Official Luthiers Forum!

Both of the parlor size guitars I've built so far have a 24.75" scale. I want to build the next one with a 25.4" scale and I'm deciding between two options. One is to keep the neck/body joint at the 12th fret which moves the saddle south ~3/8". The other is to make it a 13 fretter which moves the saddle ~1/4" north. I'm leaning toward making it a 13 fretter for the extra fret clear of the body and a smaller repositioning of the saddle which is pretty much centered in the lower bout as is when using the short scale. In either case, I would tweak the x-brace angle to capture the bridge ends in the same way as on the short scale version.

Is there anything else I should be taking into consideration in deciding between these two options?

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Hi Jay,
I'm assuming you meant 25.4 for the long scale. I build size 1 guitars with this scale and join the neck at the 12th fret. This model has a fairly long body and the additional scale length isn't too noticeable. Some parlors have shorter bodies, and if that was the case I would consider the 13 fret option.

Oops. Yes, 25.4". One of these days I'll stop doing that.

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter