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Topic: String Scale Length question. |
Glyn Bone
From:
Halifax.Nova Scotia. Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 18 May 2007 4:01 pm |
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Hi, I have been seeing several posts re PSGs that mention different scale lengths...such as 24" 241/4" and 25" necks.
Can someone please give me an idea of the pro`s and cons and differences between the differing lengths...such as tone, tuning, sound ( brighter or more mellow) and anything else you can think of.
I am looking at getting ( upgrading)to a 12 string...possibly a Uni. within the next year and am doing some research now...better to know what I want when the time arrives 
Thanks in advance.
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 19 May 2007 5:57 am
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Close differences are just a matter of individual design. Larger differences (say 23" vs 25.5") are often significant - all other things being equal, longer scale lengths usually provide more sustain, slightly richer harmonic content, and more precise control over tuning (both at the peghead and changer). Brightness isn't affected - look at 6-strings, where Fender's 25.5" scale is brighter in just about every case than Gibson's 24.75".
Shorter scale lengths mean less bar movement, it's easier to create mechanisms with shorter action (although that doesn't seem to be an often-applied factor), and a lighter guitar (again, all other factors being equal).
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 19 May 2007 6:20 am
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When Buddy Emmons and Shot Jackson were building the Sho~Bud guitars, they settled on a 24" scale.
When Buddy and Shot split company, he and Ron Lashley, Sr. started the Emmons Guitar Co. They experimented around with different scale lengths and decided that 24 1/4" was the maximum scale length you could have and still avoid excessive string breakage.
I think this pretty much holds true to this day except for "keyless" guitars. With the keyless, you eliminate much of the extra string beyond the nut and you are able to stretch the scale length. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 19 May 2007 7:37 am
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I find it hard to go back and forth between pedal steels with different scale lengths. If I do it too often, I have a hard time playing in tune.
I don't think that one scale length is "better" than another on pedal steel. On lap steel it makes a big difference because the angles of the bar slants change. Shorter scales are better for bar slants on adjacent strings.
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