Most of the guitar-buyers simply ignore to check the scale length of a guitar. But this is not a feature to overlook. Rather scale length is an important factor for a musician. An expert and experienced musician will definitely check the scale length of a guitar before purchase. All the guitars don’t have the same scale lengths. You will find different scale lengths in different kinds of guitars. So, you must gather some information about scale lengths before buying a guitar. You also have to understand the function of the scale length.
What is the scale length of a guitar?
First of all, you should understand your guitar’s scale length. The distance between your guitar’s nut and bridge is the scale length of your guitar. The scale length of your guitar also determines the maximum sound length of your guitar’s strings.
How can you measure your guitar’s scale length?
The measurement of your guitar’s scale length is not a complicated thing. But you can never measure the exact scale length of your guitar. The scale length is not a consistent metric every time. You can barely get the general scale length of your guitar. This measurement differs from time to time as with the changes in guitar’s settings. Each of the guitar’s strings has different scale length commonly. You can just measure the scale lengths of all the strings. Then simply calculate the average of all the measurements. There is another way to get a nearly accurate reading. You can just measure the distance between your guitar’s nut and the centre of the 12th fret. Then just double the measurement to get the scale length reading of your guitar.
How does the scale length affect the music?
The quality of your music depends upon your guitar’s scale length. Read the following points to understand how scale length affects music.
- The scale length of a guitar will determine the play-ability of it. A guitar with a good scale length is more enjoyable to play.
- Scale length also impacts the fret spacing of your guitar. Beginner guitar-players won’t feel much different in fret spacing. But the experienced musicians know the function of scale length behind fret spacing.
- The scale length of a guitar has a good influence on the string tension. Every musician knows the importance of string tension to create good music. So, it is important to concentrate on the scale length to ensure good string tension.
What is the ideal scale length for a guitar?
The scale lengths of guitars vary from brand to brand. There is no specific metric as an idea scale length. According to the experts, a length of 24.75-25.50 inches is an ideal scale length for any guitar. But some modern guitar brands like Ibanez, Chapman are providing guitars with scale lengths more than 25.5 inches.
So, you must have understood the significance of scale lengths in guitars. This is an essential feature to check for every guitar-buyer. Go through all the information above to get a clear idea about the scale length of your guitar.
