Standard Conversion Neck on a 7/8 body

[MajorMattMason]

Has anyone successfully mated a standard (tele or strat) 24.75" scale "gibson conversion" neck to a 7/8 body?
This seems like an ideal hybrid: smaller body but with a 24.75" scale "f-style" neck.
I know that the recommended "authentic-looking" pairing is with a Jaguar 24" scale neck
but the 24" scale is too small and that Jag headstock looks too large for my taste.
I also realize that the scale differences would move the pick up and bridge locations
and I'm wondering if this could be accomplished with a universal pickup rout for the body
and then a "no bridge rout option" so it can be routed afterwards with the correct scale positioning.
Would really appreciate your thoughts and experiences!

 

[vetteman]

No experience with that, but I like the idea! 

 

[stratamania]

It will not work.

Unless the position of the bridge is moved it will not intonate which I think you know. But it likely would need to move forward to where the pickup routs are.

A couple of simpler suggestions. Get a 7/8 neck with 24 frets or get a body blank with the bridge, neck pocket and pickup routs you need and cut the outline shape and contours yourself.

https://www.warmoth.com/Pages/CustomBody.aspx?style=49

 

[MajorMattMason]

"It likely would need to move forward to where the pickup routs are." (my edit)

Darn! .... uh, I mean thanks Stratamania!
This is exactly what I was trying to determine. I thought that with the longer scale neck, it would somehow "split the difference" between the neck being longer and the scale being longer,
so the bridge might possibly end up in close to the same place.
But if the longer neck moves the bridge position into the pickup routs -
well, that's a non-starter! 

 

[stratamania]

I have not spent the time to work it out exactly but it will move.

The bridge needs to end up twice the distance from the nut as the nut to the twelfth fret. Give or take any compensation that is needed for certain bridge types.

 

[Fat Pete]

The bridge on Warmoth's 7/8 series (and 24" scale Fenders) is 0.83" closer to the nut than 25.5" scale Fender spec guitars.

 

[Archie Macfarlane]

The musiclander body is a little smaller and will take a standard neck/gibson coversion neck

<shrugs shoulders>

 

[stratamania]

The musiclander body is a little smaller and will take a standard neck/gibson coversion neck

<shrugs shoulders>

Not everyone might like the shape of it.

 

[MajorMattMason]

The bridge on Warmoth's 7/8 series (and 24" scale Fenders) is 0.83" closer to the nut than 25.5" scale Fender spec guitars.

Aha! Thank you! That is really useful. With the bridge being almost an inch closer to the nut with either a warhead 7/8 neck or a fender 24" scale neck, the bridge mounting position with a standard fender 25.5" scale (or "gibson conversion") neck would get pushed back (farther away from the nut) right?

In this case I don't know by how much, so that's why I proposed the idea of ordering a body with a universal pickup rout .... but NO bridge rout, so the bridge rout could be done once the correct mounting position is determined. My thought behind the universal pickup rout is that a.) none of those individual pickup routs would be in the right places anyway with the scale change, b.) it gets most of the routing done in advance, and c.) someone else took most of the wood and weight out for you!
Does this sound reasonable so far?

My guess is that the "universal" pickup rout would then need to be extended at the bridge end because the bridge location is getting pushed back to accommodate the longer scale, yes?
Who cares about additional routing when you're building your dream, right? 

So, next question, will there be there enough real estate left at the tail of the body to have that bridge far enough back to intonate correctly but still be in a good, relatively comfortable playing position? I feel like there would be but I will defer to your experience and wisdom on this.

Guys, I really appreciate your comments so far and look forward to your responses. Thanks!

 

[stratamania]

The bridge on Warmoth's 7/8 series (and 24" scale Fenders) is 0.83" closer to the nut than 25.5" scale Fender spec guitars.

Aha! Thank you! That is really useful. With the bridge being almost an inch closer to the nut with either a warhead 7/8 neck or a fender 24" scale neck, the bridge mounting position with a standard fender 25.5" scale (or "gibson conversion") neck would get pushed back (farther away from the nut) right?

Guys, I really appreciate your comments so far and look forward to your responses. Thanks!

It would get pushed back most likely. There are a number of measurements that are important.

Just for fun, here are some diagrams showing a scale length, bridge, neck join = |, 12th fret & Nut. You then have frets that have to be laid out correctly. Unless you have all elements considered simply moving one is not guaranteed to get you there.

Which of these is the same and which would work together if mixed?

  Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut
Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut
Bridge-----------------------|----------12th---------------------------------Nut
            Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut
  Bridge--------------------------|----------12th------------------------------------Nut
  Bridge--------------------------|------------12th--------------------------------------Nut








Let's take the first two of the above. But line them up and they are the same.

Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut
Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut

Now let's say they are both a 24 3/4" scale like a 7/8 or a conversion neck has. (not to scale)


Bridge--------------------|-------------12th---------------------------------Nut  conversion 22 frets
Bridge---------------|------------------12th---------------------------------Nut  7/8  24 frets

After looking at these simple drawings above the 22 frets neck put on a 7/8 if would mean the bridge was too close to the nut and would need to move away from it rather than as initially speculated. So perhaps it can be done but it needs careful planning, is not guaranteed and may look a bit odd in the end.

If you have not watched this video it might be worth watching as you can see the different neck blanks etc

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLBquv-OD4
[/youtube]