Warmoth 24 3/4 Conversion neck

[RonD]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone here has tried or owns one of these.
As I get older, , I find I'm having more and more difficulty, specifically, pain when I play my 25 1/2 scale guitars.

I'm thinking I'd like to try this on one of my Teles.

Opinions?

Cheers, Ron

[coolvinny]

Nope, but I thought about having the luthier who built my jazz tele (2nd hand) build me a conversion neck. The cost was high enough to get me to consider other options. I ended up buying the NeckUp Mini ($40) to put it into a better playing position and I think that reduced the strain on my wrist more than a 24.75" scale neck would have. You can see my thread on the subject if you'd like or PM me for more info. I had to take almost a year off guitar due to wrist tendon issues, so I definitely feel your pain.

[va3ux]

Originally Posted by RonD

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone here has tried or owns one of these.
As I get older, , I find I'm having more and more difficulty, specifically, pain when I play my 25 1/2 scale guitars.

I'm thinking I'd like to try this on one of my Teles.

Opinions?

Cheers, Ron

There's another fairly well known guitarist in Toronto who uses a Tele as his main jazz axe and he has conversion neck on it (24 3/4" scale). If you send me a PM I can get you in touch.

[Bill C]

I had a 25" conversion neck from USA Custom Guitars on a Tele style guitar - worked very well. If I was building a Tele again I'd go for 24.75".

[Pierrot]

To me, 25 1/2 is too much, but 24 3/4 is not enough...25 fits perfectly. Maybe you should try before making your own opinion.

[rgiaccio]

I have a Warmoth tele with a 24.75 conversion neck and it works perfectly.

[RonD]

Thanks guys. I knew I'd get good response here.

[helios]

Originally Posted by RonD

Thanks guys. I knew I'd get good response here.

Hello,
I was never fond of a 25.5" scale (my main guitar is a 23.5" scale Epiphone Byrdland). I always liked the Gibson L5S, so I got a Warmoth L5S body with a 24.75" conversion scale. It plays like any other 24.75" scale guitar I've ever owned (Gibson SG, ES-175). I'm very pleased with the conversion! Cheers, Jeff

[RonD]

Originally Posted by helios

Hello,
I was never fond of a 25.5" scale (my main guitar is a 23.5" scale Epiphone Byrdland). I always liked the Gibson L5S, so I got a Warmoth L5S body with a 24.75" conversion scale. It plays like any other 24.75" scale guitar I've ever owned (Gibson SG, ES-175). I'm very pleased with the conversion! Cheers, Jeff

Wow! Jeff, she's beautiful!
I feel the GAS comin' on!

Thanks.

Cheers, Ron

[oldane]

Originally Posted by RonD

As I get older, , I find I'm having more and more difficulty, specifically, pain when I play my 25 1/2 scale guitars.

Instead of a new neck with a little shorter scale (after all 24.57 is not that far from 25.5) you may consider your playing technique. Maybe you are using fingerings which put unneccesary stress on your fingers. Sometimes chords can be slimmed down - have fewer notes in them - and will even sometimes benefit from it. If you play with others in an band, you don't have to play all the notes yourself. The root is taken care of by the bass and the higher extensions is often played by the pianist (and if not, they are not absolutely necessary. In fact ony two notes are needed to characterize the chord as major, minor or dominant - the 3rd and the 7th. The rest is icing on the cake, depending on the situation. Of course, solo work calls for a fuller style than big band comping. Barry Galbraith always recommended easy fingerings to his students, as easy fingerings make a more fluid playing style possible. It's also easier to have a good voice leading with smaller chords. Finally, smaller and easier chords make it possible to raise the string action, which will give greater dynaic range and a cleaner sound.

Now, that said, I have good (albeit limited) experiences with Warmoth. I put a solid body guitar together from Warmoth parts, and it plays and sounds very well. If you want to go for a shorter scale, by all means try a Warmoth neck. It's so easy to swap necks on a Fender. You may want to consider the "Angled Strat" neck version with the tilted head (like other guitars, but unlike Fender) as you will avoid the string retainers. String retainers are added friction points for the strings, which may have an adverse affect on tuning, especially if you bend strings. I chose an "Angled Strat" neck for my guitar and haven't regretted it. You can have Warmoth make your neck to your preferred specs (within limits) as far as nut width and fretboard radius goes now that you are at it (many jazz players like a 1.75" nut width and the flatter 12" radiused fretboard).

[jzucker]

Originally Posted by va3ux

There's another fairly well known guitarist in Toronto who uses a Tele as his main jazz axe and he has conversion neck on it (24 3/4" scale). If you send me a PM I can get you in touch.

joey goldstein? He had many problems with his.

[RonD]

Jack, tell me more...

[jzucker]

Re: 24 3/4" conversion necks? any experience?

i think he ended up with a usa custom guitars neck

[RonD]

Wow! Thanks Jack.
I need to re-think this.

Cheers, Ron

[jzucker]

why do you want the conversion neck in the first place?

