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Location: When?? | So, to measure a guitar's scale length, the measurement is taken from where the edge of the nut meets the fingerboard on down to the crown of the 12th fret wire.. then double that number for the ultimate scale length statistic on any given guitar. Okay, fine. But, I ask, what is the purpose of doubling it instead of just calling it by its plain measurement?
I’m sure there’s a very viable answer, but I’m in the dark. Anyone got a light?
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Location: Central Massachusetts | I think the idea is that scale length is actually from nut to bridge, but due to compensated and/or adjustable bridges you can't get a consistent measurement at that end of the string. From string to string, and from guitar to guitar. But doubling the measurement from nut to 12th fret gives you a process that should work repeatably across the board. |
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Location: When?? | DVD.. I assume you meant "saddle" instead of "bridge".. or essentially, the point on the bridge where the strings make contact. But by that, yep, I understand what you are saying. The 12th fret is basically the "half" way mark.. and.. is a fixed point perpendicular to all strings. As I wave the dummy flag I admit that I was not even taking into consideration the compensation angle of the saddle. Duh! Makes sense now... thank you! |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | Yep, sorry, :s/bridge/saddle/g |
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Location: closely held secret |
vi doesn't work on posts. Believe me, I've tried.
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Location: When?? | What is "vi"? |
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Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Great question!! |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Love O Fair - 2017-01-10 8:23 PM
What is "vi"?
6
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Location: Muenster/Germany | In Germany the scale length is the whole lenght of the string from nut to bridge, (for instance Ovation 64,5cm. 0,5cm less than usual steelstrings, that´s why they are that little bit better to play).
I think that´s what the guitar player wants to know, short scale, normal or long scale. I have guitars with 63, 64, 65 and 66cm scale. By the way, when will you finally get reasonable and change to the metric system? I´ll get mad with all these 1/16 and 1/32....;-) |
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Location: When?? | Arthur, ya crack me up. Happy new year. |
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Location: When?? | @DetleMichel - "By the way, when will you finally get reasonable and change to the metric system?"
Good question. Maybe Arthur knows. |
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Location: Central Massachusetts | I was wondering if anybody would get my little joke. Waskel, I should have known you would. UNIX/tech geeks will get it. Otherwise, Arthur has the best answer. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I figured it was computer geek-speak. I don't speak it, but I know Waskel and dvd are fluent. Speaking of speaking, is it a coincidence that fluent is the root of effluent? |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Love O Fair - 2017-01-11 7:47 AM
@DetleMichel - "By the way, when will you finally get reasonable and change to the metric system?"
Good question. Maybe Arthur knows.
Never!
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Location: Muenster/Germany |
Never!
[/QUOTE
I mean, the mix of different measure systems is sometimes confusing. I remember when I once
picked up an american friend if mine at Frankfurt airport and we drove home on the Autobahn with about 170 km/h (which is not very fast in Germany), and he later told me that he was scared to death because he thought it would be miles on the speedometer....and another example is a church built of wood in the north of Sweden which was planned in foot and after the architect´s sudden death was built in meters and they realized the mistake too late it when they started to build the pews...now it´s the biggest wooden church in the world. |
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Location: When?? | As for the metric system, the USA switched over to that way back in the 1970s. Most everything in mass usage has been required to be labeled in both inch/millimeter, gallon/liter, mile/kilometer, etc. ever since for the convenience of those who may need to rely on it. Your American friend has probably never bothered to look at the metric numbers on his American-auto speedometer, but trust me, they're on there right next to the MPH (or easily switched to on the digital-read ones). Do they require those dual measurement methods on European products? Nope. So you see, we actually have the best scenario of free choice (but still, no one around here much pays attention to the metric stuff).
Edited by Love O Fair 2017-01-12 12:07 PM
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Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Fluent also being the root of affluent so one could possibly be affluent and still have effluent?? |
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Location: When?? | Dave, yes. One would have to be affluently effluent to realize this, otherwise it's just watered down information. I hope that isn't too murky. |
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Location: Canada | DetlefMichel - 2017-01-12 6:04 AM ....and another example is a church built of wood in the north of Sweden which was planned in foot ... It probably went wrong because they used the wrong shoe size ... |
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Location: Muenster/Germany | Love O Fair - 2017-01-12 6:57 PM
As for the metric system, the USA switched over to that way back in the 1970s. Most everything in mass usage has been required to be labeled in both inch/millimeter, gallon/liter, mile/kilometer, etc. ever since for the convenience of those who may need to rely on it. Your American friend has probably never bothered to look at the metric numbers on his American-auto speedometer, but trust me, they're on there right next to the MPH (or easily switched to on the digital-read ones). Do they require those dual measurement methods on European products? Nope. So you see, we actually have the best scenario of free choice (but still, no one around here much pays attention to the metric stuff).
