Pros & Cons of Short scale (650 mm or less) vs Long scale (670 mm or more)

gumby705 · September 2023

PS add Luthier David Webber's to the list of Warm sounding short scaled D holed Maccaferri guitar ( warm at least to my ear')

Their is an example of a 2008 David Webber D hole 650 mm scale.

Are my ears hearing this correctly?

https://www.djangobooks.com/Item/webber-d-hole

Buco · September 2023

@gumby705 most modern guitars that I've played have overtones, sweetness if you will (different than the natural reverb which can really be unpleasant). Ultra dry, quick decay instruments are more of an exception and you really need to look for them more than the other way around.

Yes, short scale, 12 fret guitar, short scale guitar will have the bridge further back. But I haven't heard that this impacts its tone on its own. Or the other way around. It could be, I just haven't heard it come up in the conversation. Guitars in this genre are all over the place when it comes to bass, treble or mids. Especially oval hole. I always shake my head when I read articles about these types of guitars, usually written by people who don't play this genre, and the way they pigeonhole and describe how these guitars sound and how they're played etc.

Recently, @adrian released his first album and it has a fair amount of finger-picked guitar and it stood out to me in a nice way that it sits so comfortably being played that way. I assume it's all his Holo.

Well experienced luthier can certainly control the aspects of sound and tone to some degree. But even then the results aren't exactly the same. Just go to a large guitar store and try the same model Martin, Taylor etc...

The only certain things are these guitars (if made well) are loud. Usually D holes do have the airiness where oval hole is more forward focused. If your hands are healthy, they're easy to play in any scale if they're set up well. The neck shape affects how easy/hard it's to play more than a scale I think.

That's it, wish I had a joke...

Buco · September 2023

Oh, AJL and Baumgarner (but not always) guitars have torrified spruce tops. I talked to Craig B and to him it's just another way to make the instrument. It brings different tone but it's not the only way.

Russell Letson · September 2023

To hear some Dunn guitars, put "Dunn" into the search box at the top right corner of this (or any) page. You will get a list of our host's demo videos of a range of Dunn instruments. (You can also find a bunch of YouTube videos if you Google "michael dunn guitar"--some of them of Michael Dunn himself playing.

gumby705 · September 2023

I'd love to try all the guitars the people have suggested first hand but when you are a physician in an underserved area of Florida it is hard it leave town and fly to Seattle , New York or Boston.

Unfortunately there are nothing but bigbox guitar stores in my area. That is also the case for the majority of the Southeast with the exception being Nashville or Maple Street guitars in Atlanta but little in the way of Maccaferri styled guitars. There are a few Django players in New Orleans, but they likely have to travel to get quality instruments.

I will make it to Djangofest or Django in June hopefully soon. I am just starting my guitar quest and would like to thank everyone for their help getting started.

My only question is: are there dealers and/or luthiers with their instruments to sample at Djangofest or Django in June.

Maybe someday we can have a Winter Djangofest in Florida. Do not come in the Summer. It's way too hot in Summer here.

That is what the beaches, lakes and fresh water springs in Florida are for.

ivyguitar · September 2023

What are you playing now?

gumby705 · September 2023

I presently have D hole Gitane John Jorgeson. (model DG320). It is a little overbuilt (like a tank) and has a long 680 mm scale, but it has a nice neck angle. It gets the job done and I will likely keep it even if I upgrade with a second instrument. I like the Jorgeson's long scale for soloing, and neck runs but I am also 65 years old and at some point, long chord reaches might become difficult. I also like the attack and strong fundamentals that long scales guitars provide, but I am looking also for something a little sweeter in tone and for chording/ comping and chord soloing. (with a pick and or fingernails) Something that sounds leans towards a traditional archtop guitar if you dig in but warmer like a classical guitar if you play softer. I know this is asking a lot from a single guitar, but I heard guitars modeled after some of the early Selmer 12 fretters do this. I hope all my rambling makes some sense.

Jangle_Jamie · September 2023

You could consider a guitar with solid wood back and sides, which in my experience gives a less brash/harsh sound, and can be sweeter and woodier depending on the wood used. My De Rijk is solid Australian fiddleback blackwood back and sides, and what it lacks in volume, it more than makes up for in sweetness and character. I have three laminated maple back and sides guitars, and they're all loud and unforgiving. I quite like that, but they are certainly not subtle in tone and volume.

paulmcevoy75 · September 2023

If you can get yourself to Django in June next year, you'd have the opportunity to play all sorts of guitars. I should be there with a few of my own and Craig and Josh Greenberg always bring some. Plus tons of old guitars.

I'm not as experienced as those guys but I'm sometimes dubious about saying that a certain sort of guitar sounds significantly different from another sort...I think even the best luthiers have a lot of variation in sound between guitars of the same model (they might all sound good but each one will be different) and that variation might be more than the expected variation between different types of guitars (12 vs 14 fret, scale length, etc).

What I think is a clear thing is the change in feel between scale lengths and body sizes, I really experienced that notably when I played a Gibson electric after playing Fender guitars for a long time...all of a sudden things became easier in certain ways. My feeling is that if a guitar feels good, it's very very likely to sound really good to the player.

I plan on experimenting with some shorter scale models in the Spring, so far I've only made 670mm guitars. So I will see for myself.

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/115665#Comment_115665