How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

T

T-Bone-BBQ

New member
I have a PRS SE Santana Standard that has a 24.5" scale and is all mahogany body/neck with rosewood fretboard. The first bridge pickup I replaced the stock pickup with was a Custom 5 which does have good, strong bass and was no surprise to me that it had a pretty thick tone. I noticed on some videos of me playing that guitar with my band that it seemed to have a little trouble cutting through the mix, so I ended up swapping the C5 for a JB w/A2 magnet that I had in another guitar that sounded pretty bright. The swap did help some and the JB is a great pickup, but I still think it had some trouble cutting through and sounded much thicker in the Santana than the PRS SE Tremonti I took it out of. Yesterday I swapped the JB for a 59/Hybrid that I had in a Strat-style guitar and it seems to be the best fit for me with the Santana although it certainly sounds thicker than it did in the Strat-style guitar.

That got me to thinking...is the Santana so warm sounding due to the scale length? Maybe the all mahogany body/neck also plays a part, but I've got at least one other guitar that's all mahogany (PRS SE Custom 24 Std) that's not as warm/dark sounding. It has the standard 25" PRS scale tho. My Duncan Jazz neck pickup is also much warmer/thicker sounding in this guitar compared to others.

Any thoughts?

On the flip side I've also got my SE Tremonti Custom that seems to be brighter sounding no matter what bridge pickup I try...LOL...
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

I have an Ibanez RG2 25.5 scale with JB/Jazz and triple shot rings
My Ehdwuld 24.75 scale semi hollow LP shaped custom guitar has the same set up

The Ehdwuld has black no hole covers and the RG2 pickups are bare
Both are master tone and master volume

They sound very similar to me
The covers may make the slightest difference

Oh and while the Ehdwuld is supposed to be mahogany w/ maple cap
Its probably Basswood just like the RG2
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Yep, you really notice it if you try a mini in the 22" range.
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Thanks for the input everyone. I really think the 59/hybrid will be a good pickup for the Santana.
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Doesn't string gauge also come into play?
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

String gauge does - there is an episode of That Pedal Show where they play the same guitars with light & heavy strings and the lighter strings are noticably brighter - but scale length also matters. I assume it is due to the lower tension of a shorter scale?
Add to that the fact that you can run thicker strings on a shorter-scale guitar tuned to the same pitch and it gets pretty hard to figure out which effect is which.

Gretsch hollowbodies tend to have a shorter scale and I suppose all the maple and those bright pickups sort of balance that out?
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Longer scales have more twang. Shorter scales have a rounder, looser tone.

That’s one reason why putting humbuckers on a Strat doesn’t make it sound like a LP (plus the wood it’s made from)


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Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

A HUGE amount! Once owned 3 carvin X220C guitars a Pink 1990 ( which I still own BTW) with a 24.75 scale 24 fret neck, a Black 1990 with a 22 fret and the LS 175 optional 25.25 scale and a black 1993 24 fret with the 25 scale. All 3 had a maple neck ebony fretboard poplar body wings and all 3 had M22 pickups a SD bridge and a N in the neck with Floyds. The Pink 90 was by far the thickest the black 90 the snappiest and the 93 was in between. The difference in tone was quite noticeable.
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Benjy_26 said:
Weird. My Bullet Mustang feels slinkier than my LP, even though I string the LP with 10's and the Mustang with 11's.
Click to expand...

It's actually 22.5", which explains what you are feeling. Shorter scales lead to fatter tones and slinkier playing.

As a side note, if you're scale LP has a scale length of 24 5/8th inches or (preferably) 24 9/16th inches, it makes you a tone monster.
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

It has a very big affect on tone. It is by far *the* most overlooked aspect in tonal analysis and discussion, IME on guitar forums.

For just one specific example, when people discuss chasing Brian May's tones, they want to obsess over the onboard electronic aspects, pedals, etc...but rarely do you hear anyone say something like, "The most important thing is to start with a short scale guitar" – which really is the case IMO. To me, a stock vintage-style Jaguar or Mustang sounds more like the Red Special than a Strat with the same exact pickups and same exact switches as the Red Special. It's not that the electronics don't matter; it's just that scale length has a *huge* impact, and it is usually ignored by tone seekers. There's a "rubberiness" to the attack that cannot be replicated with a longer scale guitar. And in addition to the raw tonal differences it causes, scale length also has a very large affect on how the guitar plays, which in turn tends to affects what one plays and how he/she plays it. Technique changes when going from one scale length to another, whether you realize it or not.
 
Re: How much affect does the guitar scale have in tone?

Chistopher said:
It's actually 22.5", which explains what you are feeling. Shorter scales lead to fatter tones and slinkier playing.

As a side note, if you're scale LP has a scale length of 24 5/8th inches or (preferably) 24 9/16th inches, it makes you a tone monster.
Click to expand...

Bullet Mustangs are 24.75".
 
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