Im looking for a guitar that has a 27 scale length yeah im a giant, my arm length from middle finger to middle finger is 64. I saw on utube building diddley hows and i am excited to learn and play. The scale length of an instrument is the distance from the nut to the bridge. If you find this utility useful, please link your site to this page. After doing this for a while someone mentioned that no one would hear the difference if i simply used 17. Any help, info or advice would be greatly appreciated. Selecting your instrument also calculates the bridge position for proper intonation. I would say the only 1 rule that would be a constant is whatever scale length you come up with. The actual length of the scale is the measured length between the backside of the nut or from the center of the zero fret, if there is one installed to the center of the saddle midway between the 3rd and 4th strings. The tuning pegs were purchased online from a well known auction site. Contribute to gajewsk2stringulator development by creating an account on github. Using this calculator you specify the scale length for the other strings, then if you specify the fret number as, say, 2 it will return the offset from the nut of a fret placed two fret positions behind the nut. Now you can easily generate fret positions automagicaly. Guitars of every kind at guitar gallery in nashville, tn.
The shorter scale also makes the guitar feel easier to play due to less string. I know this may sound stupid, but how do i calculate scale length. This fret calculator works really well although scale lengths are often measured. Guitar makers will find this program very handy for custom scale length guitars. But it also raises the pitches of the strings a halfstep. This will also provide you with nuttofret and frettofret dimensions. The scale length of an electric guitar affects both its playability and its tone. Select based on if you entered a scale length of inches or millimeters. Scale length is defined as the distance from the nut to the saddle on the first, or high e string.
How scale length affects tone fender one of the most common scale lengths is the fender 2512 guitar scale. Longer scale lengths give more room for your fingers and allow more space for the pickups and extra frets. Please note, the fret calculator will not convert scale lengths, you can use our measurement converter to convert your scale length. Found on stratocasters, telecasters, and the huge variety of instruments inspired by them as well as the replacement, and custom parts available for them. Whats the difference between longscale and shortscale guitars, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each. How to measure scale length on a guitar to measure the scale length of a guitar, you simply measure the distance from the edge of the nut to the center of the 12th fret and multiply that measurement by two. Fret calculator guitar building books and guitar making. By using this tool, you can determine the length fingerboard you should purchase. Scale lengths vary depending on overall size of the instrument. When the scale length is correct, the high e string should be intonated properly. Cigar box guitars, or cbgs, have been made in the u. The scale length of an instrument is the distance between the edge of the nut and the nominal bridge saddle position. If the scale length is multiscale, then this number must be no greater than the total number of strings.
Is it possible to make a 27 scale guitar from a 30 scale bass fretboard by just cutting off at the first fret making where the first was the nut placement for a 27 scale guitar. Calculator results show angles over a range of frets to give you an idea of slantability up and down the neck. The 2512 produces a rich, strong, belllike tone, and defined lowend. The stewmac fret calculator can give you fret measurements for many different instruments. I have stumbled upon another fret calculator and i tend to like this one a little better because frankly.
Scale length tends to be thought of as the distance from the nut to the bridge saddles string length. For example, a 34 size steel string guitar might have a scale length of 23 inches 580 mm. The scale length in decimal inches is the only thing that needs input from the user. Guitar scale lengths are usually between 24 and 26. This fret scale and fingerboard length calculator can be used to calculate fret scale and fingerboard length. People without enough money for proper instruments have historically made cbgs from cigar boxes, along with other make shift materials that could be found or purchased inexpensively. If these had the endorsement of jerry byrd, why didnt they use the 22 12 scale as prefered by jerry. Any instrument can have any design, but is the scale lengths that. Kiesel guitars carvin guitars products kiesel guitars carvin guitars. Adjust the start fret option to further highlight a finger pattern for playing the selected scale in a different position on the fretboard. Here is a list of some online fret placement calculators i have found either useful or interesting. Hi rphilp, i used the stewmacdotcom fret calculator, put in the scale length, set it to dulcimer and pressed calculate to get a list of measurements.
Fretfind2d is a two dimensional fretboard design tool. The scale length is a major determinant for the pitch range of the instrument. For a new calculation hit the reload button of your browser. It impacts both how a guitar feels in the hands of the player as well as how the strings themselves feel when played. Jguitars scale calculator will draw scale diagrams showing the fretboard with notes in the selected scale highlighted. The scale length or distance measured from the nut to the saddle. Bass scale lengths generally stay between 30 to 36. This calculator uses a style of notation which is variously. Also the longer scale seemed to make for a fuller tone. The scale length of a guitar is always twice the length from the front of the nut or zero fret to the 12th fret.
Since scale length helps determine where the bridge will rest in relation to the placement of the x brace, scale length really can change a guitars tone quite a bit. Mostly handmade, acoustic guitars, by individual luthiers of the highest caliber. Because of this approach, it can design fretboards for instruments with multiple scale lengths and nonparallel frets as well as. Measure fret spacingprintable fret template handmade. Here we take a look at what a guitar scale length is, how it affects tone, tension, and playability, and learn a little about the history of the fanned fretboard. After winzip has extracted all the setup files, go to that folder and run the setup. Measuring the scale length of jackson soloist note.
A piano, however, has different scale lengths to make it easier to cover a greater range of pitches. Fretted instrument bridge saddle compensation calculator. You can also calculate map scale, distance on map and distance in real life on map scale calculator page. If you know your scale in millimeters you have to convert to decimal inches. The long and short of it scale length has a substantial influence on a guitars properties. For guitars and other fretted instruments the placement of the frets is based on the scale length. Desired octave is a number which describes which octave the note is in. The capo acts moreorless like a new nut, shortening the effective scale length of the strings to roughly that of a les paul. However, you rarely hear a guitar player mention scale length, and scale length has a significant impact on both playability and tone. Enter the scale length in millimeters if you need millimeters. Measuring the distance from the nut to the saddles is not.
The calculator uses the following to determine the angles. The strings feel tighter and sound brighter more twangy. Regarding playability, a shorter scale length allows more compact fingering and favors shorter fingers and handspan. You might have seen the term scale length when looking at guitar specs and wondered what is scale length on a guitar. We find that using a short scale will most often make a guitars tone softer and warmer. For an explanation of the gibson scale length changes over the years see note. How to calculate fret spacing on a cigar box guitar. Its easy to understand once you know but its also a bit of a confusing way to do it so if you dont know it would be hard to figure it out for yourself. Jerry byrd has stated that 22 12 is the ideal scale length for a steel guitar. It doesnt print a template but will give distances in inches or mm, its more precise to choose mm. There are a few online fret calculators that will give you the fret spacing for any given scale length.
Some common guitar scales expressed in inches and millimetres. Measurements calculated in both imperial and metric. However, on the excel, jerry byrd, model console guitars, the scale length is an even 22. The scale length the distance from the bridge to the nut the nut width the distance between the top and bottom string at the nut. If you want fret distances in inches enter your scale length in inches.
Is optimum scale length dependent on where your interests lie. The scale length of a guitar has a large impact on the sound and feel of the guitar. It models the entire fretboard, strings and frets, as a system of line segments on a two dimensional plane. Imagine you took a strat in standard tuning and capod it at the first fret. Enter the scale length and number of frets and fret specs pro will output the measurements for fret spacing, fret to fret, nut to fret and fret to bridge measurements are calculated.