What Model?

If you're lookin' to buy one, I have an SR 800 LE that I'm sellin'. But if you're wondering what the SR 800 LE means, SR = Sound Gear 800 = model LE = Limited Edition

 

If it says MADE IN JAPAN , has a Painted Neck , has Rubber tone controls...
P/J pickups , and DOESNT say what model it is, then I can say it is Indeed an SR800

 

I have a question myself on the SR800LE. Is it a 35"?

I have 3 basses, and one's a short scale, and the other's a regular (34") scale. But for some reason the SR800LE seems longer than the 34"...?

 

Yeah.
Basswood Body and Maple Neck.
Gotoh Tuners.
They come with 2 bridges, the older one has a bridge that raises/lowers all the sadless together, the other has individual height adjustment.

 

The SR800LE is not 35"
In fact the only 4 String basses that I know that have 35" are the Modulus.

 

I believe that the SR800 is a 34" scale. Every Soundgear that I have ever heard of is 34".

Small bodied basses like the Soundgear can appear to be longer scale because the necks are a little longer due to the shorter distance from the neck joint to the bridge.

The easiest way to find out the scale length of a bass is to measure from the nut to the 12th fret and multiply by 2.

 

Wouldn't it be easier to just measure the whole thing, since you're already gonna have the measure out?

I mean, I'd think it'd be inaccurate since the distance between frets your 12th fret and your first fret is quite different.

It's undeniable that you're 1st-12th frets are of a greater distance than your 12th-24th (if you have a 24 fret bass)

So that would never work.

Sorry...

 

The scale length refers to the distance from the nut to the bridge saddle, so the easiest way to determine the scale length is to measure (with an accurate measure) the length between those two points. Do not include the nut or saddle in your measurement.

 

WRONG.
Embellisher said it the proper way.

WHY??
Because each string has a different actual length in particular, because of the Intonation adjustment for each string each sadle could be nearer or farther from the nut, making you think its actually a 35"

Also, measuring from THE NUT to the 12 Fret is accurate , because the 12th Fret is the middle point of the string , thats why the second harmonic is there. (1 Octave Higher than fundamental)
Then, if you take a measure from the 12Fret to the 24 Fret it would be the 1/4 of the Total string length. Now can you realize how it works? The Harmonics would be at the 5th Fret and at the 24th Fret 2 Octaves Higher than the fundamental.

Btw, Crawling Eye, have you worked with Harmonics? If you learn Harmonics you can understand a lot of String vibrations.

 

The distance from the nut to the 12th fret is <font color=red>always</font> half of the total scale length, no matter what the scale length or number of frets.

If you don't believe me, go to a music store and measure the distance from the nut to the 12th fret on every 34" scale bass that they have. Care to guess what the answer will be?!?!? 17 inches.

Like Luis said, the reason that the measurement from the nut to the bridge will not work is because if you bass is intonated properly the strings will be all different lengths,

Ferinstance, on my Pedulla Rapture J2 5 string, the measurement from the nut to the bridge saddle is around 34 3/8 inches, and on the G string it is around 33 3/4 inches. The E, A and D strings are kind of a stairstep from the B up to the G. Didn't want to measure them all and bore everybody.

I hope that helps you understand my post a little better.

Luis, thanks for the backup, and great advice on the harmonics.

 

Thought that I would address this comment in a separate post.

The number of frets that your neck has and the scale length itself are both irrelevant to the fact that the 12th fret is always at the midway point between the nut and the bridge.

If your frets are set up for 12 tones per octave, the 12th fret is an octave up from the open string. As Luis pointed out in his post, the midway point of the string(which is exactly where the 12th fret is, BTW) is where the 2nd harmonic(or 1st overtone, I believe) is located, and that is exactly the same point where the octave of the open string is.

This is consistent no matter how many frets, strings, pickups, necks or bodies your instrument has, and it even applies to all other stringed instruments, including lutes, guitars, banjos and even instruments with no set means of dividing the string, such as a piano or harp. If you measure a piano string from one end to the other(I have no idea what the parts are called, harp and bridge, maybe??) and put your finger on midway point while somebody presses the corresponding key, it will sound the 2nd harmonic, or first overtone, or whatever.

Make any more sense now?

 

No problem!!
I have been learning a lot of Harmonics from Michael Manring lately... I just love the way he has mastered them.
I can now play up to the 12th Harmonic in the C, G, D, and A strings.. E and B are too difficult.

 

I'm aware of where your 12th fret is, and all your harmonics, but I can't see how if you take your 12th-24th fret it'll be the same length as your 1st-12th frets. And I'm also aware of octaves, you can get a couple octaves of your Low E like 2nd fret d.
12th fret Low E. 14th fret d, and so on. There's many more, I just really didn't feel like putting every octave down...

 

...speaking of intonation...

How often would you guys recommend your intonation being set? Is there a easy way to learn to do it yourself? My basses were last intoned... never!

 

Who said that 0-12 and 12-24 Had the Same Length?? NOBODY!!
In fact!! 12th to 24th Is Exactly HALF of Nut to 12th Fret.
And if we go on,,, 24th to 36th (If it has that amount of frets) would be exactly HALF of 12th to 24th, and 1/4 of Nut to 12th and 1/8 of Nut to Bridge.
See??
Its all physics!!

 

You should set it when changing strings or after making any neck or bridge adjustments. You should also set it if you find the bass seems out of tune in various parts of the neck yet in tune elsewhere.

It's easy to do if you have a tuner (or a very good ear). Check the Bass Player web site (http://www.bassplayer.com) or the Fender website (http://www.fender.com, then follow links for Mr. Gearhead) for instructions on how to do it.