Have to say I've found much the same with Jonny's bats. I've got one that's now 2'12 with a heavier grip, cut grips up top, and edge tape added, and it picks up every bit as well as the 2'9 bat I was using last season.
For me, a huge part of that is in the balancing - particularly that Jonny uses good quality handles and leaves them at a reasonable size, rather than shaving them down to achieve big specs at a lower scale weight - but also that on all my Scott bats there has been a good volume of wood left running into the splice. This is brilliant for durability but it also leaves a heavier bat feeling much more balanced in your hands.