Interesting scale length observation...

[jgcable]

I give guitar lessons and I have noticed something unusual. Usually the players who complain about adjusting to different guitar scale lengths from 25 to 25.5 are most of the time the beginners. You would think that a beginner couldn't tell the difference. My feelings are that they can't and complaining about the different scale is just an excuse or a self justification of why they aren't good yet.
I equate it to a child beginner baseball player complaining that the reason they can't hit the ball is instead of a 29" bat they need a 28". A pro could tell but not a beginner. This is just one of my observations.
The same thing applies to the amount of frets. While I do agree there is a big difference between 21 and 24 frets, most accomplished players can play the heck out of any neck from 21 to 24. Of course, the accomplished players have their prefered specs for instance: I like 24 jumbo frets and 25-25.5 scale but grabbing a 22 fret 24.75 Gibby with a fretless wonder neck or a Fender strat with 21 vintage frets only takes me a minute to adjust to.
Has anybody else noticed that the real guitar nitpickers are the ones who are just starting out or not really any good?

[Thoraby]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

Dunno. I'm not any good, but I can play any guitar. I really don't get where the people who say:
1. I can't play fat necks
2. I can't play thin necks
3. Can't play narrow necks, etc etc are coming from.
I have a 25.5" Jackson neck with 24 jumbo frets and a R3 nut, a Kramer Nightswan with 24 medium frets with a R1 nut, a regular fender strat with a 7.25" fingerboard radius(read medium/high action) and a old vintage noname axe with a fatass baseball neck.

I can play them all equally well, and they're all different beast.

Conclusion: I suck equally on all guitars [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[hippietim]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

John, I blame the Internet. I didn't really even notice the scale differences until the Internet. That, and I didn't realize the importance of the angle of the little tab on the back of San Dimas era tuners.

[atomic charvel guy]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

i recall evh saying in an interview that ritchie blackmore said he played strats as opposed to les pauls because he doesn't play the pussy way. you do get an extra fret on the les paul than you did on a strat way back when, but i always thought les pauls were easier to play than strats because the neck felt softer to me in the beginning. then as time went by i figured out i like maple and ebony, but i do not like "blowswood", but yet i love les paul standards a whole lot and they are always rosewood. i was fukked up then and i'm fukked up now. i just pick up a guitar now and i either like the way it plays or i don't. was never a fan of 24 frets though.

[noodlesatf]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

I certainly have preferences, and they effect me maybe 5% or so, but nothing big. Fat necks slow me down, and cramp my hand up. Little frets are harder to play legato on. The smaller scale lengths make it easier to bend, but honestly, that is what different string gauges are for.

[atomic charvel guy]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

i like fat necks, but i have gorilla mits for a guy who's only 5'10"

[skarhead]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

i dunno,

today i played a 24F 25.5" schecter and right after that a Gibby gothic V 22F 24.75" and there was almost no difference to me. Same after you i went to my Rhoads. The only difference was when i went to Ibanez - SA32FM and RG 2620 - on the last one i still was able to play but it sucked when it comes to the feel of the neck (I'm 6'7" or so and my hands aren't the smallest also)

The biggest difference i felt was in the neck shape not in the scale length but i was still able to play on any of those. Then probably the frets but it didn't matter that much also

[FSU_Seminoles]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

are the 24.75 done to help for longer finger stretching or for bending purposes ?

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

I've never considered scale length to be a factor when buying a guitar. I do prefer at least 22 frets though, 2 octave span is something I like.

I consider myself to be quite the novice, I can't play a stratneck at all.

[j2379]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

i only notice the difference in the higher frets like past the 17th. & i go from BCRichs that are 24 5/8" scale to jackson 25 1/2" scale. i notice more of a difference in neck width than scale length but i have very small hands. & for some reason i feel lost when playin up on necks that only have 21 frets.

[Newc]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

Because of the fret spacing, the neck on a short scale feels more narrow, even if the back is just as fat as a 25.5" scale. I just put a USA Fusion neck on a WRXT body - it's just as thick in back profile as the DK2 neck on another WRXT body, but feels thinner and skinnier due to the shorter scale.
Both have the same strings (EB SuperSlinky 9s).

A shorter scale length translates into less effort for chords and most scales because you don't have to spread your fingers as far apart. If you've forgotten how much trouble it is for a beginner to spread their fingers and twist their arm/wrist to fret a scale or chord, flip the guitar over and do it with your other hand.

[Sunbane]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

I'm picky like hell about every little detail on a guitar, but I agree with your conclusion, because I suck pretty bad! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I can play about the same on any guitar, regardless of neck profile, fret size, fret number and scale length - but I've noticed that I play a lot more relaxed on some guitars, while I have to struggle a little more with others. And I think this translates directly into better playing in the end.

I think it's mainly psychological though, as I have one guitar that never fails to mess me up. I just blame it on "bad mojo". [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Megadeth79]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

Also there is the issue of string tension. Maybe for the beginners a longer scale is harder to bend etc...

[FSU_Seminoles]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

I believe that as a beginner you should play with what's kind of harder to play like a bigger neck, longer frets so on. I think to exggerate certain movements will help you to feel more comfy with a guitar neck and the day you'll get your Jackson USA for instance, you'll appreciate it much more than if it was your 1st guitar

I'm not a soccer fan but some people wonder why Brazil produce so many good players even if they don't have outstanding facilities. Well one thing that players often mention is that they play with balls that aren't great, fields that barely have any grass and so on. When they start playing on normal or higher quality fields they literally burn the field

[Newc]

Re: Interesting scale length observation...

On one hand I agree - if you've not seen the movie Chariots Of Fire, it's basically about how a group of atheletes convinced everyone to restart the current Olympic Games based on the Ancient Greek Olympics. They were running the same distances and jumping the same heights and lifting the weights and javelins and shot puts and such as the Ancient Greeks described, but the Olympic Council decided those old standards were too harsh on competitors and they shortened the running distance, decreased the weights and javelin and pole vaults and such. Meanwhile, these other guys had been practicing on the harder ones, so they pretty much smoked everyone else who was only used to the shorter/weaker standards [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

On the other hand, a guitar that is effortless to play pays off more quickly, and the end-goal is not to be able to play effortlessly on a fat neck or bigger frets or bigger strings, but to play effortlessly on a good guitar that someone took the time to design with a smaller neck, smaller frets, and smaller strings.
If you start on a USA Jackson, you won't be tempted by Gibson, Fender, or ESP endorsements [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]