This may be a dumb question, but how is a bass scale arrived at. On my 34" scale, where is it measured from, the headstock to the end of the fretboard?
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Measuring Scale
- Thread starter jefft54
- Start date
From the nut to the bridge saddle. The two points where the string is anchored basically. The distance between the two is the vibrating length of the string, or the strings "Speaking Length". This is what scale length is.
jefft54 said:
There are no dumb questions. None of us were born knowing how to measure scale length.
What Juneau said is spot-on.
Actually, it is the distance from the nut to the 12th fret multiplied by 2. This can be different than the measurement from the nut to the bridge saddle because the saddles are movable.
To the bridge saddle should be accurrate within 1/4" anyhow. Only reason it wouldnt be spot on is because to intonate the string, the saddle may not rest exactly on the 34" or 35" mark or whatever. Reguardless, if your saddle is moved, then your scale length is increased too, and the measurement from nut to saddle is still the actual scale, just not the rounded down number. If its 34.25", then thats actually what your scale is on that string. On "single scale" instruments, they all actually have a little variation in scale length technically, but it is refered too as a single scale thats approximate.
All a matter of semantics really. Technically the scale length is the speaking length of the string, which is measured from nut to bridge saddle. However, if your refering to the overall scale of your bass (assuming its a single scale), then its technically an average of the speaking lengths of individual strings, and the nut to 12th fret x 2 will give you a nice even number.
So if you want the overall scale of your bass, nut to 12th fret x 2 will give you what you need, and if you want a very specific speaking length of an individual string, with its tension and guage all factored in, then measuring from the nut to the bridge saddle will give you that exact number.
Single scale instruments arent technically single scale, the variation is just small enough that the industry refers to it as a single scale length.
So if you want the overall scale of your bass, nut to 12th fret x 2 will give you what you need, and if you want a very specific speaking length of an individual string, with its tension and guage all factored in, then measuring from the nut to the bridge saddle will give you that exact number.
Single scale instruments arent technically single scale, the variation is just small enough that the industry refers to it as a single scale length.
There are two things. Scale length is the what the frets are layed out at and can be measured from the crown at the nut to the crown of the 12th fret x 2. String length is the actual length of the string (ha?!). That number is basically the scale length + compensation or the distance from the crown of the nut to the crown of any saddle. The scale length will be the same across all the strings on 99.99% of instruments, all the novax and old-timey fan fret instruments aside. It's the string length that differers from string to string.
Not to be combatative, but it still sounds like semantics to me. Scale Length is defined as the speaking length of the string from my understanding, and from your description, you refer to Scale Length and Speaking Length of the string as two different deffinitions.
I do understand what you mean, the frets being parallel means they have to use a number thats the same across all strings, but Im not sure if youd call it Scale Length (and maybe Im wrong, your the builder Scott hehe). Might you have any references that separate the deffinitions of the two?
I do understand what you mean, the frets being parallel means they have to use a number thats the same across all strings, but Im not sure if youd call it Scale Length (and maybe Im wrong, your the builder Scott hehe). Might you have any references that separate the deffinitions of the two?
Scott French said:
+1
On a standard(non fanned) instrument, the frets are layed out based on the scale length of the instrument.
Speaking length and string length sound like the same thing to me, Juneauoid. But you're right it is semantics. Guitar building isn't a standardized industry so I'm sure 20 builders will have 15 different ways of saying the same thing. I don't really care what people say to describe what thing. The definition I gave is the one I've learned and it makes the most sense to me.
Great info. I've only been on these boards for a few weeks, but you people seem to know your stuff. Thanks for the education.
Geoff St. Germaine
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- Aug 31, 2001
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- Owner - St. Germaine Guitars
Whether the scale is the how the frets are laid or how long the string is is semantics. I think that it's actually somewhere in between. 
That said, every manufacturer that I know of is referring to twice the nut to 12th fret distance as the scale length, or rather how the frets are spaced, not how long the string is with compensation.
