Baritone fret spacing

[Curtis1]

Hi all, considering making the change from a 25.5" 7 string to a 26.5" or 27".

People talk about the longer scale making stretches harder.

Iv searched this online, but from what i can work out, adding an inch and a half to a guitar divided between 24 frets would do absolutely nothing noticable to how far you stretch?

Can someone please enlighten me on how this whole thing works with regard to fret distance. Much appreciated people thankyou!!! xx

 

[Winspear]

I agree.
It's exactly 1 fret added behind the nut going from 25.5" to 27". So everything will feel one fret lower. Easy!

 

[Levi79]

For what it's worth, one of my main players is 24.75 and one is 27" and it's not even noticeable.

 

[Curtis1]

Sorry to seem naive but can you please elaborate a bit on what you mine by things 'feel one fret lower'! I like the idea of additional tension but wana get this fret business sussed out!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I occasionally have some 10 fret reaches starting at the 12th fret. I can feel it there on my Warmoth 28 5/8" scale, but I doubt that you would on any of the lower baritone scales.

 

[Winspear]

27" is like placing a fret behind the nut on 25.5" and removing the 24th fret So the spacing of chord 2-4-6 on 25.5" will feel exactly the same as 3-5-7 on 27"
You could also think of 25.5" as 27" with a capo on the first fret.

 

[SirMyghin]

As Ethereal explained, the 2nd fret of a 27" scale instrument is the same width as the first fret on a 25.5".

The long scale doesn't make it a baritone though, the pitch range it is tuned to does. Baritone guitars are tuned lower, and have a longer scale only to facilitate this, not have a longer scale and are therefore baritones which people tune lower.

I occasionally have some 10 fret reaches starting at the 12th fret. I can feel it there on my Warmoth 28 5/8" scale, but I doubt that you would on any of the lower baritone scales.

Ever heard of tapping

 

[Curtis1]

I get ya now! Thankyou for explaining that to me! Any of you guys find the range of 7 strings a bit black and boring? Struggling to find something to suit me!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

As Ethereal explained, the 2nd fret of a 27" scale instrument is the same width as the first fret on a 25.5".

The long scale doesn't make it a baritone though, the pitch range it is tuned to does. Baritone guitars are tuned lower, and have a longer scale only to facilitate this, not have a longer scale and are therefore baritones which people tune lower.



Ever heard of tapping

Yup, but it's speed picked, it was an Allan Holdsworth inspired lick that I've had in my stuff for over 20 years. It wouldn't be the same tapped. It's a song that only gets played on my TFS6 in A440, 24.75" scale guitar, but I did try it on the bari.

 

[RV350ALSCYTHE]

I've been playing a 27" scale for a few weeks now and I notice the slight difference with the longer scale. All my muscle memory has been formed using 25.5" so the very slight increase in distance between frets forces me to stretch out ever so slightly and it's causing early cramping and muscle pain. I'm fine improvising with chords and scales but once i start playing an actual song on the new scale things get sore/stiff/tense real fast.
I'm positive it will go away in time, I got used to a 30" 6 string a few years ago. As I mentioned earlier I've only been playing 27" for a couple weeks but I thought I'd add my experience with the change from 25.5"

 

[bob123]

Hands are different. I feel the difference pretty significantly from 25.5 to 24.75....

 

[Kali Yuga]

It's noticeable, but it's not much. I actually prefer the fret spacing on baritone scale lengths.

 

[luca9583]

The long scale doesn't make it a baritone though, the pitch range it is tuned to does. Baritone guitars are tuned lower, and have a longer scale only to facilitate this, not have a longer scale and are therefore baritones which people tune lower.

Not really...If it was simply a matter of what pitch it's tuned to then there wouldn't be such a thing as a baritone guitar.

It's like singers...it's the timbre of someone's voice that makes them a tenor, baritone or bass for example, even though all three of these types of singer share certain areas in their vocal ranges.

So i think the longer scale length of a guitar does in fact make it a baritone, in the same way that a short scale length of around 22 3/4 makes a guitar a tenor guitar.

 

[Konfyouzd]

27 feels natural to me now. But there is a noticeable difference and some folks really don't like it. My friend finds it uncomfy to the point that he just won't play em.

 

[Kwampis]

I think the difference between 25.5in and 27in is just barely noticeable. Frankly the first time I played a guitar with a 26.5in scale I didn't even notice that it was an extended scale at first.

Like others have said, you can imitate the feel of a 27in scale by playing some riffs on a 25.5 scale one fret lower than normal. You could also try to find a Schecter 7 string to try out. I think they're all 26.5in.

I like 27in personally. It keeps the low B nice and clear.

 

[F4R537KTP09]

I guess it does change something, but only, maybe, if you play fastpicking and stretches like 1-3-5 all the time. the thing that changes much to me is the thickness of the neck. The thicker the neck, the harder it is to be played. But that's not one thing depending on the sclae length... A good neck will be playable easily with a longer scale, where a bad one is already hard to play with regular scales...
The better advice is to try the guitar before any buying... So you'll know wether it's good to you or not, whatever the scale.