The Steel Guitar Forum

I've decided that if I ever find the 3-neck steel of my dreams for sale I won't be able to afford it so I guess I'll have to build it myself and I've been looking at various mfg. catalogs and it seems there are as many different scale lengths as there are builders.so...can anyone tell me if the various scales are just arbitrary #'s or do different lenghts have different advantages or disadvantages ? Is there a "standard" scale length? Thanks for any help ,Jeff

I find that a 24" scale is a nice compromise between all the possible variations.Plus if you play pedal steel which is usually around 24",you can go back and forth between the two without re-adjusting to the differences.Another consideration is string spacing........Wider is better for slanting. A lot of lap and non-pedal steels are as much as 9/16".Whereas pedal steels tend to be around 11/32".

My "SS HAWAIIAN" shown below is a 24" scale and 3/8" string spacing at bridge. Out of all the non-pedal steels I've owned and played(and there has been alot)>I like this set up far beyond anything else>(That's why we built it that way I guess>cause we had the choice).
But Like Jeff said above> it is personal preference.
Before we built my guitar; I did ask Tommy Morrell what he thought the perfect scale length and string spacing is; and of course what he said; is what I settled on.

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Ricky Davis


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All of the above posts are correct.

It boils down to this:

1. The longer the scale, the better the sustain. (All other things being equal).

2. The shorter the scale the easier to make slants at the lowered number frets.

3. The wider the spacing the easier it is to make slants AND less apt to hit a wrong string with one's picks.

4. The narrower the spacing, the more strings one can have with a given bar.

So, as most everything in life, there are trade-off's and compromises.

That being said, it ends up being personal preference.

carl

Does anyone use different scale length instruments for different tunings, depending on how they are played? For example a shorter scale on one that you like to slant with a lot and another for one that uses more full chords needing sustain? Are all double necks built with both having the same scale length?

Jerry Byrd liked the shorter scale...............