How important is scale?

FWBO · #1 05-10-2011, 07:33 PM

24 3/4 or 25 1/2? Or did you choose a Byrdland or something in between?

Scale length. Do you stick to a single one or do you mix and match?

Did your preference for humbuckers mean a 24 3/4 scale or did you pick a Fender just for the scale length regardless of the pups?

Does scale really make a difference?

jzucker · #2 05-10-2011, 08:44 PM

i mix. used to think it was important. not much so anymore. I wouldn't recommend a birdland due to intonation issues.

sdr · #3 05-10-2011, 08:53 PM

I never gave it a thought until I got a 24 3/4 jazz box. Now I must have a Les Paul.

mr. beaumont · #4 05-10-2011, 08:57 PM

Don't care too much...I have guitars ranging from 24" to 26.5"

That said, if I were having a guitar built, i'd go longer scale. Something about the way chords sound on a longer scale instrument...it's more beach boys harmony where you can really hear the seperate voices as opposed to crosby stills and nash where everything blends...

But I'm probably crazy.

basile865 · #5 05-10-2011, 09:45 PM

Scale makes a difference for sure. When it comes to chording, smaller hands might be more comfortable on a 24.75 scale, where as larger hands might be more cramped and better suited for a 25.5 scale.

For string bending, the shorter scale makes larger string gauges easier to bend. So 11's on a les paul feel more like 10's on a strat. There is slightly more string tension on a longer scale. All of it effects the feel and response. Mostly its just a preference thing.

PRS guitars lay right between a fender and a gibson to try and get the best of both worlds. I think they might be a 25 inch scale exactly - I could be wrong though.

I grew up on fenders so a shorter scale makes me feel a little bit cramped. I tested a bunch of Eastmans today and found them very comfortable. They sit right at 25". Again its all a preference thing really. Whatever allows you to make music comfortably! Thats all thats important.

Billnc · #6 05-10-2011, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Don't care too much...I have guitars ranging from 24" to 26.5"

That said, if I were having a guitar built, i'd go longer scale. Something about the way chords sound on a longer scale instrument...it's more beach boys harmony where you can really hear the seperate voices as opposed to crosby stills and nash where everything blends...

But I'm probably crazy.

Or we both are. I'm heavily into chords and how they sound, guitar is the best sounding harmonic instrument IMO (I left out the H cause it's not humble)

Flyin' Brian · #7 05-11-2011, 05:10 AM

27" scale here by our own Jim Soloway:

YouTube Video

FWBO · #8 05-11-2011, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basile865

Scale makes a difference for sure. When it comes to chording, smaller hands might be more comfortable on a 24.75 scale, where as larger hands might be more cramped and better suited for a 25.5 scale.

Mostly its just a preference thing.

This is often cited as a reason for preference, however, on a 25 1/2 inch neck from the first fret position you are effectively onto the fret spacing of a 24 3/4 scale. So it is only the nut to the first fret distance that is any bigger on a 25 1/2 than on a 24 3/4 - so if you moved all chords up a semitone on a 25 1/2 neck then they should feel the same as on a 24 3/4

Flyin' Brian · #9 05-11-2011, 05:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FWBO

This is often cited as a reason for preference, however, on a 25 1/2 inch neck from the first fret position you are effectively onto the fret spacing of a 24 3/4 scale. So it is only the nut to the first fret distance that is any bigger on a 25 1/2 than on a 24 3/4 - so if you moved all chords up a semitone on a 25 1/2 neck then they should feel the same as on a 24 3/4

But as you get higher on the neck, the space between frets also is smaller, making things difficult for people with large hands/fingers past the 12th fret.

The biggest difference to me is tone and the choice of string gauge. If you're playing something requiring string bends, the tension for a given set of strings is heavier the longer the scale.

And of course scale is important, but it's the minimum so it's nice to get paid more.

basile865 · #10 05-11-2011, 02:29 PM

Strangely enough a Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Stratocaster are both the same scale - 25.5, however a Jazzmaster just feels longer. I know they have a larger body and headstock which accounts for them literally being longer, but I think placement of the neck on the body makes you actually reach out further for the first fret on the Jazzmaster which makes it feel like a longer scale.

Les pauls have quite a few frets up into the body so the nut is closer to you. Even more so for the big old jazz boxes, even though many have the same scale as the les paul. So I think placement of the neck in relation to the body really can create an allusion of longer or shorter scales overall.

I pay attention to how my elbow feels when playing different guitars. So when I say cramped I'm sort've referring to the whole arm rather then just the fingers.

Rustic · #11 05-15-2011, 02:23 AM

I also find a 24.5 scale instrument more difficult when playing voicings above the 12th fret. In the future I would only buy 25.5 inch scale, and with a cut away, to more fully utilize the instrument.

fumblefingers · #12 05-15-2011, 11:52 AM

it depends on your hand size and finger length, and on what you play. if you have average sized hands, play CAGED/traditional scale fingerings and arpeggios, and chord voicings that don't require big stretches you may not care that much.

at the extrtemes (very small hands, long scale, long stretch chords, 3NPS fingerings - or - huge hands with a short scale) you will notice. how much it bothers you is probably an individual thing.

try before you buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have fairly long hands, play mostly 25.5" guitars and am not very comfortable with anything shorter than 25". ("Johnny Smith length").

P.S. i have heard that some famous string benders (Jimi and Stevie) tuned their strats down a half step. while i'm not sure why (and have not tried it), one guess would be that it facilitates easier bends, another more remote explanation is that it would enable them to play the blues in E without open strings. i strongly suspect the former.

basile865 · #13 05-15-2011, 02:46 PM

Yes they did. I do the same thing. It just sounds a little deeper and bigger, and more importantly I use larger strings so it makes bending easier. (Although in truth, going up a half a step to standard for me isn't really any more difficult) Over time I've just started to prefer playing with 11's a half step down. With my transition to a more jazzy style lately, I'm going to get the nut slotted for 12's soon, and I think at that point playing in a bluesier bending style in standard tuning would get a little less then comfortable. I've been playing forever a half step down or sometimes full step down so now if I go back to standard tuning it feels too strange.

Right now I just have a strat which is fitting for the types of gigging I do, but when I'm at home I'm trying to make it sound like kurt rosenwinkel lol. One day when the funding gets right I'll probably get an eastman. I find their 25 inch scale plenty comfortable.