27" scale neck

[Arpeggio]

My 1st posting here.  This is something that I've actually emailed Warmoth about.

Here's 5 reasons to make a 27" scale neck

1. Tall guitarists with big hands:  Gibson has created a special oversize LP with a 27" scale for Buckethead who stands about 6'6".  (I'm almost this tall myself)

2. 7 string:  the 27" scale plus the 1 7/8"  or 2" width would make for a good 7 string neck

3. Jazz: Soloway guitars have shown that there is a market for 27" scale guitars using Standard E tuning, with a unique sound that's great for jazz.

4. E-flat or D Standard tuning:  sometimes a vocalist requires that his band tune down a half or whole step for live performance to save his/her voice.  A 27" scale makes E-flat or D (standard) tuning reasonable without too much "slack".

5. Baritone alternate:  A 27" scale has already been proven to work well for Baritone. Fender already makes a few baritones at 27".  It's a good alternative to the usual  28 5/8" bari scale.


Anyone else?

 

[Arpeggio]

Here's some pictures of other 27" guitars:

Soloway:

Fender:

Gibson:

Agile:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Aside from making the profile and all the CNC stuff, a 28.625" scale length fret board with one fret length removed (from the nut side) equals right about 27 inches.  Cool how some of these things work out.  Still the work to produce the program for one of these seems a rather large task.  It would be cool to have another conversion neck, but I understand if it isn't the biggest priority, ultimately sales tell them if it was a good choice.  That being said, I got a 27" guitar from elsewhere and it is pretty fun.
Patrick

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I'm very fond of my Bari-Tele. :headbang1:

 

[swarfrat]

I'm really digging my baritenor. still working out string gauge.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

And my bari-explorer-bucketheadcaster - still in C with 12's.

 

[swarfrat]

I'm in D with 12's, but I think I need to go up/down to maybe 13/D or 14 C#.

 

[TroubledTreble]

I would benefit from a longer neck. I love my Bari but would love a longer scale standard. I tune E flat usually anyway. If a 27 ever shows up I will get one. Great idea !

 

[Arpeggio]

Another...  Ibanez 8 string:
(they also make 27"/26.5" for 7 strings)

According to the Ibanez site (don't have the link) 7 & 8 stringers are also popular among jazz players, not just down-tuned metal.

 

[swarfrat]

I'm intrigued by the idea of an 8 string tuned in major thirds. But parallel fourths kicked my butt for long enough when I started, that I'm not anxious to learn a completely new language that's not even remotely similar to my native language. It is a shame that 99% of the ERG's out there are targeted to mush metal.

 

[Arpeggio]

Ohmygoodnessgracious - look at what ESP has made with a 27" scale.  I guess you could think of it as a 7 string Tele, or better yet, a Bari-Tele that happens to have a high E string attached.

(depending on whether you tune the 3rd string to a f# or g)

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Cool. Thou I would change the pick guard to black as well ... just because ...  :guitarplayer2:

 

[Arpeggio]

That's cool too, but instead of an "all black with EMG's" metal thing, I'd go for something more traditional in a 7 string Tele (with a 27" scale neck) like this:

 

[assman]

i'd also kill for a 30" 7 string option :headbang1:

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

Am I missing something: what's wrong with the 28 5/8" option?  Not saying you're wrong, just wondering if you've tried the current baritone option?  Depending on the tuning, I'd think it could be just about right.

 

[Arpeggio]

One thing I've seen repeated throughout this forum is a reminder that Warmoth's core business is to sell Fender-licensed replacement necks (& bodies).

Well, for whatever business reason, Fender has chosen to make a 27" scale baritone guitar.

So shouldn't Warmoth make a 27" scale replacement neck for it?


Surely there must be some Fender baritone fans who'd want non-Fender-factory options like, say, a fatback profile, jumbo SS frets, ebony fretboard, different headstock shape, etc etc

 

[Cagey]

I suspect it's not a matter of whether anybody would want such a thing, but whether there are enough people who want it to justify setting up for it as a production option. If you're only going to make a few of something per year, the amount of work that would have to go into each one would preclude the ability to sell it at a reasonable price. Each one would be a custom one-off, so you'd have to charge custom luthier prices for it. Then, you've got to consider what resources you have available to do the work, since you're probably going to have to pull somebody off the normal flow to do it. Could conflict with scheduling commitments.

I know they have the ability to make such things, but they're not going to be catalogued. Call 'em up. They'll quote custom work. I asked for an off-book neck some time back, and they priced it up for me. Couldn't have ordered it off the website or even from a single phone call, but they'll do it. It just costs more. So, how bad do you want it, and how badly do you want them to do it?

 

[Arpeggio]

Yep, I'll probably contact them in the new year

One more thought...  In addition to providing a replacement for the Fender 27" baritone, also consider that the 27" scale may be the sweet spot for a 7 string.  Think about it:

25.5" is too short for the low B string (too little tension)
28.625" is too long for the hi E string (too much tension)
27" is just right.


So the 2 biggest reasons for a 27" are probably:
1. Fender baritone
2. 7 string

(with the additional "Soloway" and "players with large hands" markets)

 

[stubhead]

I'd leap on a 27" 7-string. I got into them for a while, but my poor old hands began to complain. Ibanez only makes them with little bitty Wizard necks, and when I made a Warmoth 7, it has the little bitty neck with - 25" scale? It's in the closet somewhere... the main reason I can think they used that scale was so they didn't have to tool up for another truss rod length. The factories making great 7's is the Schecter/ESP combine. This is a 1999 Schecter:



It's my all time favorite slide guitar, the extra string can be either a 6th (C# in open E), or a doubled bottom. Schecter makes good hefty necks and has that market wrapped up. This particular guitar was an attempt to make a "normal" Gibson-sounding guitar. As you said, for some bizarre reason 7's are either heavy-metal bats 'n' skulls type things or really expensive, carved-top tubby jazz guitars. It's kinda retarded - that extra string could be useful in any style, really.

I've had three guitars from Korea made in 1999 with the serial number in gold letters on a little clear sticker and all of them have been really nice guitars, not "for the money" kind of nice, but NICE. One was A DeArmond M75, basically a Gretsch Duo-Jet clone, and the other was a DeArmond Guild Starfire clone. After Fender bought Guild, they turned out a small line of Squiers using up the old DeArmond wood, and I think that's the same factory Fender used to put out the "Robben Ford" Squier clone. Fender has a history of trying out "weird" guitars as Japanese-market Squiers, like the recent run of hollowbody Jazzmasters and Jaguars.

But I would happily lap up a 27" scale Warmoth neck, though ONLY if I can get a fatback or boatneck. Wood makes tone.

 

[Arpeggio]

OK, I thought I had said everything I had wanted to say about this, until I tripped over this:
http://www.guitarworld.com/review-jericho-avenger-long-scale-electric-guitar

They're Jericho Guitars and they call it "long scale" with the intention of being able to handle anything between E-standard and B-baritone. The guitar in the video is tuned to C.

This page has a link to the full Feb 2014 Guitar World article pdf on their website:
http://www.jerichoguitars.com/guitar-world-reviews-avenger-jericho-guitars/

And no surprise, being 27", they also do a 7-string:

And there it is - one more reason to do a 27" scale neck.