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A shorter scale acoustic guitar often produces a “woody” tone with an overall warm timbre, while a longer scale is perceived as having more power overall, with increased clarity and distinction in the bass registers. The scale length also has sonic implications connected with acoustic instruments. 046 gauge on the short scale instrument, The heavier gauge strings will also have the side-effect of inducing more voltage in your pickups, resulting in a “thicker” fundamental note, and more output. 042 gauge strings on the long scale, you’ll probably get the same feel utilizing a heavier. If you find your technique requires using. For instance, take two identical electric guitar bodies, one fitted with a 25 1/2″, and the other with a 24 3/4″ scale neck. While some electric guitarists use a shorter scale instrument to achieve less string tension and easier playability, others see it as an opportunity to get a “thicker” tone utilizing heavier gauge strings. Consequently ‘heavier” strings can produce “lighter” tension, if they are made for this! Scale length and tone The unit weight, and hence the tension, can be adjusted by changing the material used for the string or, on wound strings, changing the ratio of core to winding. The math is that for a given pitch and ‘unit weight’ (this is the weight of the string in pounds per inch), string tension changes with the square of the vibrating length. You may also notice that the instrument now has more “buzzing” and “fret rattle” when played, because of the increased vibrating amplitude of the looser strings. The strings will now be under less tension, making them easier to bend and vibrato. You can prove this to yourself by capoing any guitar at the first fret (effectively shorting the scale length) and then retuning down to concert pitch. Fender and Gibson guitars) are strung with equal gauge strings and tuned to normal concert pitch, the shorter scale Gibson will have less tension, resulting in a “looser” feel.
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If two guitars of different scale lengths (i.e. In the case of a fretless instrument, look for the octave harmonic and use that as the reference point. Compensation is discussed in a separate article here, but to accurately determine an instrument’s scale length, measure from the front edge of the nut to the center of the twelfth or octave fret, and double the result. This is why saddles on most guitars are placed on an angle rather than at right angles to the centerline of the neck. An amount of compensation is required, and this varies with the string diameter and height. While the scale length is the basis for nut, fret and saddle placement, the actual string length will be a bit longer, due to the string being stretched sharp on its way to the fret. This measurement not only determines the placement of the frets for proper intonation, but has a profound effect on string tension, tone, and in some cases, tuning stability. All About A Fretted Instrument Scale Length What is a Scale Length?Ī guitar’s (or any fretted instrument’s) scale length is the basic distance between the nut or zero fret and the bridge’s saddle.