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Buying gauges from stewmac - English or metric?

Discussion in 'Hardware, Setup & Repair [BG]' started by hags2k, Jan 17, 2013.


  1. Jan 17, 2013 #1
    hags2k

    hags2k

    Jan 27, 2010
    Im looking at getting a gauge, specifically this one. Not sure if it even makes a difference since units can be converted, but I wondered if there's an advantage one way or the other. I'll be using them to set up fender and fender-style basses. Normally I'd just go metric, but I've seen a decent amount of documentation with suggested measurements in fractions of an inch, so I thought I'd check before buying. I'd rather not buy both since they're a bit pricey and I won't use it that often.
     
  5. Jan 18, 2013 #2
    walterw

    walterw Supportive Fender Gold Supporting Member Commercial User

    Feb 20, 2009
    alpha-music.com
    i wouldn't know what to do with the metric one. (my USA bias i guess, if i were a tech in japan or germany it might be the opposite situation.)
     
  10. Jan 18, 2013 #3
    Pilgrim

    Pilgrim Supporting Member

    Jul 8, 2004
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Same here. I'd buy whatever set was in the format I was most familiar with, then convert if needed. If you're getting info from TB, about everything here is in SAE measurement, not metric.
     
  14. Jan 18, 2013 #4
    TC424

    TC424

    Jun 24, 2010
    Holtwood, PA
    I have one of those. I believe it's SAE. The important thing is on the back it has a conversion table of inches into decimal places and into metric. IE 1/4" = .250 inches = 2cm. Those numbers I plucked from the air. Math gurus, please ignore.
     
  18. Jan 18, 2013 #5
    Dave W

    Dave W Supporting Member

    Mar 1, 2007
    White Plains
    I've got one in SAE as well, but if I were living in a place that used the metric system as a standard I'd go with that one.
     
  22. Jan 18, 2013 #6
    SoVeryTired

    SoVeryTired Endorsing nothing, recommending much

    Jul 2, 2011
    Milton Keynes, UK
    Whatever you're comfortable working in and whatever you're getting recommended measurements in. I tend to use metric but the Fender setup guides, for example, give both imperial and metric.
     
  26. Jan 18, 2013 #7
    hags2k

    hags2k

    Jan 27, 2010
    Thanks for the suggestions!

    That's the thing - In my mind I am very comfortable with centimeters and milimeters, but I've gotten a lot of info in SAE units.

    Still, I think I'll go with metric. Even though I'm in the US, for small distances I can "see" mm and cm without thinking about it, but I've really no idea about fractions of an inch without a ruler.
     
  31. Jan 18, 2013 #8
    SoVeryTired

    SoVeryTired Endorsing nothing, recommending much

    Jul 2, 2011
    Milton Keynes, UK
    I know what you mean. In the UK we operate with a strangr mixture of the two measurements. For long distances I think in miles, for weight it's usually pounds, for height it's feet and inches but for precise distances I think in cm and mm as they seem better suited to small measures than tiny fractions of an inch. That's just my brain though. YBMV.
     
  35. Jan 18, 2013 #9
    hags2k

    hags2k

    Jan 27, 2010
    I'm right there with you. I think of miles per hour, my weight in pounds, and if you ask my height, i'll say 5'10". But mm make a lot more sense to me for distances at that scale.
     
  39. Jan 18, 2013 #10
    warnergt

    warnergt

    Oct 25, 2007
    Vortex of sin and degradation
    +1 I picked up the one with inches. Most of the specs I have
    seen are in inches.