Originally Posted by: RazboA Gibson (24 3/4") scale is about 1/4" less distance from 2nd to 7th fret vs. Fender (25 1/2") scale.

I have really short fingers, and I notice a big difference switching guitars. Aside from stretching to the max, using a shorter scale guitar will physically increase your reach. Fender Mustang's have a 24" scale... I don't have the fret chart in front of me, but that's around 1/2" shorter distance from 2nd to 7th than a Strat.

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0273706504

My Ibanez has a 24 frets, most strats I have seen have at least a couple less. Does that mean that the distance between the lower frets is longer or that there are simply more frets down on/over the body?