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Scale Lenght


colin

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Hi,

I'me building my first and just cant find a description of what is a scale lenght.

Mine is a 24.75 for a lp but is that the lenght from the first string nut slut to the bridge or from the midle of the nut to the midle of the bridge bridge?

If somone could send me scale lenght for the first and the last string it would be appreciate.

Thank you

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Hi there Colin,

As I found out the answer to the very same question this morning, (and being a noob myself) I thought I might be able to share with you...

The Scale Length is the length from the nut to the bridge.

As for the second part of your question - I think you might be talking about fret lengths ? If so there are heaps of free fret calculators on the net... just google them.

Cheers.

Edited by tikvo
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[Quick disclaimer: I'm relatively new at this, but I think I understand what you're asking, so here's my understanding of it.]

Each string contacts the saddle at a slightly different distance from the bridge (due to intonation differences between strings).

The scale length is the distance from the fretboard side of the nut to the string contact point on the bridge. If you set the saddles to the middle of their range of travel within the bridge, the bridge should be installed so that that midpoint is the scale length distance away from the fretboard side of the nut (24.75" in your case). That will give you the maximum amount of possible intonation adjustment for each string.

(If it's a tuneomatic bridge, you can also mount the bridge at an angle to accomplish the maximum intonation adjustment range.)

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From the point where the strings contact the bridge on the fretboard side (which should be the edge of the bridge, toward the fretboard), to the point where the strings contact the bridge. However, as I mentioned, this length is slightly different for each string due to the need for intonation adjustments. Ideally the bridge should be installed so that the middle of possible travel of the saddles is at the scale length.

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yeah i know that i must keep the more travel as possible so the scale lenght must be taken at the middle of the widness of the bridge

but, on the bridge, should i calculate it at the first string, betwene the third and the fourth string or at the last string.

sorry, I'me a french frog...

Thank you

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Hi,

I'me building my first and just cant find a description of what is a scale lenght.

Mine is a 24.75 for a lp but is that the lenght from the first string nut slut to the bridge or from the midle of the nut to the midle of the bridge bridge?

If somone could send me scale lenght for the first and the last string it would be appreciate.

Thank you

How much searching did you really do?

This is a pretty popular subject in guitar building circles, I just did a basic search function on scale length and found many pages of posts on it.

I bet if I went out on Google I could find a few hundred.

So, where exactly did you look for your information that you couldn't find a decent description of a scale length?

I personally have posted the specifics on this several times over again, not including many others here who have done the same.

You see, if you take the time out to research this, the answer you come up with will serve you far better than someone posting directly to your post.

You'll find responses to TOM's, string thrus, hardtails, Gibsons, Fenders, Floyds, and if you actually read these things, you will honestly comprehend what a scale length IS, because truthfully, that is the very core, the very essence, the very BEING, of what a guitar is at it's heart, and if you don't understand that, you won't truly understand anything that follows.

Scale length is like Guitar Basic Course 101, and if you try and skip thru it, you will be going to war with a broken sword.

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Have you read the others messages,

I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHAT IS A SCALE LENGHT.

My problem is that I dont know where i should calculate it from the left to the right side of the bridge as it is at an angle with the nut. Because in fact, the first and the last string are not the same lenght.

And if you have nothing else to say that what you just told, just dont write.

I'me sorry if I dont express myself verry well.

Thank you

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I'me building my first and just cant find a description of what is a scale lenght.
I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHAT IS A SCALE LENGHT.

Yeah. :D

And it's spelled length, not lenght. Might help when doing a search. :D

And it makes a big difference how you approach it by what kind of guitar you're making and what kind of bridge you're using, something you did not share except to say you already had a LP, but that doesn't tell me what you're building, thus making any attempted answer incomplete.

But since you already knew that....

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Have you read the others messages,

I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHAT IS A SCALE LENGHT.

My problem is that I dont know where i should calculate it from the left to the right side of the bridge as it is at an angle with the nut. Because in fact, the first and the last string are not the same lenght.

And if you have nothing else to say that what you just told, just dont write.

I'me sorry if I dont express myself verry well.

