Shortscale to Long scale convertion (?)

#23
Will_White said:
You can do the same thing that you do but in reverse, the same math that makes it easy to convert the longscales to medium and short scales makes it simple to convert a short scale to a long scale, you just have to deal with the extra neck dive and having the pickups in the wrong spots.
Click to expand...
Yes, but the math is the easy part.

Functionally, to convert a 30" neck to 34" without moving the bridge, you would add two frets to the existing design AT THE HEADSTOCK.

Technically, you would end up around 33.7" scale.

You can do the math here:

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com

Understanding that, the important questions are:

1. How much might it cost?

2. If a direct-swap existed, would anybody buy it?

My guesses are:

1. Too much.

2. No.

The problem is the market is limited by the number of 30" bodies using identical pocket and bridge specs vs. the absolute proliferation of 34" OEM builds in every style and configuration that are built with an industry standard neck pocket and bridge placement.

The 32" conversion neck is only of interest because there are so many 34" "standard" bodies out there and the 32" OEM options in that scale length are VERY limited.

A 22 fret neck should work.
Click to expand...

I just did the math on that, and I think you are right:

30" scale: distance from nut to 20th fret = 20.551"

34" scale: distance from 2nd fret to 22nd fret = 20.75"

Since you would probably need to enlarge the pocket a bit anyway, tweaking the heel inset a little is very doable.

According to Warmoth, P Bass® Deluxe, J Bass® Deluxe, P Bass® Special, P Bass® "Lyte" are 22 fret necks.

You may be on to something.

;)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Will_White and JustForSport
#24
BeeTL said:
Yes, but the math is the easy part.

Functionally, to convert a 30" neck to 34" without moving the bridge, you would add two frets to the existing design AT THE HEADSTOCK.

Technically, you would end up around 33.7" scale.

You can do the math here:

Fret Position Calculator | stewmac.com

Understanding that, the important questions are:

1. How much might it cost?

2. If a direct-swap existed, would anybody buy it?

My guesses are:

1. Too much.

2. No.

The problem is the market is limited by the number of 30" bodies out there with a "standard" pocket and bridge placement vs. the absolute proliferation of 34" OEM builds in every shape and size.

The 32" conversion neck is only of interest because there are so many 34" "standard" bodies out there and the 32" OEM options in that scale length are VERY limited.



I just did the math on that, and I think you are right:

30" scale: distance from nut to 20th fret = 20.551"

34" scale: distance from 2nd fret to 22nd fret = 20.75"

Since you would probably need to enlarge the pocket a bit anyway, tweaking the heel a little is very doable.

According to Warmoth, P Bass® Deluxe, J Bass® Deluxe, P Bass® Special, P Bass® "Lyte" are 22 fret necks.

You may be on to something.

;)
Click to expand...
Yes it's definately not something you would want to do with an existing neck, although C extensions do exist on DB so a similar thing could work for extending the scale on a BG, but with bolt on necks the question becomes why.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BeeTL
#25
Turnaround said:
The longer scale neck will have wider fret placement. That means that the distance from the nut to the 12th fret will be longer than a short scale. The bridge must be located at a distance from the 12th fret that is equal to the distance from the nut to the twelfth. Since that nut-to-12th distance is longer, so the 12th-to-bridge distance must also be lengthened. Thus the need to move the bridge back. Otherwise everything but open strings will be out of tune, getting worse as you go up the neck.
Click to expand...

What he said lol...
 
  • Like
Reactions: BeeTL
#28
I don't know why all the references to the 12th fret....
It's only the distance from the nut to the G saddle that matters.
If you can't move the bridge (and saddles), then a neck with 34" scale mounted so the nut is 34" from the G saddle is all that's req'd.
Measure it out, and see if a 22 fret or 24 fret neck will sit far enough into the pocket, then make the pocket fit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BeeTL
#33
I plan to do the same to a slammer by hamer sb-04 bass. i researched that it's a 30 1/2" scale so i dont know if i would want to move the bridge to back side of the bass and string it that way when having a 34"scale
 
#34
jim_dragons said:
I have a squier jazz shortscale bass and i want to convert it to longscale (i dont care if its worth it right now). Will this happen just by changing the neck to a longscale one or do i have to do more things to it?
Click to expand...
The nut and saddles need to be roughly equidistant from the octave harmonic point/12th fret. If you put a longer neck on it, you're going to have to move the bridge outward, as well. By 2" or so. (assuming going from 30" to 34")
 
#35
Yeah I plan going from a 30 to a 34 scale next to impossible for me to play the g string past the 17th fret for certain songs so I figured a full scale neck conversion would be a good idea
 
#36
JustForSport said:
If it's a 30" scale bass and you're going to 34" scale, and the bridge cannot be set back farther, you'll need a 24 fret neck to seat the neck heel into the pocket far enough.
Click to expand...
Don't confuse the number of frets with the scale of the neck. A 24 inch neck made for a 34" scale bass will not work without moving the bridge.
 
#37
Maybe I was just really lucky, but I mated an early 90s mim jazz neck on a no-name short-scale body. The neck butt fits nicely in the neck pocket, but I had to drill new holes in the neck. I did the measurements first and had to move the bridge all the way to the back edge of the body, but the intonation is fine.

It ended up being a great bass, body and neck sound great together. The only reason I even considered this was because I took this neck off a different, regular jazz body parts bass 'cause it sounded meh. I replaced the neck with an '03 American jazz neck with the stabilizer bars inside and that bass then sounded fantastic, big improvement. So I had this mim neck and short body and thought I'd give it a go.

Neck dive was a big issue, but since the bass sounded good I went ahead and upgraded to Hipshot ultralite tuners, now it balances perfectly, then I put in Bill Lawrence pickups and the electronics from a Lakland. Now the bass sounds great, and i've got a full scale bass that only weights about 7 lbs.

The pickup locations are a little non-standard I suppose, but it seems to be a non-issue (the pickups are 'magnetic field' pickups, that may help).

Anyway, it can be done... not sure it'd be worth it for the OP, in my case I think I got that body for like 20 bucks...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back