Who makes 14-fret short scale Selmacs?

klaatu · March 2008

I am currently playing a Manouche Modele Jazz, purchased secondhand from Rob Brochey, which I dearly love. However, my small hands and stubby fingers are really challenged by the long scale. My previous instrument, a Dell'Arte Sweet Chorus (still for sale), being a short scale, was better suited to my hands, but I missed the extra fret access.

Who makes 14 fret short scale instruments? Shelley Park does have one such model. Anyone else?

Michael Bauer · March 2008

Shelley Park makes a Modele Elan 14, which had a d-hole, 640mm scale length, and 14 frets to the body. I think this is what you are looking for. She does not make an oval hole model with a short scale that I am aware of.

If you have really deep pockets, and can find one, the J.P. Favino Modele Jazz S has a slightly shorter scale (666mm instead of 670, I believe I read, although I never measured it), and a slightly narrower neck (1/16" at the nut, 1/8" at the 12th fret) than your Manouche Jazz. I still play my Manouche Jazz a fair amount, but the slightly smaller dimensions of the Favino neck make it more comfortable for me to play.

Stringswinger · March 2008

Michael Dunn makes a short scale oval hole (Stardust model).

gitpicker · March 2008

John Levoi makes a short scale oval hole guitar. He could presumably make you a d-hole version. Nice guitars too.

Doug

BluesBop Harry · March 2008

Dupont has made some, but they are rare.

Bob Holo · March 2008

Pattenote makes an odd scale - 655mm I think... 13.5 frets to the body... Josh would know - he had one.

Something to consider though - it may not be the scale length that's getting you so much as the neck size & profile. If you're having problems doing thumbover chords then it's likely a neck width/profile issue. But if your issue is that you're doing a lot of stretches - the worst case circumstance you'll run into is if you're doing a 5 fret stretch from the low E to the high E... in other words, diagonally across 4 frets in the first position. The difference in distance between a 670 scale (Selmer) and a 640 scale (Mac) over that distance is just over 6mm. (hypoteneuse of a triangle the length of the 1st-to-5th fret and the height of the E-E string spacing at the 5th fret... it would be a little more than that except that the Mac's fingerboard is wider which offsets it somewhat)

So, if you're doing a lot of stretches, and you're *just* missing them by a little bit, then this might be the issue. Or, if you're used to a truly short scale guitar (some American guitars are ~625mm) then maybe this is a real issue for you because a first position 5 fret stretch would be more than a centimeter longer than what you're used to.

I've thought about this a bit because I also have small hands and I play a Selmer style - and a Busato style whose scale is even longer than a Selmer. It took some getting used to but I'm fine with it now.

richdaigle · March 2008

Del Arte's Tchavolo Model (that's what he played at the DFNW2006)is a 14 to the body short scale Dhole...

constantine · March 2008

Ben Ive owned 2 patenottes, they play like butter.

klaatu · March 2008

Bob Holo wrote:

... Something to consider though - it may not be the scale length that's getting you so much as the neck size & profile. If you're having problems doing thumbover chords then it's likely a neck width/profile issue. But if your issue is that you're doing a lot of stretches ...

Bob, it would be the latter. Thumb-over chords are no problem - I've been doing those forever, long before taking up gypsy jazz. It's a stretch issue. A good example is diminished arpeggios - on the lower frets, those are a real challenge for me, even with index finger and pinky (How did Django do that? Actually, I've seen the films - simply amazing). I'm getting a little more used to the long scale, but it's hard work.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.