30.5 inch (almost) scale from a 34 inch fretboard

[sniper]

i was doing some poking around last night with a fret calculator and found some really cool information about how frets are cut and the relationship to the length of the cuts between frets for a few scales.

if you study the first scale (30.291") it starts out at 1.7" from the nut. then look at the second scale (34") at fret number 3, it is 1.7" from the 2nd fret and the numbers jibe from then on with both scales.

lets go back to the first scale. in another post i was told the scale length should intonate about the true scale length plus the width of the string plus a little in the case of flat wounds or jazz strings.

doing the math that would be 30.291" + .106 for a set of TI flat wounds + a schooch more.

30.291+.106+.010 ( a guess here for a schooch) = 30.407 or pretty dang close to 30.5 gibby short scale. if i guessed wrong about the schooch, then if one used a good adjustable bridge like a Schaller (almost 1" adjustment) or a Badass (with over an inch of adjustment) and measured his to be scale at 30.25 setting his bridge with all the saddles forward, then i'll bet a dollar to a dog plop it would intonate about where i said it would. 30.407" all from lopping off a few frets from a 34" board.

this works the same with a 32.092" scale = just lop off the first fret from the nut end! i always wondered how Gooberson came up with a 30.5" scale for the short basses!  when it comes to just a bit over 30.375 or 30-3/8ths inch scale.

30.291" fret scale               
fret        from nut        fret to fret    
1        1.700"        1.700" (nut-1)    
2        3.305"        1.605" (1-2)    
3        4.819"        1.515" (2-3)    
4        6.249"        1.430" (3-4)    
5        7.598"        1.349" (4-5)    
6        8.872"        1.274" (5-6)    
7        10.074"        1.202" (6-7)    
8        11.209"        1.135" (7-8)    
9        12.280"        1.071" (8-9)    
10        13.291"        1.011" (9-10)    
11        14.245"        0.954" (10-11)    
12        15.146"        0.901" (11-12)    
13        15.996"        0.850" (12-13)    
14        16.798"        0.802" (13-14)    
15        17.555"        0.757" (14-15)    
16        18.270"        0.715" (15-16)    
17        18.945"        0.675" (16-17)    
18        19.582"        0.637" (17-18)    
19        20.183"        0.601" (18-19)    
20        20.750"        0.567" (19-20)    
21        21.285"        0.535" (20-21)    
22        21.791"        0.505" (21-22)    
23        22.268"        0.477" (22-23)    
24        22.718"        0.450" (23-24)   
               

34" fret scale                           
fret        from nut        fret to fret    
1        1.908"        1.908" (nut-1)    
2        3.709"        1.801" (1-2)    
3        5.410"        1.700" (2-3) this would be the first fret on the 30.291" scale
4        7.014"        1.605" (3-4)    
5        8.529"        1.515" (4-5)    
6        9.958"        1.430" (5-6)    
7        11.308"        1.349" (6-7)    
8        12.581"        1.274" (7-8)    
9        13.783"        1.202" (8-9)    
10        14.918"        1.135" (9-10)    
11        15.989"        1.071" (10-11)    
12        17.000"        1.011" (11-12)    
13        17.954"        0.954" (12-13)    
14        18.855"        0.901" (13-14)    
15        19.705"        0.850" (14-15)    
16        20.507"        0.802" (15-16)    
17        21.264"        0.757" (16-17)    
18        21.979"        0.715" (17-18)    
19        22.654"        0.675" (18-19)    
20        23.291"        0.637" (19-20)    
21        23.892"        0.601" (20-21)    
22        24.459"        0.567" (21-22)    
23        24.995"        0.535" (22-23)    
24        25.500"        0.505" (23-24)    

[drbassman]

Yep, when I do a 30" scale bass I just lop off the first 2 frets.  Works every time.  I'm also gonna do a 32" scale sometime too.

[sniper]

i guess this might not be the long lost road to spiritual enlightenment but it does kinda spit polish the bippy a little.................cool  , thanks for the support Dr.

[Dave W]

Yep, this is why Ibanez' short scales are 30.3" scale. They don't have program their CNC for a different scale length.

Also, IIRC the short scale Fender guitars (Jaguar, Musicmaster) are Tele/Strat minus the first fret. They're not exactly 24".

[drbassman]

I suspect a fraction of an inch one way or the other doesn't make a huge difference in the overall scale of things!  And enlightenment is definitely good for the soul, mind and body!

[shadowcastaz]

Man, does that save some work. Im kinda partial to short scales. Thank U, thank U