Thank you

Here, try the Stew-Mac Fret Position Calculator. It will show you the position of each fret for your scale length as well as bridge placement.

By the way, please don't yell at people who are trying to help you. :D

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I understand what you're asking but it was clearly answered by rick500 (post#3).

Set all the saddles to the middle of their travel...so that they can be moved backwards & forwards for intonation.

The scale length is from the fingerboard side of the nut to the point of string contact on the saddle.

When the bridge position is set & the guitar is all ready to go....adjust the saddles for intonation....therefore, slightly changing the scale length for each string so that they are in tune across the fingerboard.

The scale length will still be thought of as the same for all strings despite being slightly different for each....there are a few standard scale lengths so you should know that, when measuring from nut to saddle on the high E of a guitar, what scale it is despite being slightly out eg. my Strat has a scale of 25 9/16" on the high E & 25 5/8" on the low E so I know that it is likely to be 25.5" scale.

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Set all the saddles to the middle of their travel...so that they can be moved backwards & forwards for intonation.

Personally i set the saddles most of the way forward when placing a bridge, some like 1/4 of the total travel in front of the bridge, 3/4 behind. There should never be any need to move a saddle shorter than the actual scale length so it makes little sense having half the travel of the bridge never being used. Having said that i still wouldnt want to set it with the saddle all the way forward - just in case :D

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Also, please be aware that scale length is *not* the distance from the break point of the nut to the saddle of the bridge. That is the string length, and includes some compensation, which makes it longer than the scale length. The scale length is twice the distance from the break point of the nut to the centre of the 12 fret.

Like Wez, I usually place my bridge so that the saddles sit on the end of the scale length when adjusted all the way forward, for the same reason he gives.

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Thanks for bring that one up Setch/WezV - you have to take into account that each string has a thickness, plus you're bending/stretching the string when fretting it. If you consider an action of (for arguments sake) 1mm, it makes a huge difference when you have a range of 3-4mm to set your range in making placement that much more crucial if you want comfortable room to intonate either way. I'm currently fighting with a TOM setup on my Explorer as the 6th string is showing a few cents sharp at 12th when open is in tune, even when the saddle is dropped back. I think the bridge might need angling back just slightly more than it has been built to be. It stripped and being oiled right now, but that's another story. Back on topic....

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Set all the saddles to the middle of their travel...so that they can be moved backwards & forwards for intonation.

Personally i set the saddles most of the way forward when placing a bridge, some like 1/4 of the total travel in front of the bridge, 3/4 behind. There should never be any need to move a saddle shorter than the actual scale length so it makes little sense having half the travel of the bridge never being used. Having said that i still wouldnt want to set it with the saddle all the way forward - just in case :D

thanks...good point. I've never actually noticed that they don't need to go forward but a quick measure of my guitars shows just that (not that I doubted you...just wanted to get it drilled into the grey matter).

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  • 2 weeks later...
Also, please be aware that scale length is *not* the distance from the break point of the nut to the saddle of the bridge. That is the string length, and includes some compensation, which makes it longer than the scale length. The scale length is twice the distance from the break point of the nut to the centre of the 12 fret.

Like Wez, I usually place my bridge so that the saddles sit on the end of the scale length when adjusted all the way forward, for the same reason he gives.

I think I'm a bit confused at this scale length now. I was under the impression after reading stewmac that the scale length was measured from the farthest point on the nut from the bridge to the 12th fret x2. I'm off by the width of the nut then? Thanks in advance for the clarification. :D

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  • 1 year later...
Im soryy im new 2 this & im just wondering what is the fret board side of the nut?

Im assuming its the side with the fret markers on it.

Zoinks :D

One side of a nut is usually faces your tuners(headstock) and the other side usually faces the fretboard. The fretboard does have markers, and frets most of the time. So your assumption is good most of the time (fretless or unmarked boards not withstanding).

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  • 1 month later...

I never really thought about it, but you know your LP's scale length is 24.75, so just get out a yardstick or something and find out where it fits. However, if you were to lay your guitar on a table and kneel down to look at it from the side, the distance from the point at which the string leaves the nut to the contact point at the bridge is your scale length. There isn't any weird diagonal kind of stuff.

Edited by bluesman94
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