Ryanesque Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 at some point when I'm done clear coating and I'm putting my guitar together (I'm drilling holes AFTER I finish it!) I'm going to need to know where to put the bridge relative to the nut.. how do I know what "scale" it should be? Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six_stringer Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 If you intend to really get into building then I would suggest that you buy a copy of Melvyn Hiscock's book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar". However, if you do some searching of this forum you will find answers to most of the guitar building questions you might have. I don't know all of the details of your build but this topic has come up several times before. Measure your neck from the fretboard side of the nut to the twelth fret wire, double this figure to get your scale length. If you measure 12.5" the scale length is 25". If you measure 12.75" the scale length is 25.5" etc.. Now measure from the fretboard side of the nut out to the scale length that you determined from above (25", 25.5" etc.) and that is the point where the strings will go over the saddles. Then you measure from the twelth fret wire to that point where the saddles go to verify that it is half of the scale length. Good Luck, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 You bought a neck, correct? The scale length is twice the length from the nut (side nearest the fretboard) to the center of the twelfth fret. You will want to set your bridge back just a little more than that distance (1/8 - 1/4 inch depending on how much saddle adjustment your bridge has). It is usually better to drill holes prior to finishing if using something like nitro so that you don't crack or chip the finish. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 at some point when I'm done clear coating and I'm putting my guitar together (I'm drilling holes AFTER I finish it!) I'm going to need to know where to put the bridge relative to the nut.. how do I know what "scale" it should be? RyanRyan, I am not trying to be mean in what I'm going to suggest to you. I think maybe you should take some time to study on the matter at hand. I would suggest that you start with Melvin Hiscocks book "Make your own electric guitar" Also do some reading on the Stewmac site in there tips and tricks section, as well as read some of the tutorials here at PG. I'm not sure you are really ready to build a guitar at this time based on the questions you have been asking and I would hate to see you make an investment only to have it not work as well as maybe your safety. Your enthusiasm is great and we all are here to help, but I think you need to progress a bit more before tackling the project you have at hand based on your apparent lack of knowledge that you have demonstrated in your posts. I'm trying to save you some heart ache, some $ and hopefully your safety as well. Just respectfully suggesting that you slow down a bit, formulate your questions and study. Sincerely, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 By the way we have all done the research Mikro talks about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Agreed on all of the above. Scale is the total length of a strings run from the saddle to the nut breakover point. This is commonly termed as a single figure minimum, with physical variations due to action and string gauge being adjusted out with intonation (moving the saddles to increase scale length from the minimum). Frets are placed according to that scale, measured as a fraction of distance from the nut, or previous fret. In general, the 12th fret is halfway between the nut breakoff and the bridge, although intonation and adjustments mean this is not always 100% true. Frets are placed by taking the scale length (lets say 25.5" as a common scale length) and multiplying that number by 0.94387431268169346507008873870183 or whatever number of decimal places makes you feel more comfortable. The answer is the distance from the bridge end of the scale to the next fret. Take that answer and multiply it by 0.94387431268169346507008873870183 again to find your next fret. In playability terms, scale length affects string tension, sustain, tone and the gauges of strings you can use. A bit of physics doesn't go amiss here! Tonally, different scale lengths change the frequency content of notes played on the strings - a Les Paul (moderately short scales) sounds very different to a long scale baritone six-string for example. Reading (by buying) Melvyn's book is worth many times it's weight in salt (gold appears to be a more important hard currency than books right now in this financial climate) and I believe Melvyn has been working on a new edition recently. Whilst you're waiting for Amazon to deliver, use the search function on here as there's a wealth of information at your fingertips here for free. Feel free to ask questions of course, although you can pretty much guarantee that 99% of your questions will already have been covered at least once! Other than that - what six-stringer said :-D BTW - if you're using a bridge with a limited intonation adjustment range (like an ABR-1) then drop the bass side of the bridge back by around 1/16"-1/8" further back than double the length from the nut to the 12th fret. Good luck bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanesque Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I