Phil's Godfather - playability mods by Alembic?

[rusty_the_scoob]

I've been reading everything I can find about the Godfather (Phil Lesh's heavily Alembic-modified Guild Starfire II in case you don't know)and haven't found an answer to this...  Alembic built a new headstock for it, and also changed the inlays from dots to Alembic Ovals, so did they also build a whole new neck?  If so, did they leave it at the stock 30 3/4 scale similar to his Gibson EB0 or did they extend it to the more standard 34?
 

[glocke]

hmmm....based on the pic Id say they left it at 30 3/4...

[bassman10096]

The only things I've read about the replacement are: (1) that the only rationale mentioned was to increase the tilt angle of the headstock and (2) that the only part mentioned in the mod was the headstock (eg - not the whole neck).  I've assumed no change to scale because, though the bridge was replaced, the saddles on the new bridge seem to be located about the same place as the old saddles.  That would seem to rule out a scale change.

[rusty_the_scoob]

I've always read the same things and thought nothing of it until the oval inlays caught my eye.  It's possible they just changed the inlays on the existing fretboard but it doesn't seem like their style... not much on the Godfather looks like it was done for aesthetics.  Heh!
 
You might be right about the pics... he's so tall I can never really get a good feel for it.
 
Hmmm, based on this pic where it looks about as tall as the Ken Smith, and the placement of the bridge, I'm going to agree that it stayed at 30.75
 
http://dozin.com/phil/guitars.html

[bassman10096]

Never thought about it before, but I think radical surgery to replace a headstock probably required a new fretboard, etc as well.  Once involved in that, it'd have been surprising if the new board didn't have Alembic-style inlays.  On the scale issue, I think it's a sign of the times:  Though Fenders were, as now, the dominant standard for bass, there were a lot more short scale basses in prominent use by headliners.  At least it was always my impression that EB-3s, EB-2s, Starfires, even Hofners and Mustangs, plus a host of other shorties were more common than short scales are today.  Maybe I'm wrong about that.  What do the other greybeards out there think?

[edwin]

I think at some point the fingerboard was changed to ebony, but initially only the headstock was changed.  
 
I think short scale basses have made a comeback to a certain extent. After the early 70s, pretty much everyone went to long scale. I know in the 90s, short scale basses were cheap on the used market. I got both my Starfires for less than $300. Times have changed! Part of that might be due to better amplification.
 
Edwin