Short scale gypsy guitar

Charles Meadows · September 2014

Anyone know if any of the higher end Gypsy guitar luthiers make make a shorter scale guitar (like 640mm)? Just curious. I have always loved short scale acoustics. Not a 12 fret model though.

Michael Bauer · September 2014

Charles, a Patenotte 260 is a 14-fret short scale guitar. It's was a gaudy thing, but mine sounded really good. I never measured it, but my recollection is that the neck was a bit narrower than a Selmer oval as well. Really easy to play. At the lower end of hand-made guitars, but still a hand-made guitar, and clearly better-sounding than the Asian stuff I have heard by a good bit.

Michael Bauer · September 2014

Michael sold mine 2-3 years ago. I just checked the video, and he said the scale was 245mm. It's on YouTube, so you could hear what one looks/sounds like.

Michael Bauer · September 2014

Duh! Make that 645!!! I should watch what I am typing!

crookedpinky · September 2014

I recently bought this little beauty which was listed as being made in 2004 by an amatuer French luthier however the label states "Rest. Hannier 2001". When I did some research it became clear that Msr Hannier restored this guitar in 2001 rather than building it from scratch. Given the neck shape and looking at the contsruction I believe it's a late 50's/ear;y 60s copy of a Di Mauro Sweet Chorus. Anyway, the point is it's a 14fret 640mm scale length - so they were made/do exist. I know that both Dupont and Killy Nonis have recently produced their own versions of the Sweet Chorus and I'm sure Killy - or any luthier - would/could build a short scale 14fret model, after all you're paying and they're looking for business. The only two things that bug me about this guitar are that the tuners turn the wrong way and the 9th fret marker rather than a 10th but I can a) change the tuners and b) can live with the 9th marker.