concur. I suppose this isn't the kind of book that a library might have? If not I will go buy one. I'm actually a mechanic by trade, and also restored a 65 Corvair that I drive every day (and other cars I don't own anymore) and I'm on a forum where the regular guys yell at the newbies to use the search function too. I think part of it is that people who are new to the trade don't even realize how elementary their questions really are. Who knows. As I have probably states elsewhere, I live in an apartment. my tools are limited, not only what I own now, but in terms of what I can use/buy. I've intonated my own guitars, cutout my own headstock designs...I've wired my own pickguards, built my own pedals... I'm not COMPLETELY dense/out-of-the-loop..I don't think I would go so far as to say that my "safety" is at stake. I DO however understand the importance of knowing what you're getting into and having some sort of knowledge. I will say though, at least I have the smarts to ask these questions instead of tacking a bridge to a guitar I just spent 5-6-7 days refinishing. That's got to be worth something The bridge is a TOM roller type. I haven't yet recieved the neck so we'll see when I get it, but scale makes good sense now. Thank you for that. Ryan (who JUST woke up....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I concur. I suppose this isn't the kind of book that a library might have? If not I will go buy one. I'm actually a mechanic by trade, and also restored a 65 Corvair that I drive every day (and other cars I don't own anymore) and I'm on a forum where the regular guys yell at the newbies to use the search function too. I think part of it is that people who are new to the trade don't even realize how elementary their questions really are. Who knows. I think that's the real clincher - the first steps and the initial directions to take always tend to be the ones best guided. Intuition and everything else that goes along with that develops from there, and given your background you should get off to a flying start. There's a fair amount of tutorial information on the parent page (www.projectguitar.com) which covers ground such as you mention. Remember to post pictures! We all love to see instruments develop into the finished article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanesque Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 In the In progress area I'm going to post some pictures.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 I concur. I suppose this isn't the kind of book that a library might have? If not I will go buy one. I'm actually a mechanic by trade, and also restored a 65 Corvair that I drive every day (and other cars I don't own anymore) and I'm on a forum where the regular guys yell at the newbies to use the search function too. I think part of it is that people who are new to the trade don't even realize how elementary their questions really are. Who knows. As I have probably states elsewhere, I live in an apartment. my tools are limited, not only what I own now, but in terms of what I can use/buy. I've intonated my own guitars, cutout my own headstock designs...I've wired my own pickguards, built my own pedals... I'm not COMPLETELY dense/out-of-the-loop..I don't think I would go so far as to say that my "safety" is at stake. I DO however understand the importance of knowing what you're getting into and having some sort of knowledge. I will say though, at least I have the smarts to ask these questions instead of tacking a bridge to a guitar I just spent 5-6-7 days refinishing. That's got to be worth something The bridge is a TOM roller type. I haven't yet recieved the neck so we'll see when I get it, but scale makes good sense now. Thank you for that. Ryan (who JUST woke up....) It's okay Ryan, Also thank you for giving us some background on you. So now I feel better about some things as well. again we are here to help as I'm sure you will be able to give some great info on other subjects as well. So now the new quest begins with a fresh outlook. So don't be afraid the ask, when you have studied and it still makes no sense. Sometimes the Forest gets in the way of the trees and sometimes it's just plain Bass Ackwards. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanesque Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 haha thanks Joe. Nothing like a nasty reply to make a new forum member feel at home right? I've seen that happen and it is unfortunate. Here's a pic of it last summer. Hopefully it doesn't get me in trouble around these parts. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Nothing like a nasty reply to make a new forum member feel at home right? I've seen that happen and it is unfortunate. Here's a pic of it last summer. >snip Pic< Hopefully it doesn't get me in trouble around these parts. Ryan So Joe, I'm not that bad as MR K am I? or are you referring to someone else? I know I can be a hard a$$. Now Ryan thats one nice looking ride. I Remember my Mom buying a NEW 65 maybe 64 ( been a long time ago) Corvair Monza 4 dr. Man that was a cool car. I was 7 to 9 then. It was dark metallic green. MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 So Joe, I'm not that bad as MR K am I? or are you referring to someone else? I know I can be a hard a$$. Quite the contrary, sir...You are a beacon of light, hard a$$ wise... Thank you very much . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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