samdjr74 Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 Hi All, I have a question regarding the difference between scale lenght for a guitar neck. I am interested in purchasing the carvin neck-thru blank that has a 25" scale but I want to use a speedloader on it which only comes in either 24.75" or 25.5" scale. Is there anyway to make up for this difference? Maybe changing the nut location? Any ideas would be great. I'm guessing if my scale lenght is off my intonation and tuning will never be correct. Thanks, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 The floyd piece itself acts as a nut... so I'd think you'd need to either add a zero fret or a slim, like fender style, nut to make up the difference. Sounds like precision work to me... kinda scary . Definately practice on some scrap first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 It's just a neck blank, right? No fretboard? I think it's possible but the best way to be sure is to make a full sized drawing. I don't know if that neck blank has an area cut where the fretboard is supposed to end - if so, I think you might end up losing a fret - but I don't know for sure. Try the drawing, I'd be interested to hear what you come up with. Oh yeah, I don't think moving the nut would be the best way to go - maybe just moving the bridge a bit (if you can). Do you already have a body made up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdjr74 Posted December 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 The carvin blank has the fret board already installed and the speedloader bridge has a set scale with double bullet end strings so if I move the bridge I need to move the nut, it's tricky. And carvin only makes the 25" scale which is a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 It's just a neck blank, right? No fretboard? I think the carvin neck "blank" is fully fingerboarded, fretted and ready to go (even has the nut, see westhemann's V.) Hmm... thought about it some more. If you get the 25.5" speedloader, you'd have an 1/2" to play with. The stock carvin nut is smaller than 1/2". I think you should be able to use the speedloader "nut" behind (and in addition to) the carvin graphite nut like the old Kahler behind the nut locking clamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannoG Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 All the frets on that Carvin board are laid out for 25 inch scale. Moving the nut would allow it to be in tune for open strings only. All other fretted notes would be very out of tune. This won't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_urr_A Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 Yep, placing the speedloader nut behind the default nut on the neck should enable you to do this. Just make sure you place it where it's supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 speedloaders rely on a specific string tension, over a specific scale length. Changing the scale length, changes the amount of string tension required to achieve the desired pitch. The strings cannot be shortened, or lengthen, as they are a fixed size. Moving the speedloader nut further behind a "standard" nut, will mean the string tension is incorrect, and you will not be able to get the correct pitch. Moving the bridge closer to the speedloader nut, will mean the strings will be slack. It will not work at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 speedloaders rely on a specific string tension, over a specific scale length. Changing the scale length, changes the amount of string tension required to achieve the desired pitch. The strings cannot be shortened, or lengthen, as they are a fixed size. Moving the speedloader nut further behind a "standard" nut, will mean the string tension is incorrect, and you will not be able to get the correct pitch. Moving the bridge closer to the speedloader nut, will mean the strings will be slack. It will not work at all. Some very interesting points Perry. I thought about this for a while. Setting the speedloader nut behind the nut will compensate for the length. As for tension... hmm... On a 25.5" scale guitar the distance from the nut to the 1st fret is about 1.5" for a 1/2 step tone difference. So, the difference in tone from 25.5" to a 25" scale guitar (1/2") is about a 1/6 step micro-tone. How much tension difference would this be? Pretty small I think... and more importantly, within the range of it's "Range Tuning Screw." ... from the floyd rose webpage: Each SpeedLoader Bridge saddle is equipped with a Range Tuning Screw. The Range Tuning Screw enables the set-up of the fine-tuning range for any tuning configuration, including standard tuning, drop tuning and open tuning. Once the Range Tuner is set to the desired pitch range, tuning is accomplished by rotating the fine-tuning thumb screws only. That quote above's mention of drop tuning and open tuning (using the same calibrated set of speedloader strings) makes me suspect that it is possible. Well, anyway, the absolute best recourse for samdjr74 would be to join and ask this same question on the floydrose mailing list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 i got the same thing when i read about it...in order for it to be worthwhile it would definately have to have a way to compensate for different tunings. i think it is possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 I also think it's possible. The only noticeable difference would be slightly less tension on the shorter scale length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdjr74 Posted December 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 Hi guys, Thanks for all your input. I sent this question into floyd rose and am waiting to hear back from them. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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