23.5” scale?

[Dave Zirbel]

Have any of the steel manufacturers used 23.5” scale length? Just curious..

[Ian Rae]

That's a bit short - I'd be surprised.

[Dave Zirbel]

Early 1960’s Fenders we’re 23”. I have an early Marlen 8 string that is 23” also.

[Ian Rae]

I admit I know little about those early guitars - I was thinking of modern ones. The one I built a few years back was 24", because that was the length of the 60s pull-release D10 I copied most of the measurements from. 24¼" seems popular now. My Excel U12 is 25½" to prevent the bottom strings from being too flobby and it sounds great, but getting the 3rd string G# up to pitch requires nerve

[Donny Hinson]

The earliest Fender model 1000 and 400 were 24.5" scales, and they were reduced to 23" in 1963. (The short-lived Fender PS-210 was also 23".) Of course, the non-pedal Fender steels were 22.5" and 24.5" scales, with the vast majority being the shorter scale. I once played a 22" scale pedal steel of unknown make at the Ozarks Club in D.C. back in the 1960's, and while it didn't have a lot of sustain, the sound was pretty neat; kinda "plinky".

[Dave Zirbel]

Donny, I think Red Rhodes had Sierra build him a 22.5” scale pedal steel in the 1970’s.

[Michael Sawyer]

The earliest Fender model 1000 and 400 were 24.5" scales, and they were reduced to 23" in 1963. (The short-lived Fender PS-210 was also 23".) Of course, the non-pedal Fender steels were 22.5" and 24.5" scales, with the vast majority being the shorter scale. I once played a 22" scale pedal steel of unknown make at the Ozarks Club in D.C. back in the 1960's, and while it didn't have a lot of sustain, the sound was pretty neat; kinda "plinky".

Donny i have an old blonde 400 ,22.5 scale.
Same as your comment above,super tone,zero sustain
mainly above 12th fret.Plinky is the perfect description of mine up high.

[Bruce Derr]

GFI was making a flight guitar, the Aero, that had a short scale, 23" or somewhere around there. I don't know if they still make it.

[J D Sauser]

I admit I know little about those early guitars - I was thinking of modern ones. The one I built a few years back was 24", because that was the length of the 60s pull-release D10 I copied most of the measurements from. 24¼" seems popular now. My Excel U12 is 25½" to prevent the bottom strings from being too flobby and it sounds great, but getting the 3rd string G# up to pitch requires nerve

High G# on E9th:
It's not scale length but total string length which governs tension.
On E9th, the high G# is usually the 3'rd string, which puts it at the 3rd tuner a good 1+ inch further away than what it is on a "keyless". Thus the tension of that string on a 25 1/2" keyless guitar should be about the same or less than on a 24 1/2" keyed guitar.
It's the middle strings which are less tensioned, even with the longer scale length, as they don't have the added string length into the far end of a key head.

... J-D.

[Earnest Bovine]

It's not scale length but total string length which governs tension.

Sorry; I can't let this go by. Think about it.

[J D Sauser]

It's not scale length but total string length which governs tension.

Sorry; I can't let this go by. Think about it.

Meaning, Earnest?... J-D.

[Bruce Derr]

I remember Winnie Winston mentioning that during a Kline demo at a PSGA meeting in 1978. It's one of the reasons I bought my Kline.

[Jack Wilson]

You can still order a 22.5" scale GFI. I have one and the sustain is the same has my 24". That model was designed for Mike Sigler who wanted it for overhead plane storage.

[Daniel McKee]

Don’t remember where but I recently saw a custom GFI U12 with the 22.5 inch scale. It may have been on reverb for sale but anyway I was curious how the short scale would sound with those big low strings in the universal tuning.

[Paul Redmond]

As I recall, Miller used a 23-1/2" scale.
PRR