Musicmaster/Duosonic 22.5" Setup Advice

[Twang]

I'm putting together a shortscale Fender for my tiny girlfriend. So far I have this '65 Musicmaster body (refin) with a '62 Duo/MM slab neck. I have 11's on there now, but it still needs more tension. I'd like to add a shim in the neck pocket to create more break angle on the bridge and more tension on the strings, but this would require raising the bridge saddles more and they're already maxed out as far as height. Should I shim the entire neck pocket? Should I somehow raised the bridge plate? What is the ideal string gauge for a 22.5" scale guitar? I want to keep as light of a string gauge as possible for easy playability. Any advice is appreciated!

[BatDog]

Have you adjusted the neck straight?

[jorri]

I'd say just for the same tension go two guages higher than a standard 25.5. Its almost the same as if you had detuned to D, two frets shorter.
-been considering finding one myself where i just tune higher, like an alto guitar, opposite of a baritone i guess...could be insteresting to try but i don't know how high is possible.

[Twang]

Have you adjusted the neck straight?

the neck is dead straight

I'd say just for the same tension go two guages higher than a standard 25.5

So you're thinking that 12s are the way to go. I'm hoping to use lighter gauge strings making it easier to play for my girlfriend.

[jorri]

I'd say just for the same tension go two guages higher than a standard 25.5

So you're thinking that 12s are the way to go. I'm hoping to use lighter gauge strings making it easier to play for my girlfriend.

well more tension is the opposite of easiness to play, you can't have both...although i'm sure she'd get used to it, I'm guessing the short scale is for smaller hand reach so it should be easy enough.

what is the reason for wanting more tension? buzz?, its the simultaneously wanting no more tension that you're not going to get to be blunt

[mothershipzeta]

Sorry to spam, but hey that's looking very good, congrats to your girlfriend!
Somehow the white cover goes really well with the white guard, strange it isn't more common!

[hella1hella]

Wow, lucky girlfriend! I've tried getting my fiance into guitars...

[Larry Mal]

That's a nice guitar... what about a shim and longer height adjustment screws?

[hella1hella]

What Larry said. Or I would shim the neck (whole neck shim) and possibly add a plate under the bridge to raise it up a bit. if you have a dremel you could do it with a small piece of sheet steel. Trace the shape and then cut away until it is flush and hardly noticeable!

[Twang]

Thanks for the tips! I ended up putting the '62 Duo and the '65 MM bodies back with their original necks. With both eras of these it's nearly impossible to shim the neck to increase tension, the bridge saddles won't go high enough. I guess I'll move from 11s to 12s and see what happens.

I've had issues with a Jazzmaster and now with a Musicmaster/Duo when installing a slab neck on later bodies. I guess the parts from different era guitars don't match up precisely even though they are the same animal. I love the color of that blue Musicmaster with the white guard, but I'll probably sell it and keep the '62 Duo.