[RonD]

Originally Posted by jzucker

why do you want the conversion neck in the first place?

Hi Jack,

As stated above, I'm experiencing some tendon issues when I play my Strat or Teles. Doesn't seem to happen when I play my 24 3/4 guitars.

I spend 6-8 hours a day teaching, so I am bending a lot, big stretches, etc...

For my own self indulgence, I attempt Jazz at home. No issues with my jazzbox... 25" scale, but I don't approach the instrument quite the same way.

My thinking is, if I don't experience the pain issues on my 24 3/4" guitars, the availability of the Warmoth, or now, USA Custom, seems like an easy fix.
Am I delusional???

Cheers, Ron

[jzucker]

i don't know if you're delusional or not but my guess is that it's not the scale length unless you are doing lots of johnny be good stuff in the key of F and stretching the lick out to the 6th fret.

I have very small hands and used to be a die hard 24.75" player but I now own 3 long scale instruments and have found it to be a non issue. The shorter scale instruments are a little easier to muscle around for fast playing but that's not the strong point of a strat, typically.

[RonD]

Originally Posted by jzucker

i don't know if you're delusional or not but my guess is that it's not the scale length unless you are doing lots of johnny be good stuff in the key of F and stretching the lick out to the 6th fret.

I have very small hands and used to be a die hard 24.75" player but I now own 3 long scale instruments and have found it to be a non issue. The shorter scale instruments are a little easier to muscle around for fast playing but that's not the strong point of a strat, typically.

Thanks for not confirming the delusionality!

Perhaps I need to identify the specific techniques that aggravate this.

Sorry for asking you all these questions, but I've been a "fan" of "Sheetsofsound" for some time. I respect your opinion on this.

Thanks Jack.

Cheers, Ron

[oldane]

Originally Posted by jzucker

i don't know if you're delusional or not but my guess is that it's not the scale length unless you are doing lots of johnny be good stuff in the key of F and stretching the lick out to the 6th fret.

I have very small hands and used to be a die hard 24.75" player but I now own 3 long scale instruments and have found it to be a non issue. The shorter scale instruments are a little easier to muscle around for fast playing but that's not the strong point of a strat, typically.

I could have written that. The original poster used the phrase "As I get older...". I have watched video clips with sevral well known guitarists. It seems to be a tendency that they use less and less stretch and movement as they get older. Watch Bucky Pizzarelli. His fingerings seems almost "hidden". Or compare videos of Freddie Green from the 1940s with videos from his last years. On the early videos he uses a lot of hand movement while on the late ones one can hardly see the change of fingerings - only the hand gliding up and down the fretboard (well a little exagerated, but you get the idea).

Maybe is is just that we develop osteoarthrosis and other age related conditions when we get older. In that case we have to adapt our technique to be efficient with whatever agility and strength we have left. Think of what Django Reinhard could get out of his crippled left hand by adapting his technique (on a 26"scale neck, as far as I know).

In later years, I have stopped reaching for those awkward fingerings. I have also stopped using barrés. I can finger them, but I will be punished by pain in the next couple of days. Pain is a warning that should not be ignores or more serious and persisting conditions can develop.And no, it doesn't help to switch to my Gibson 175. Slimmed down chords has been my answer to that. As an added bonus, my voice leading has become smoother and clearer because of the smaller chords. Of course, my reference is the classic standard tunes used in jazz where harmony comes from somewhere, goes via somewhere to end somewhere. Modal playing is a bit different, but that's not where my heart is.

As has been said, IMHO I don't think a change from 25.5 scale to 24.75 makes that much of a difference. You will feel a difference in fretting resistance with the same strings because of the shorter scale, but thats it. You may have the same effect from going down one step in string thickness (say from 13-56 to 12-52) on the 25.5 neck.

[jzucker]

i'm 53. I still do long stretches but I try to maintain proper thumb position on the left hand which I believe is key to safety. For example, here's one of my favorite voicings for an altered dom7 chord. (It can be moved up in minor 3rds)

E7b9#9



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[Al_F]

Originally Posted by jzucker

i'm 53. I still do long stretches but I try to maintain proper thumb position on the left hand which I believe is key to safety. For example, here's one of my favorite voicings for an altered dom7 chord. (It can be moved up in minor 3rds)

E7b9#9



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Dang!! quite a stretch!

[Al_F]

OP, how about a Squire vintage modified tele that come with a 24 3/4 scale neck ? There is one my local CL for $150.

[RonD]

Originally Posted by Al_F

OP, how about a Squire vintage modified tele that come with a 24 3/4 scale neck ? There is one my local CL for $150.

I'd snatch it up in a second... if I wasn't a lefty!

[va3ux]

Originally Posted by jzucker

Re: 24 3/4" conversion necks? any experience?

i think he ended up with a usa custom guitars neck

Exactly. I remember he had trouble with the Warmoth neck and ended up with the USACG neck - which worked out fine