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I am to purchase 1 or 2 fretboards from John at Cnc Guitarparts. But I was wondering what the different in sound it will be between say gibson 24.625" scale length and Kevin Ryan 25.7 . I am to build a guitar for this person who plays lots of solos and strumming and play always with a plectrum. his type is mostly 60th. I know it might be a hard question to answer but I´ll throw it in here anyway.

Lars.

Hi Lars,

You can do a little experiment to answer your question (if you have a longer scale guitar like 25.4 or 25.7).

Tune the guitar to standard tuning and play a little (notice the playability and string tension) and listen to the sound nuances - if possible make a recording.

Then tune the guitar one half step down and put a capo on the first fret. You now have essentially a shorter scale with standard tuning again.

hope that helps,
Christian

Lars:

The shorter scale puts less tension on te string so the attack is a little more muted. The energy is more emphasized in the bass registers and inversely higher oriented in the longer scale. Condensed, the shorter scales are easier to play, but lose bite.

And yes, you can noticably tell the difference. The main distictions, in electrics between Fenders and Gibsons is the general scale length... Gibson favoring the shorter scale. At what difference the scales become predominate/noticable in acoustic guitars I can't say. But it is a valid consideration.

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Lars, Stew-Mac has a description of different scale lengths on their web site here is a link.

http://www.stewmac.com/fretscales

Thanks for the answers.
Christian, I will try this idea !! . Sounds like a good way to find out.

I new most of the rest allthough one of the reason I was wondering, was that as soon as I see a guitar that has 25.7 scale, the notice on that guitar mostly reads "great fingerstyle guitar" etc. so then what scale is the sole strumming guitar .
(I am refering to steel string acoustic guitars)

Lars

Lars,
Of course, there are many other building aspects to consider, but in a very blunt and general way, short scale necks seems to be warmer and softer sounding, whereas longer scales are brighter and seem to emphasize more high harmonics. To my ears at least.
Cheers
PS, I would guess 25.5 to be the standard "strumming" scale, if one considered a Martin style dread the standard "strumming" guitar. But it's also really pleasant to strum a nice J-45 with it's 24 3/4 scale.

Let's add another variable to the mix.

I haven't had time to experiment with this yet, but maybe someone can comment on the tonal or just differences between short scale with medium strings vs. long scale with light strings. When running the numbers on tension, the medium strings at 24.9" pull only about 6lbs more tension than light strings on a 25.4".
A capo and two sets of strings could be enlightening, but I'm out in the middle of nowhere and won't be near a music store to get some strings until we get home after the 4th of July.
It would be neat to know if anyone has any experience with this.

thanks for any comments anyone might have.

Dave

The best trade-off between strumming and fingerstyle is 25" scale! Use it and Be Happy!

_________________
-donh-

Everything is a tone control!

'Anharmonicity' refers to the amount that the overtones are sharp compared with a true harmonic series. All else equal, lighter strings will be less anharmonic than heavier ones, since they are not as stiff, and stiffness is the thing that sharpens the pitch of the harmonics. By the same token, the longer the scale length the less anharmonic the strings, since they will have more tension at the same pitch. The higher the ratio of tension to stiffness, the less anharmonic the string is likely to be. So the long scale with light strings benefits both ways.

Thank You Alan.
That's the first time I've ever seen anyone put that into words.

Dave