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View Full Version : What is Scale Length ?

adam3291
09-10-2001, 03:59 PM
What is scale length in reference to guitar necks?
Is the distance between the frets?
Does it differ by guitar maker?

Thanks !!!
Andrew
09-10-2001, 04:23 PM
The scale length is the distance from the nut, or zero fret if the guitar has one, to the bridge. You will also hear this called the 'vibrating length of the string'. So yes, the longer the scale length, the greater the distance between the frets.

It differs in each type of guitar, because it changes the tone (slightly) and a shorter scale length will be easier to bend strings.
adam3291
09-10-2001, 04:47 PM
Is Gibsons scale length larger then Fenders? Where does Paul Reed Smith guitars fall into the mix?

Thanks
Andrew
09-10-2001, 05:11 PM
Gibsons are slightly shorter than fenders. PRS's, Im not sure but I have a feeling the're about the same as Fenders.
Levinson Blade
09-10-2001, 05:32 PM
To measure a scale length take a tape mesure and measure from the nut to the 12th fret then double it to get your scale length
Andrew
09-12-2001, 02:15 PM
I looked it up in a magazine, PRS are right between Fender and Gibson.
Sandman_96707
10-05-2001, 04:28 AM
It pretty much depends on how many frets there are and what size frets they are, I think

Andrew- whats a "zero fret"?
Andrew
10-05-2001, 12:30 PM
Sandman

It doesnt really matter how many frets there are, or the size of frets.

A zero fret is a fret just after the nut that the strings always rest on. The nut would be just there to guide the strings. A zero fret gives an ideal string height, and so it is easier to get good intonation. It also makes open notes sound a bit more like fretted notes.
Sandman_96707
10-05-2001, 07:04 PM
Do you have an example of such a thing?
Andrew
10-06-2001, 07:09 AM
Me, personally, sure, I have one on an old Baldwin bass. I'm not sure where you would find a picture of one though. Anyone know?
Andrew
10-06-2001, 07:26 AM
I did a search and found a picture.

http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/steverussell/sen.html
Sandman_96707
10-06-2001, 03:36 PM
Looks like a regular guitar.
Andrew
10-07-2001, 06:10 AM
It is a regular guitar. It just has a zero fret. Look at the third picture down (the one of the headstock). See the fret straight in front of the nut? Thats all that a zero fret is.
Sandman_96707
10-08-2001, 12:48 AM
you mean the little thing between the fret and the nut thats about half of a centimeter wide?
Andrew
10-08-2001, 07:11 AM
Look at the picture. The nut is the white bit. Now look just below the nut at the grey-silver fret shaped object. Voila un zero fret!
Sandman_96707
10-08-2001, 05:10 PM
I'M NOT ****ING RETARDED!!! I KNOW WHAT THE NUT IS!!! BESIDES, THAT FIRST GRAY THING IN THAT PICTURE LOOKS WHITE LIKE THE NUT ANYWAY.
Andrew
10-10-2001, 04:23 PM
Im not wasting any more time arguing about it. Are you trying to say there are two nuts or something? That 'grey thing' is the zero fret.
Sandman_96707
10-10-2001, 04:52 PM
The gray fret bar has light shining on it in the picture, so from a quick glance it looks white as if it were part of the nut. I was also confused because when I think of "fret" I think of the space between the bars, not the bar itself, because when you put your fingers on the fret you are not putting it on the bar.