Learn how your comment data is processed. The first big difference between these two scale lengths is string tension. Fender's 25.5-inch, commonly referred to as "twenty-five and a half", is considered the standard scale length that most guitar companies use. DON'T MISS A BEAT, sign up for StewMac news, Cyber Monday Sale! Every string requires a slightly different length in order to intonate properly. Scale length is one of the most pertinent differences between the Fender Jaguar vs Jazzmaster. Don't make a new nut just to fix a low slot—fill it! Shorter scale lengths (less than 25" in guitars and 32" in basses) usually give a warmer tone and provide for easier playing, especially ⦠Scale: The scale length of most Fender and Squier guitars is 25.5â, which can be found on Strats, Telecasters, and others. So if you love really, really low action, going with a longer scale length will actually give you the ability to get even lower to your frets without getting that dreaded fret buzz. And of course some wild baritones and things like that, that have really long scale lengths. Obviously, there’s still going to be some different sonic characteristics present on these different instruments, but this will kind of bridge the gap a little bit. Again evolving from the Jazzmaster, Leo Fender considered this his most sophisticated vibrating bridge. 21 Fret Size. So, there is a balance of scale length and playability. So I’m curious to hear what your favorite scale length is down in the comments. But almost none of them have been quite so hotly debated or have gone on for quite as long as the debate between Gibson guitars and Fender guitars. This is a list of electric guitars that have a scale length of 24.75 inches, and I'm also including other brands and models all the way down to the 24 inch scale. Believe it or not, scale length also affects your guitar’s action—well, kind of. Finding your scale length, how it affects tone, and more. How do Fender and Gibson scale lengths compare? You can stretch out a lot further on the fretboard than you could on a longer scale length, and you can slide from note to note with a little bit less movement and a little bit less effort. For example, Stratocaster and Telecaster scale length is the standard 25.5-inch length as you can see in the picture below. All three boast offset bodies that make them comfortable to play and 24-inch scalesâa step down from the typical 25.5-inch scale of many Stratocasters and Telecasters. You have everything from like a 23 and a half inch scale on the Byrdland, up to a 25 and a half inch more “Fender-style” scale on the Les Paul Long Scale. Both of them are great in different ways, and there have been a lot of awesome players that have used each one of these different scale lengths. It might seem pretty obvious. 24â (610mm) to 25.5â (648mm) Scale Lengths Believe it or not, Fender has actually used a number of different scale lengths over the course of their history as a company. © 2014-2020 Stringjoy, LLC. Almost like what you see with multi-scale and fanned fret guitars, just in a much subtler way. There are a few debates that have raged throughout the guitar world for generations. Now in a longer Fender-style scale length, generally you get more of a strong, sort of bell-like tone, and you have a little bit of a clearer, tighter bottom end. Whenever playing a Fender Stratocaster or Fender Telecaster, you are playing a guitar with a neck that has a 25.5-inch scale length. Of course, this is not a rule set in stone; there are always exceptions. The 25-1/2" produces a rich, strong, bell-like tone, and defined low-end. Fender's most popular pick shape in different materials. Only 2 left in stock - order soon. A 34â scale bass is fine for a 4-string bass. Build the pedal that redefined overdrive. Therefore, the standard method to determine a guitarâs scale As mentioned in the introduction, scale length is the distance between the bridgeand the nut of a guitar. Medium Jumbo Nut Material. Selecting your instrument also calculates the bridge position for proper ⦠Modifications of the specs may also be made (within limited parameters) to adjust for your individual playing st⦠Just like we talked about earlier, if you want to play a note that’s an octave higher than your open string, you need to reduce that string’s length by half. Active pickups versus passive pickups. Despite the minor gap in the numbers, the difference in height between the two instruments is extremely obvious when comparing them in person. If you’re not super familiar with tension—we talk about it a lot here at Stringjoy—the quick primer is: if you have more tension that generally is going to mean that it’s going to take more force to fret a note or bend a note. If it seems like a coincidence that your 12th fret is exactly halfway from the nut to the bridge, it’s not. Pick up two guitars that are otherwise identically ⦠Search. That range is going to be a little bit tighter when you have a longer scale length and a little bit wider when you have shorter scale lengths. Antonio De Torres (1817â1892) used a scale length of 25.6 inches (650 mm), and later makers have followed suit. Basically, when you have a longer scale and you have more tension on a string, that string is going to vibrate a little bit less widely than it would on a shorter scale length. It makes a big difference. On a Gibson style scale, the harmonics you get from lightly touching the strin⦠And that’s right…sort of. To determine the guitar's scale count the markers past the 24th fret; there are 2, 3, and 4 markers ⦠As an example, the Jaguar is ⦠Indian Laurel Fingerboard Radius. What does change is the range of available actions that you can set your strings at, if that makes any sense. On some Electric Bass instruments like this Fender Coronado II (pictured below) the "Scale Length" is 30" but the distance from Ball End to Saddle is a longer distance than on most instruments. The latest Mustang features a 24-inch scale length, a "C"-shaped maple neck with 22 medium jumbo frets, two single-coil pickups, a master volume, a tone cotrol and a three-way pickup switch. Gibsons and Fenders sound way different for a host of reasons that have nothing to do with scale length. You have a little bit more length on your lowest string typically, and then each string has progressively less length as you move up towards the highest string This exists mainly so that you can intonate your strings. What that means is that—all things being equal—on a longer scale length, if you have your string a little bit closer to the frets, it might not hit the frets and cause buzzing the way that it will on a shorter scale length. The most common scale lengths on acoustic guitar are as follows: 23â (580mm) Scale Lengths. Try searching a different location below or contact Fender Customer Service at 800-856-9801. Basic physic principles of wavelength and frequency dictate that the 12th fret of a guitar, which marks a pitch one octave above the open-string note, falls at the halfway point of the free-vibrating section of the spring. Fender But if we try to isolate for that, and look at a bunch of different guitars that have different characteristics and see what kind of groups them all together, what we generally see is that shorter scale lengths have a little bit more of a warm tone, they have a little bit less clear of overtones and can sound almost a little bit muddier to some ears. Conversely, if you have really big hands, or you just like to be a little bit more precise with hitting your individual notes, having broader or wider distances between your frets gives you more room to work with. So, what do you do if you have guitars featuring each of these different scale lengths, and you want them to play a little bit more evenly, play a little bit more like one another? If everything else is equal—you have the exact same gauge of strings, the same brand of strings, and you have your guitar tuned to the exact same notes—if you have a longer scale length, you’re going to have more tension, and if you have a shorter scale length, you’re going to have less tension. To change string gauges, you can set your strings at, if that makes any sense 22 inches 24! From the Jazzmaster, Leo Fender considered this his most sophisticated vibrating.! Used a lot of different scale lengths so, there are a little bit different Stratocaster or Fender scale. 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