That said, every manufacturer that I know of is referring to twice the nut to 12th fret distance as the scale length, or rather how the frets are spaced, not how long the string is with compensation.
Reviving an old thread...
I've just been reading thru some of the threads about how to measure the "scale" of a bass guitar, and it seems to be a debate between "nut to 12th fret x 2" vrs "nut to bridge saddle".
I've got 3 different basses (a 72 Precision, a 72 Telecaster, and a 20something Jaguar) that are all said to be "34 inch scale". When I measure from nut to bridge saddle, they all 3 do indeed measure 34 inches (give or take 1/8" here and there). But when I measure from nut to 12th fret I get "16" x 2 == 32 inches, and nut to the *middle* of 12th fret (which I've *also* heard was the correct way to measure it), I get "16-3/8" x 2 = 32-3/4 inches.
Likewise, I've got a "32 inch scale" 2012 Squier Telecaster bass that measures 15" from nut to 12th fret which = 30 inches, or 15-3/8 to the middle of the 12th fret which = 30-3/4 inches; yet measuring from nut to bridge saddle = 32 inches.
So it seems obvious to me that the "nut to 12th fret / middle of 12th fret" is *NOT* actually the correct measurement for the "scale" of a bass guitar.
I've just been reading thru some of the threads about how to measure the "scale" of a bass guitar, and it seems to be a debate between "nut to 12th fret x 2" vrs "nut to bridge saddle".
I've got 3 different basses (a 72 Precision, a 72 Telecaster, and a 20something Jaguar) that are all said to be "34 inch scale". When I measure from nut to bridge saddle, they all 3 do indeed measure 34 inches (give or take 1/8" here and there). But when I measure from nut to 12th fret I get "16" x 2 == 32 inches, and nut to the *middle* of 12th fret (which I've *also* heard was the correct way to measure it), I get "16-3/8" x 2 = 32-3/4 inches.
Likewise, I've got a "32 inch scale" 2012 Squier Telecaster bass that measures 15" from nut to 12th fret which = 30 inches, or 15-3/8 to the middle of the 12th fret which = 30-3/4 inches; yet measuring from nut to bridge saddle = 32 inches.
So it seems obvious to me that the "nut to 12th fret / middle of 12th fret" is *NOT* actually the correct measurement for the "scale" of a bass guitar.
You're mistaken, and you can't possibly be measuring to the 12th fret correctly.
It's twice the distance from the inside edge of the nut to the top center of the fretwire at the 12th fret. That distance will be 17" on any 1972 Precision or Tele Bass.
I think you are measuring to the 11th fret, not the 12th. The 12th is the one after the double dots. On a 32" scale bass, it will be exactly 16" from the forward edge of the nut to the center of the 12th fret. From the nut to the fulcrum point of the bridge saddle will measure about 32 1/8" on the G, up to about 32 3/8" on the E.
A standard Fender 34" scale measures exactly 17" from the front face of the nut to the center of the 12th fret.
Edit: Reading back over your post, I think you may be confused about what to measure to. When we say to measure to the center of the 12th fret, we mean the center of the fret itself, the shiny wire that goes across. Not the space on the fingerboard between the frets.
A standard Fender 34" scale measures exactly 17" from the front face of the nut to the center of the 12th fret.
Edit: Reading back over your post, I think you may be confused about what to measure to. When we say to measure to the center of the 12th fret, we mean the center of the fret itself, the shiny wire that goes across. Not the space on the fingerboard between the frets.
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Yes, nut to octave fret * 2 is roughly the 'mathematically perfect' scale length, which is stated in specifications.
However sometimes the nut can be offset slightly from it's mathematically perfect position to compensate for the intonation shift caused by slot height and break angle, so measuring nut to octave fret may not be exactly correct.
It's always the frets themselves that determine 'perfect' scale length.
However sometimes the nut can be offset slightly from it's mathematically perfect position to compensate for the intonation shift caused by slot height and break angle, so measuring nut to octave fret may not be exactly correct.
It's always the frets themselves that determine 'perfect' scale length.
