Does scale length affect playability or tone of a guitar?

[Jazzarian]

Speaking of scale length, I am saving up to commission a Soloway. Jim Soloway builds chambered and semihollow guitars on a 27" scale. He has a test drive program where you get on the list, and when your turn comes around, you get a guitar shipped to you.

Play if for a week or so, and then you are responsible to pay to have it shipped to the next guy on the list. I got one for a week this past spring, and was really amazed at the playability, and depth of tone. Very sweet guitars.

Models

Too bad Jim, himself is such a righteous jerk. I had no idea the state of Oregon would admit such.

[mr. beaumont]

By the way, what make strings (and gauge) to do have on your Teles?

d'addairo chromes, .11 gauge. i notice no better benefits in tone with a heavier string than that on a solidbody, so i play the lightest thing that still feels comfortable.

[mr. beaumont]

is jason making a floating P90 style pup or are you gonna cut the top?

quote]

Yes and no.. If you look on his website in the background of most of the pages there is a thinline archtop with a Frequensator bridge and two p-90s. If you look closely the neck pickup has non-adjust poles. I asked him and he said no one ever noticed. He made those pickups about 10 years ago. He used slugs instead of a bar magnet so he could get a P90 that was thin enough not to have to cut the top. Just a couple of mounting screws. If I want to go back (I have been playing sans-pickup since I bought the guitar) I can. A couple of small screw holes dont bother me. Should be here in a couple of weeks.

so will it still mount to the neck like the stock floater, or will you have to make a few small holes in the top?

this is very interesting to me. i really like my emperor regent, but the pickup's very...tame. please keep me updated on this and if you can, post some photos once you've got it installed.

[randyc]

[quote=mr. beaumont;47922]

this is very interesting to me. i really like my emperor regent, but the pickup's very...tame. please keep me updated on this and if you can, post some photos once you've got it installed.

Ditto here ! It's the only non-USA guitar I own and it plays OK but the tone sucks. I've addressed the P-90 issue a couple of times and gave it up. See the photo below, the P-90 (at least this 1960's version) is considerably taller than the distance from guitar strings to body. It would take quite a bit of routing to install the pickup and I have a feeling that I'd cut through the braces ... does anyone know ?

It's not clear to me that one can get enough windings in the smaller pickup version to get a good P-90 sound, especially if the big bar magnet is swapped out for little rod magnets. Nevertheless, my interest is high and I hope that the swap is successful for selfish reasons

cheers,
randyc

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

[quote=randyc;47932]

Ditto here ! It's the only non-USA guitar I own and it plays OK but the tone sucks. I've addressed the P-90 issue a couple of times and gave it up. See the photo below, the P-90 (at least this 1960's version) is considerably taller than the distance from guitar strings to body. It would take quite a bit of routing to install the pickup and I have a feeling that I'd cut through the braces ... does anyone know ?

That sounds like a job for a luthier. At least, I'd be to scared to cut a hole in an archtop. As for the bracing, get one of those dentist's mirrors and pop it into the F-hole and have a look. You can get them at pharmacies.

[randyc]

[quote=BigDaddyLoveHandles;47944]

That sounds like a job for a luthier. At least, I'd be to scared to cut a hole in an archtop. As for the bracing, get one of those dentist's mirrors and pop it into the F-hole and have a look. You can get them at pharmacies.

Well, the guitar is not useful now (pu is so tinny sounding) so I may as well give it a shot. As far as the dental mirror is concerned, I feel stupid for not considering it !!

Thanks much - if the braces are not in the way, the next photo of that Epiphone may include a top mounted P-90 (although it may take a while to get around to it ... we all know how that goes).

I had an Epiphone with a P-90 thirty-something years ago and it was mighty sweet sounding through my Standel bass amp !

cheers,
randy

[dh82c]

[quote=mr. beaumont;47922]

so will it still mount to the neck like the stock floater, or will you have to make a few small holes in the top?

this is very interesting to me. i really like my emperor regent, but the pickup's very...tame. please keep me updated on this and if you can, post some photos once you've got it installed.

Will do. My goal is the have something like a L5 Wes Montgomery with a P90 in the neck. The only holes will be the mounting screws and MAYBE a hole for the lead (havent figured that out yet). I am mounting the tone and volume on the body like on the L5 Wes. Lollar says the pickup sounds a little more fendery because of the poles, that is ok with me. My 3 main jazz guitars are the Epi EmpReg, a 74 Tele and a 97 MIJ Jazzmaster (yeah yeah I know...)

[dh82c]

[quote=BigDaddyLoveHandles;47944]

That sounds like a job for a luthier. At least, I'd be to scared to cut a hole in an archtop. As for the bracing, get one of those dentist's mirrors and pop it into the F-hole and have a look. You can get them at pharmacies.

I have seen P90s in EmpRegs before.. they do fit. you can feel where the tone bars are by feeling inside the f holes.

Having said that,I bought the Regent partially beacuse they are good but cheap and easy to replace if I mess it up. I am not a luthier but I do all my own work. My recipice is 2 parts brute force and 1 part ignorance. If you are not comforatable cutting your archtop.. well.. dont cut it

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Let us know how it goes and post some pics!

[RAQ]

I'm keeping an interestedd eye on this thread too. I've got the Epi Emperor and removed (for the time being) all the hardware and play it as an acoustic archtop while I think about what to do next. The standard floating pup just makes a louder noise, it seems to me, without doing anything good at all for the tone - even a MIK Kent Armstong would be an improvement. But even though it's a basic lamintated archtop it still seems a shame to cut the top. I have a Gibson 57 spare and have been tempted to put that in - mounting the pots into the top too - making it a single pickup version of the Broadway. It's parallel braced isn't it, so the distance between the braces across the 'f' holes should be replicated at the neck. I've tried fiddling with dental mirrors and pup mounting rings to see if the ring will fit between the braces, but working through the 'f' hole and backwards through the mirror was just too great a test of my patience - so I've gone back to thinking about it. I'm assuming that, because it's a laminate, the acoustic tone won't really be compromised providing the top isn't cut for a bridge pup, and suspect (I've read it somewhere) that the basic body shell is the same as the Broadway so there ought to be room between those braces for a HB or P90. It just needs somebody to do it, then we'll all know. I'll do it eventually, but I'm hoping somebody else's nerve cracks first.

[randyc]

OK, this morning I woke with the resolve to do something about the Epi Emp/Reg. As I said earlier, the sound of the factory pu is tinny and unsatisfactory and I have no confidence in any manufacturer getting enough turns of 40 or 42 AWG wire into that tiny package to have a satisfactory sound. It's an Epiphone, even if it is a Korean copy, and it should SOUND like an Epiphone !

I measured the '64 P-90 (neck pu out of an old SG) and started disassembling the Emp/Reg. If you plan on a similar mod, be aware that EVERYTHING has to come off of the body, there aren't any real short cuts. Took tyhe body out to the shop and did the easy work: cutting the hole in the top and modifying the pick guard for the larger pickup. There's no turning back now !!

Now that I'm committed, I'll start a fresh thread, with photos, showing the step by step procedure. Cheers !

P.S. nothing larger than a P-90 will fit in this guitar without cutting through the braces - they are REAL close to the pickup (you may be able to see them in the photo).