the fact that my other steels (lap and pedal 400) are shorter scale, I wonder if I should have waited for the short-scale version to come along...
But its a great instrument, if a bit worn (it's a player and has seen replacement parts). I got to thinking...would it be possible to carefully remove the fretboard...store it somewhere...install a new 22.5" fretboard, assuming they are available custom...and simply move the nut??
I get that it is probably inadvisable for a variety of reasons, and have zero plans to do this...just curious if it seems like a sound method for converting it to short scale. Obviously you'd have two new holes for the new nut position and you'd really want to measure right...it would lessen angle slightly at the nut, but maybe acceptable?
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 7:37 am
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| The first thing I would do would be to measure 22.5" from the nut and see if there's room for the bridge to scoot up that far. If so, you could use longer machine screws and springs for the bridge and see how it sounds. It won't sound the same as a short scale string master though, just because the bridge will be much closer to the pickups. Better advice would be to trade for a short scale. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 9:09 am
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I wouldn't think of butchering up a Stringmaster like that!
If you want one with a 22.5" scale buy one, but leave the 24.5" scale one alone!!! 
Erv |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 9:38 am
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Ha, yeah, I apologize for thinking of it in a totally-theoretical-not-going-to-hurt-the-guitar-I-promise sort of way! 
My thinking was that it might be significantly reversible...use the same holes for the fretboard nails (just at different spots at the fretboard). The only unreversible change would be two added holes for the nut mounting screws...which would be covered up by the original fretboard after re-mounting. This guitar has already seen some mods, trust me. There's even a message scrawled in the finish, from some former owner! 
-not that I'm thinking of doing any of this-
Maybe I'll just get used to the longer scale. It sounds nice, just feels wrong...my problem is I started on a lap steel that is a surprisingly short-scale (20.5") and have spent most of my practice time on it...maybe I need another lap steel of longer scale just to get me used to normal scale, although with a Fender SM T-8 and a 400 within a few months of each other, going to be a hard sell with the Better Half...anticipate her reaction a bit like that final scene in Hunt for Red October with the exasperated NSA talking to the Soviet ambassador:
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 9:41 am
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I'm sure you could find someone to trade with.
Erv |
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Brad Davis
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 10:21 am
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| I think the problem would be the pickups in the way and/or not in the right position. Stringmasters are not exactly plentiful, but they are available. Would be better to wait for and sell or trade for the scale you want. Or give the longer scale a chance. I like it, and 24.5 is more moderate than 26. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 10:24 am
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I have Stringmasters in all three scales and have no problem playing any of them.
Erv |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 10:37 am
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| Please don't hack an original. Rather, buy another one in the scale length you want. |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 11:39 am
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I'm guessing the new nut would be about where the 2nd fret is? If so, how about a steel guitar capo at the 2nd fret (or wherever the measurement works out to be)?
Another solution (unless you use open strings) would be to tune the guitar down a step so you are playing further up the neck. Playing around the 10th fret on a 24.5" guitar will feel pretty much the same as playing around the 8th fret on a 22.5". |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 12:10 pm
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Hmmm...going to have to research the capo idea. Would be a simple fix (and probably a lot cheaper than replacement fingerboards). Thanks! Any product suggestions?
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 2:40 pm
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Outstanding capo. Should work fine on a Stringmaster. He'll make them custom length if needed. |
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Chris Scruggs
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2018 4:33 am
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| Just get a short scale guitar. There are certainly enough of them out there., you would end up with really floppy string tension and strings that jump out of the nut grooves due to the long string length between the nut and tuners, not to mention going to way more trouble than just finding a short scale and selling the long. Put it up as a "looking to trade" in the forum classifieds and see what happens! Pedal players tend to prefer 24.5 guitars so you might find a happy arrangement! |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 30 Jan 2018 10:20 am
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Before I give anybody else heart palpitations, I officially retract my idea! 
I might eventually trade out, although I am terrible at turning loose of instruments [wife glowers at me] and I think the simpler solution at this point is to try to adapt to the longer scale and get a "practice" lap steel with a 23-25" scale to help with that adjustment...
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Chris Scruggs
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2018 2:16 pm
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| If you are seeking a Jerry Byrd type approach and plan on using a lot of bar slants, don't bother trying to adapt, you'll need a 22.5 guitar. 24.5 guitars are great and work wonderfully for many players, but it's a different animal. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 31 Jan 2018 8:40 pm
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| Chris Scruggs wrote: |
| If you are seeking a Jerry Byrd type approach and plan on using a lot of bar slants, don't bother trying to adapt, you'll need a 22.5 guitar. 24.5 guitars are great and work wonderfully for many players, but it's a different animal. |
Alan Akaka's signature model from Asher guitars is listed at 24" scale. He definitely went the Jerry Byrd approach, learning from the man himself. Now, I'm no Alan Akaka, I grant you
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2018 1:01 am
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| You can just cram some...thing under there where you want to. I use, skinny bars, brass rod, if you buy an aluminum three-sided architech's ruler, cakewalk. Adsolutely no harm done, draw up your own fretboard on some sturdy poster board. It's YOUR guitar, this whole preservation stuff is nutty. There are people with closets FULL of this stuff, they're going to die and the house buyers just throw the stuff out. Worshipping gods is weird enough, I don't need to worship OLD BOARDS. |
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Chris Scruggs
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2018 4:39 pm
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| I believe that guitar has a wider string spacing which compensates for the angle of your slanting on a longer scale.. With the Fender string spacing you'll want a 22.5 guitar. |
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Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 2 Feb 2018 11:43 am
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| David's idea of an architech's ruler seems doable. You could get one of George Boards peal and stick 22.5"fret boards, cut it to size, and mount it on a piece of thin plywood. You could tape it over your original fretboard thus giving you the 22.5" scale without butchering a classic instrument. |
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