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Neck scale problem

Discussion in 'Luthier's Corner' started by Jazzdall, Jun 26, 2008.

  1. Jun 26, 2008 #1
    Jazzdall

    Jazzdall

    May 29, 2005
    Hey all, i really need your help. Im putting together a mismatched guitar for my friend. (yea, a guitar, not a bass, sorry, i like bass people). Im putting on a floyd rose on a 25-1/2" scale guitar. i know that for sure. i checked on stewmacs fret calculator. however, at the bottom of the page it said "Distance from nut to center of forward-most mounting screw or pivot post" should measure in at 25-1/2". my question is, is that right?

    I ask becasue I would figure the scale length would be from the nut to the saddle, not nut to pivot post. This worries me because when the bridge is zeroed out, the saddle is 5/8" away from the pivot post (i can get the distance as close to 3/8" but as far away as 7/8").

    If you dont understand go here. [URL="http://web.mac.com/jazzdall/iWeb/Jazzdall/Guitar%20Restoration%20I/F0BC57A6-7038-420D-B8E9-EB3CA3E1E2F9.html[/URL]

    Thanks for any help anyone can offer. Thanks a lot!
     
  2. Jun 26, 2008 #2
    mb17180116

    mb17180116

    Apr 30, 2006
    Washington Court House OH
    Im no expert but i would say that if you have your saddles relatively in the middle...make sure that there is exactly the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret as there is from the 12th fret and to the saddles..and you should be in business.
     
  3. Jun 26, 2008 #3
    Jazzdall

    Jazzdall

    May 29, 2005
    I noticed on my factory acoustic guitar. the distance between the nut and the 12th fret is about 1/2 inch less than the distance than the distance from the 12 fret to the saddle. and it has good intonation. Wierd? also my bass the distance is also greater between the 12th fret and the saddle but only by about 1/6" inch. also with great intonation. wierd?
     
  4. Jun 26, 2008 #4
    Jazzdall

    Jazzdall

    May 29, 2005
  5. Jun 26, 2008 #5
    ctmullins

    ctmullins Dominated Gold Supporting Member

    Apr 18, 2008
    MS Gulf Coast
    I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
    Well, I'm not a fan of either 25.5-inch scale length guitars or Floyd bars, but I do know a thing or two about the physics of a vibrating string.

    Put the high E-string saddle in the middle of its range of adjustment, then measure 25.5 inches from the nut to the "break point" of that saddle. You want the free vibrating length of this string to be 25.5 inches, so wherever the string leaves the saddle and leaps into thin air, that's your measuring point.

    Is your whammy a real Floyd, or a knock-off? Stew-Mac tends to give very specific measurements based on "standard" parts, and if yours has some manufacturing tolerance differences, you're going to be off from where you should be.

    The most important thing is to have the proper scale length with the bridge at its "rest" position, leaving enough fore-and-aft adjustment room for the saddles. Then let the pivot posts fall where they may.
     
  6. Jun 26, 2008 #6
    Jazzdall

    Jazzdall

    May 29, 2005
    thanks todd.
    As far as i know, The Floyd is an original. I can browse their site more to see if i can find some measurements for that bridge.