That´s very interesting, didn´t know that you live sort of sychronous with both measurement systems. Maybe wiser than with one...but still I srew up my minimal-mathematical-gifted brain if a friend from the USA tells me about the gas-mileage of his new car with "miles per gallon" if I have to transform it with mental arithmetic into "liters per 100 km".....;-) |
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Location: When?? | @DetlefMichel - " if I have to transform it with mental arithmetic...."
What gets really tricky is when you ask your friend where he parked his car, and he says "over yonder", and you actually understand where it is. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | A Californian shouldn't poke fun at anyone about distance or direction. They express distance in reference to time and most, but not all, of the highways start with "The". |
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Location: Canada | DetlefMichel - 2017-01-13 11:36 AM ... a friend from the USA tells me about the gas-mileage of his new car with "miles per gallon" if I have to transform it with mental arithmetic into "liters per 100 km".....;-) And it's even more complicated because there's more than one gallon. A friend from the US probably refers to a US gallon which is 3.785411784 liters. But a friend from the UK would refer to an imperial gallon which is 4.54609 liters. In Canada it's really confusing because although the SI system is officially used many people especially elderly ones with low literacy like to use terms like inch, foot, gallon, mile; but some of them are associated with the US and others are from the UK so you can never really be sure how much anything is until you clarify if they refer to the US or the imperial system. |
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Location: Muenster/Germany | I learn many new thingsabout the USA-you have parking space? We don´t, 1/2 of our cars have to keep moving. |
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Location: Muenster/Germany | d'ovation - 2017-01-13 7:36 PM
And it's even more complicated
Ok I´ll get me a pocket calculator. And at the gas station I´ll handle it like always: make full. No complications. |
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Location: Thredbo, NSW, Australia | d'ovation - 2017-01-14 5:36 AM
Canada it's really confusing because although the SI system is officially used many people especially elderly ones with low literacy like to use terms like inch, foot, gallon, mile; but some of them are associated with the US and others are from the UK so you can never really be sure how much anything is until you clarify if they refer to the US or the imperial system.
Down here in Australia we converted from Imperial to Metric in the 1970s. This was after I'd left school where we were taught using mostly Imperial and a little Metric.
Although there was some pain involved for my generation and those before with the conversion, it was worth it in the long run. The metric system is just so much easier to work with. Now the only measurement that I use that isn't metric is a person's height. Don't know why. |
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Location: When?? | @Mark In Boise - "A Californian shouldn't poke fun at anyone about distance or direction. They express distance in reference to time and most, but not all, of the highways start with "The"."
Yeah, that's the CA savvy slang. But I, like you, also come from the Intermountain West, and I know it drives everyone back home (Salt Lake) nutty when I state distance in time. I guess that part of California dialect comes from the larger cities where miles don't really mean anything since the traffic only creeps along half of the time anyway, so the matter usually boils down to how much "time" they are going to be stuck in the car instead of how far. Though here in the backwoods of CenCal we still zip right along, and anything "yonder" is still part of the understood yokel. The reason for the "The" prefix is because most of the freeways here are named after people or locations, so it's simply called "the" Eisenhower, Nimitz, Harbor, Long Beach, etc. Then some people get a bit more abbreviated and use only the highway number, like "the" [insert number here]. At least most people are still detailed enough to give the direction of travel. |
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| We northern California folks generally don't use "the" except for a couple of, named Bay Area exceptions (Nimitz, Bayshore) If anyone refers to I-5 as "The 5", we immediately know they're from SoCal. Another hint, never say "Frisco". If you're in the greater Bay Area, simply say "the City" and you'll sound like a local.
We also discuss weather in terms of altitude. Here in the Sacramento area we get no snow but "1.5 hours away" and 7,000 feet higher they can get 10 feet or more in a matter of days. |
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A Question About Scale Length...