Saddle Up

Last issue, we looked at why scale lengths vary between different models of guitar. As we discovered, the relationship between string gauge and scale length determines the tension of your guitar’s strings at a given tuning pitch. This in turn influences how the guitar plays and sounds, so guitar makers will try to select a scale length that gives an instrument desirable performance characteristics when used with typical string gauges in standard tuning. Generally speaking, most electric guitars have a scale length somewhere between 622mm (24.5 inches) and 648mm (25.5 inches.) As mentioned last issue, scale length is usually defined as the distance from the nut to the 12th