My favourite guitar is my Taylor acoustic grand theatre which has a short scale. When it’s in playing position I look down and my nose is roughly over the 12th fret. When I play my SG or Tele the 12th fret is way off to my left. Does the fact that the Jaguar has 22 frets and a 24 inch scale mean that the 12th fret will be closer to me? It’s not that my SG or Tele are too big for me, but there’s a considerable readjustment when I swap between them and my Taylor because relative to my body the nut is in a very different place. Maybe this is just something I have to get used to - and swapping my Taylor is NOT an option!!! Interested to hear from anyone with Jaguar how it sits compared to something like a Tele. Thanks
I think scale length is only a part of the location. The leg cut position is a major factor as well as the position on the body. How you rotate the guitar (neck pointing to the side vs more in front) will have some impact too.
This is sitting, but I think I tend to follow sitting position when standing, but I haven’t been in that habit much.
SG: 24.72" scale; Nose is over fret 21
PRS Tremonti: 25.08" scale; nose is over fret 16
Ibanez SEW: 25.51" inch scale; nose is over fret 14
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Fair comment, I suppose I’m interested in any options that mean I’m not swapping between 2 guitars that are so different to each other
Yes, the 22 fret, 24" scale length of the Jaguar will both bring the 12th fret closer to you, and reduce the distance between the frets compared to a Tele, which has a 25.5" scale length.
In fact, the Taylor GT has a 24.125" scale length, so the Jaguar fretboard will feel more similar to your Taylor GT than just about any other electric guitar (lengthwise). The Jaguar’s fretboard width (42mm) is smaller than the Taylor (43.5mm), so the strings will be closer together, which will take some getting used to. You may notice you accidentally mute strings when chording on the Jag that you had no problem with on the Taylor. A Telecaster also has a 42mm fretboard width, so the string spacing on the Jag is the same as the Tele.
I’ve played a Jag, and it definitely feels shorter than a Tele in playing position.
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Interesting thanks, I’ll be sure to try one next time I’m near a store and look out for the narrower fretboard you mention in case it fixes one problem and creates a different one!
I probably should have said bridge position relative to leg cut. When I got my SG, I could feel the difference in my picking hand shoulder needing to be pulled back a bit to cover the bridge properly.
As I fiddle with your question a bit, the rotation around my body is easy to change when standing and that of course moves things a lot.
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Just looking on the web at pictures of the Ibanez vs an SG and there’s a clear difference as you say where the top of the carve is relative to where the end of the neck is which would alter the relative position of the frets to the player particularly in a seated position
The Jaguar is a great guitar, sometimes I wish I had have got one instead of my Jazzmaster which has a 25.5” scale length and feels insanely long! There’s also another option that is also a short scale length, the Mustang; also the Jagstang (which you will only find used).
Any of those would probably be better than what you have now.
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Great to hear of all of these options because I feared there might be none, thanks. I’m off work in a couple of weeks so will head to the local guitar store to try a few.