No no, that's just my own personal recommendation for my own person (but I like trying new things - that's why I'm a club ho - I mean maker.)
Too many people are caught up in this whole half inch thing, IMO.
Now, you're going to notice a big change in swingweight if you cut off 1.5". It's going to feel very, very light (unless you add some weight back to the head).
It will still be longer than your 3 wood - even at, say, 41". Loft takes care of that.
The big head just offers more forgiveness. Way more.
To wit: I play a 13° driver. I carry it ~240 yards (thank you iGolf). With a good tailwind and a clean strike, I can take it out 270 sometimes (carry and roll). Can I slice it? Yep. But it still doesn't go as far off line as my 10° driver does. My 13° driver goes farther than my 15° 3 wood. They're the same length. (There's much more to the story, but that's another story).
So the bottom line is if you can still control your driver cut down that much, then 2 things should happen:
1) You should experience no significant distance loss. Yes, your best hits will be shorter, but overall you should be just as long, or longer for your average (ie I missed the sweet spot) hits.
2) You should find the sweetspot more often. A shorter club is easier to control (apparently).