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Converting 32" scale to 34"

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder

Jun 20, 2016
3,385
5,905
Arcata, CA
#1
Long story short, I want to make a Fender Jag fretless and bought a body on eBay for a great price. This wasn't in the item description but I place full blame on myself....its a Squier Jag and not a MIM Jag. Squiers are 32" and MIM are 34" scale.

I cannot find a 32" scale fretless neck anywhere so is it possible to move the bridge 2" towards the heel and crack open a beer?

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2
The pocket may have to be widened a touch to fit the heel of a 34, I dont know for sure. With the bridge moved back, the relative positions of the pickups will have effectively changed. They will now be a little closer to the nut than they were for the 32 inch scale. You could fill the cavities, rout new ones and refinish it but that may not be worth the trouble. I'm guessing it hasn't arrived yet?
 
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#3
Beej said:
The pocket may have to be widened a touch to fit the heel of a 34, I dont know for sure. With the bridge moved back, the relative positions of the pickups will have effectively changed. They will now be a little closer to the nut than they were for the 32 inch scale. You could fill the cavities, rout new ones and refinish it but that may not be worth the trouble. I'm guessing it hasn't arrived yet?
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I hadn't considered the heel width. The pickup position I'm less concerned about. I get that while stationary, moving bridge effectively move the pickups towards the nut.
 
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#6
You wouldn't need to move the bridge back two inches, as about two thirds of the scale length will be in the neck. The 19th fret is exactly two thirds of the way between the nut and the theoretical saddle position. Easiest way will be to mount up the new neck, then determine the new bridge position by measuring from the 12th fret location on the neck. I wouldn't worry about the pickup positions.
 
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#8
Bloomfield said:
I wouldn't worry about the pickup positions.
Click to expand...

I'm less concerned with this although I do recognize that placement is not entirely random

Pickup-position-effect-based-on-standing-waves-adapted-from-30-31.png
 
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#10
CatchaCuda said:
Do you want lined or unlined? Eden makes 32" fretless necks, but the headstock needs shaped and tuner holes drilled.

No matter which way you go, I think it'll involve some effort.
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I'm going to go lined with the Fender Maple/Pau Ferro 34" Jazz neck replacement that is widely available. Since it will be hard not to pay retail prices for that, I tried to save some money on the body that arrives today by FedEx.
 
#12
Rolling Thunder said:
I'm going to guess that when the time comes to mount the bridge, I should move the saddles to their halfway points and measure 17 inches from the 12 fret to the saddles.
Click to expand...


You want to have the G saddle extended most of the way towards the neck in its travel, around 3/4 of its range and make that the 34” mark. The saddles normally need to go longer then the scale length to get bass strings to intonate.
 
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#17
If you want to know the actual math:

Assuming that both necks are 20 frets, with the heel at the 21st position:
The 32" scale neck will be 22.486" from the nut to the heel.
The 34" scale neck will be 23.892" from the nut to the heel.

That means that, if you seat the 34" scale neck against the heel of the neck pocket, its nut will be moved 1.406" outward. Therefore you'll need to move the bridge back 0.594" to make up the 2" difference in scale length. Not that much, really.
 
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#18
Rolling Thunder said:
I'm going to go lined with the Fender Maple/Pau Ferro 34" Jazz neck replacement that is widely available. Since it will be hard not to pay retail prices for that, I tried to save some money on the body that arrives today by FedEx.
Click to expand...
Too bad. Because really if the neck is unlined a few of your challenges go away because the midpoints, etc, are not tied to the position of fret or line. While precision is still important if you move the bridge, it's not going to mess with your physics homework.
 
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#20
Bruce Johnson said:
If you want to know the actual math:

Assuming that both necks are 20 frets, with the heel at the 21st position:
The 32" scale neck will be 22.486" from the nut to the heel.
The 34" scale neck will be 23.892" from the nut to the heel.

That means that, if you seat the 34" scale neck against the heel of the neck pocket, its nut will be moved 1.406" outward. Therefore you'll need to move the bridge back 0.594" to make up the 2" difference in scale length. Not that much, really.
Click to expand...
I'm basing measurements on nut to 12th fret to saddle. I assumed its 17" from nut to 12th fret and another 17" to the saddle.
 

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