Oil can scale length

[SeanS]

i am taking an old Ibanez and using parts to make an oil can guitar. i am concerned about the shorter length and the fact that it is going to through the scale length off a bunch. is this a big problem? am i in way over my head?

[ScottR]

I take you to mean you are going to take a finished neck from an old Ibanez and attach it to an oil can (for the body) and make use of the ibby bridge and electronics. 

It won't work if you throw off the scale length any at all. You have to find a way to attach the neck that allows you to mount the bridge the same distance away from the nut as it was in the original guitar. I believe that is 25.5" It does not matter how much body there is below the bridge, it can be at the bottom edge of the can. But it has to be the proper distance from the nut based on the scale the neck is fretted to. Otherwise it will be out of tune whenever you fret a note.

SR

[Bizman62]

What @ScottR said. There's only one crucial measurement in a guitar for it to work and that is the double length from the nut to the 12th fret, also known as the scale length. Anything else serves other purposes like tuning, amplifying, ergonomics and aesthetics. The image below shows that math. Obviously you'd have to add tuners at either end but the rest is up to your imagination. Be it an oil can, a star, flower, rifle... As long as the 12th fret is in the middle of the scale it's a working guitar.

[KeithHowell]

The scale length we used on the original Afri-Can guitars was 25" which worked out perfectly with the 22 fret in line with the edge of the can and the strings anchored at the other edge. The break angle over the bridge was just right.

A later iteration was extended to 24 frets with the 24th fret level with the edge of the can and the strings still anchored at other edge. This made the break angle on the bridge too shallow and we never pursued it further.

How are you going the fix the can to the neck? Ours were a neck through with the end bolted against the end of the can below string anchor point. The can in itself, at least the ones we used to get around here,  is not strong enough to resist the string pull without some sort of bracing.

[SeanS]

i am using a piece of wood inside the can to attach everything to. but after reading above i need to go back to the drawing board to get the scale length right. about an inch off at the moment.