bobouz Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 If a capo were placed on a 24.75" scale guitar, at what point would the playability become similar to the feel of a 23.5" scale Byrdland? Two or three frets up maybe? I have not played a Byrdland, and am quite curious about the shorter scale's impact on reaching notes on the fingerboard. To gain a perspective of this without having one in hand, it seems that capoing up on the board could give a similar effect, and I'm wondering where the ideal placement might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JO'C Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 If a capo were placed on a 24.75" scale guitar, at what point would the playability become similar to the feel of a 23.5" scale Byrdland? Two or three frets up maybe? I have not played a Byrdland, and am quite curious about the shorter scale's impact on reaching notes on the fingerboard. To gain a perspective of this without having one in hand, it seems that capoing up on the board could give a similar effect, and I'm wondering where the ideal placement might be. I don't think a capo will be able to simulate it. It is a question of string tension as well as fret spacing. I've been gassing for a Byrdland myself. I do have a 1957 Fender MusicMaster that has a 22.5" scale. When I switch from a normal scale guitar to this one it takes a few minutes to get used to the fret spacing. The great thing is that you can do extreme bends like Albert King or SRV with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I'd have thought a capo at the first fret would get you closest. If I were looking at a 23.5" scale guitar I'd probably notch up my string gauges a step to compensate for the drop in tension due to the shorter scale. Like JO'C, I have more experience of the 22.5" Fender models, a pair of Duo Sonics in my case. I love them but the first one I had was always a pain to set up and intonate accurately without very heavy strings, which I didn't like the feel of. Eventually I switched to a very different tuning, somewhere between tenor guitar and Robert Fripp's New Standard, and loved it so much I bought a second. I quite like the idea of setting one up tuned a few steps higher than standard pitch as well. Great little guitars, definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 JO'C has it right the fret spacing would not be stimulative of a short scale guitar. like a Brydland. and there *IS* a difference, absolutely.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 JO'C has it right the fret spacing would not be stimulative of a short scale guitar. like a Brydland. and there *IS* a difference, absolutely.. Thanks for the info & thoughts. Yes, I understand that simply capoing up will not accurately simulate the overall playability of a shorter scaled instrument, but right now all I want to do is find out how much my fingering reach might be impacted by the 23.5" scale. In measuring from the bridge, 23.5" would lop off about 3/4 of the first fret on a 24.75" scaled guitar, so probably capoing no more than the first or second fret would create a reasonable simulation - I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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