scale length?

nutloaf

what is the scale length of a guitar ,is this the width of the neck?

Ken Bloom

Scale length is the distance from the nut to the bridge.

Ken Bloom

nutloaf

So why do some guitarists prefer short or long scale guitars, surely a few extra frets is'nt going to make much difference does it? Or am i missing something?

Ken Bloom

A longer scale puts more tension on the strings for more volume and greater projection. A shorter scale is a bit easier on the fingers for stretches and such. Some say that a shorter scale makes for a somewhat warmer tone. It is not a matter of extra frets. It's a matter of exactly how far apart the same number of frets are.
A longer scale will feel a bit stiffer because of more tension. A shorter scale will be a bit easier on the fingers, all other factors being the same.

nutloaf

So when I am in a guitar shop how do I know which are short and which are long? I think I'd like a short because of my small hands.

Ken Bloom

You could just measure it. A short string length for a guitar would be around 24 3/4" or around 530mm. A long length would be a Selmer string length of 670mm. Martin guitars are pretty average, around 25.4".
If you have small hands and find one guitar easier to play over another you have probably found the one with the shorter string length. If you are looking Selmer and Maccaferri style guitars and you have small hands,then you are probably going to favor a 12 fret D hole guitar which has a shorter string length. The proof is in the playing.

Ken Bloom

Bob Holo

Well... except that 14 fret Selmer copies have traditionally had narrower necks than 12 fret Mac copies...

So, if his hands are small, he may not like the wide - almost classical feeling neck of a 12 fret Mac copy.

As you say - it's all preference. The only neck I've ever really disliked was the one on my '44 Epi Zenith. It was too narrow and had just the slightest "Vee" on the back - so my thumb never got quite comfortable and my fat fingers found it difficult to play cleanly. I was down at my brother's house for Xmas and wound up playing his cheap old 1970's (60's?) Japanese Cordoba Flamenco guitar. You never know what you're going to like. It had a rounded-off 2x4 for a neck and the soundboard was maybe 8 grain per inch. I kept saying: "No offense man, but I cannot believe how much I like this guitar - it is way way better than it should be." He just smiled and said: "Yea, I know - cool, huh?"

Ken Bloom

Hi Bob,

All excellent points. As I said, the proof is in the playing. I love those old V shaped necks and wide spacing. Just goes to show there is no "correct" answer for a lot of these questions, only the answer that's right for you. The setup on my seven string is one that a lot of people would hate, wide string spacing, slight v-shaped neck and an action that's closer to 4mm on the low string (A). Beauty is in the hand of the player.

guit_box

The Selmer guitars are 640 and 670mm. Most other guitars have a scale length that falls somewhere in the middle--closer to 650mm. For some reason Gitane decided to make an already extremely long scale length even longer, they use 676mm on all the 14 fret models. My guess is they did this so they could locate the transverse braces under the bridge (and the bridge) in the same place for all of their models to simplify production.

Wirralgitane

I took my Gitane 250m to get a professional gypsy setup done, as i was in the shop i tried a d500 i noticed the difference in the scale length.
But i found the tone, playabilty and ease far superior compared to the model up (which is ment to be better?) i have.
I asked the tech guy if he could set mine up like the d500, basically he couldn't, dew to the scale length of mine (14f to body) he said the only thing he could do was loosen the truss rod, have a perminant capo on the second fret and tune down! in effect i'd have the same scale length as the D500.

I did actually think about it, but then thought no way, i should just learn with what i have. But now i want a D shaped GJ guitar, and i thought one would be enough! i'm gonne have to sell the Epi's and Fenders now