Is it easier to play say a 24" vs a 25.5"? I am finding I have trouble stretching my fingers wide enough for some finger placements but maybe it is just something you are able to do over time.
Thx!
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I began on a 25.5 scale...and because of short stubby fingers...all my personal built guits are 24" scale now a days.....I find them easier for myself....I generally use a lower gauged set of strings...so to get closer sound to a 25.5 scale guit.
Let me go the complete opposite direction here and say that the instruments I've built were generally 17" scale, and 19" scale, and 21" scale was really pushing it for me.
But you can make them any size you want. Once you decide on the tuning you think you'd like (say GDg), you go here:
and for each string, put in your desired open tuning note and the scale length of your instrument and it tells you what string to use. Then to to Gitty's string page and pick out a set of strings that comes pretty close.
Thanks for posting and the link. I am not sure being a newbie I totally understand how it works. Where they say select open tuning am I to say open g if I am planning on gdg or do I need to select each string individually? Also for the strings on cbgitty I noticed they say for 24 to 26 inch range. Do they also sell for shorter lengths and I am just missing it?
Each string, one at at a time and get the calculation of the string you need for the open tuning you desire. Remember that they use a notation system that indicates octaves. For example G and g are an octave apart, as are g and g'. Thus the tuning Gdg is how they would describe the standard CBG tuning we around here often call GDG. Right now I cannot recall what this notation system is called, but there is a great wikipedia article about it, if only I could remember the search terms to use.
Then buy a set that is pretty close to the three numbers you got from the calculator. The length of the actual string is unimportant. If you build small, like me, you end up cutting off a whole lot.
FWIW, I have found that shorter instruments tend to be louder if you go with higher open tunings. My favorites have been AEA, but you'll end up playing alone because who plays in A? Only crazy old-time Appalachian fiddlers.
TN Twang > Diane in ChicagoMarch 16, 2015 at 10:34am
...and mandolins and Irish tenor banjo players. (All tuned and fingered about the same.) A and D seem to be their best open keys.
For fretted, I like 22 to 24 inch. Easier to play for smaller and arthritic hands. The downside to shorter scales is that the shorter you go, the harder it is to get the intonation right or at least acceptable. A tenth of an inch error on a 25.5 inch scale is not as major as a tenth of an inch error on a uke or mando.
On the other hand, for fretless slide.... longer scales are easier to play. Good sounding long slides and you can be off a bit and have it still sound good. My license plate guitar is nearly 28 inches in scale.
Replies
I began on a 25.5 scale...and because of short stubby fingers...all my personal built guits are 24" scale now a days.....I find them easier for myself....I generally use a lower gauged set of strings...so to get closer sound to a 25.5 scale guit.
Let me go the complete opposite direction here and say that the instruments I've built were generally 17" scale, and 19" scale, and 21" scale was really pushing it for me.
But you can make them any size you want. Once you decide on the tuning you think you'd like (say GDg), you go here:
http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm
and for each string, put in your desired open tuning note and the scale length of your instrument and it tells you what string to use. Then to to Gitty's string page and pick out a set of strings that comes pretty close.
Thanks for posting and the link. I am not sure being a newbie I totally understand how it works. Where they say select open tuning am I to say open g if I am planning on gdg or do I need to select each string individually? Also for the strings on cbgitty I noticed they say for 24 to 26 inch range. Do they also sell for shorter lengths and I am just missing it?
Thanks again!
Mike
Sorry so long to reply.
Each string, one at at a time and get the calculation of the string you need for the open tuning you desire. Remember that they use a notation system that indicates octaves. For example G and g are an octave apart, as are g and g'. Thus the tuning Gdg is how they would describe the standard CBG tuning we around here often call GDG. Right now I cannot recall what this notation system is called, but there is a great wikipedia article about it, if only I could remember the search terms to use.
Then buy a set that is pretty close to the three numbers you got from the calculator. The length of the actual string is unimportant. If you build small, like me, you end up cutting off a whole lot.
FWIW, I have found that shorter instruments tend to be louder if you go with higher open tunings. My favorites have been AEA, but you'll end up playing alone because who plays in A? Only crazy old-time Appalachian fiddlers.
...and mandolins and Irish tenor banjo players. (All tuned and fingered about the same.) A and D seem to be their best open keys.
Mike
Great! Many thanks.
For fretted, I like 22 to 24 inch. Easier to play for smaller and arthritic hands. The downside to shorter scales is that the shorter you go, the harder it is to get the intonation right or at least acceptable. A tenth of an inch error on a 25.5 inch scale is not as major as a tenth of an inch error on a uke or mando.
On the other hand, for fretless slide.... longer scales are easier to play. Good sounding long slides and you can be off a bit and have it still sound good. My license plate guitar is nearly 28 inches in scale.
Uncle John,
What kind of strings did you put on a 28" neck? Extra extra light?
Being a non-meticulous craftsman and a hack musician, I use whatever strings I have on hand. Usually cheap and usually electric.
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