So...I had this old arch top lying around. It was from probably the 40s or so? Maybe a Kay or something you’d buy out of a Montgomery Ward catalog. Anyways, it belonged to my great grandpa. When I got it, I really really wanted to make it work as a guitar. It had a super duper bowed neck - and of course no truss rod. So I took the fretboard off and routed a spot and installed one. Planed the neck first so it was flat. Hated the small frets, so I refretted it with new ones. Still didn’t like it. So I installed a P90. Getting closer, but it never really played like I wanted it to. Or sounded like I wanted it to. I know what I am doing - I have built all my own instruments and do my own set up work. Still couldn’t coax out what I wanted. Then inspiration struck, via YouTube. Why not make it a super short scale bass? I had all the parts except a tailpiece and nut. So I took ‘Er apart, added a short tail piece, cut a new nut, and slapped on some short scale D’Addario XLs. I will try some other strings - I am normally a GHS guy, but I had these and they made it so I could do the setup appropriately. I am actually pretty happy with it. Hipshot lite tuners, so there is not neck dive at all. It sounds a tiny bit tubby, but totally usable tones. Since there is no money past the 5th fret, the scale is great.
