Scale Length Comparison: Fender vs Gibson, What's the Difference?

How do Fender and Gibson scale lengths compare? In our Scale Length Comparison we look at the 4 main differences between these two classic scale lengths.

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[Stringjoy]

Thanks for watching y'all! Hope you enjoyed it.

[redshift]

I prefer 24.75 scale length. It seems easier/more comfortable to navigate the fretboard with my shorter fingers.

[SlimRhyno]

This exactly the video I was looking for. Concise, thoughtful, and as objective as a musician can be 😅. But seriously, thanks for making this. I really do appreciate it 🙏

[stanleyeisel]

GREAT explanation! Thanks for taking the time and Effort to clearly explain this phenomenon, you’re a very good teacher.

[rolfvellek]

Extremely informative & well presented. Slightly embarrassed to say, after these years as a sometime hobbyist, I didn't know much about this topic all. Comprehensive in 11+ minutes. Very clear and concise, one of most useful 'gear' videos have seen. Bravo and THANK YOU!

[rickmilam]

Nice explanation. FWIW, I once changed Warmoth necks going from 25.5 to 24.75. The difference is much as you describe. The lowest strings had a bit more of a "piano" quality if that makes sense. Obviously same body, pickups, etc.

[blahblahsen]

i downtune my stuff, so every instrument i have benefits from a longer scale. i went as far as building a 30 inch scale neck conversion for my strat. its almost comically long. with the strat having that like 5 inches of wood behind the bridge for purely comfort, with a 30 inch scale its basically the length of a bass side by side. got some stringjoy strings on it, 125-15 custom gauge for super high tension in drop D1 and i intentionally flattened and mirror-polished the frets so it has a slight string buzz on every string, every fret. sounds like a death metal sitar. i friggin love it. Now on a bass, if you tune lower than B, your really need a 35+ scale length to get any clarity.

[OscarBenben]

It makes a difference in your playing comfort and tuning stability more than with the sound

[Em_Dee_Aitch]

Best content I’ve come across in this topic. I’ve played Fenders all my life, and I’ve always hated the string tension. I personally don’t like Gibson, for a multitude of reasons. So I’m going with a PRS, with either their Goldilocks 25”, or possibly their “594”.

[frankscutari]

I've always wondered, does the harmonic content vary greatly between a Fender and a Gibson? And I believe this may contribute to Fender's so-called "chiming bell like" single coil sound.

[hitesh_blues]

Hi! Thanks for an amazing video. I have a question. How to have a balance between string length adjustment and intonation? On my telecaster I have individual saddles for the strings which can be moved back or forth. However this would change my octave frequency on the 12th fret. Any comments?! 😊

[markford]

Great comparison and contrast. Exactly what I was looking for. A problem I encountered was that the high E string on my Les Paul has a tendency to roll off the edge of the fretboard much easier compared to my Tele and my Strats. So, I have to be more careful with the notes on the high E string when playing the Les Paul so this doesn’t happen. Being mindful of string tension/scale length has also helped. I now run 10s on my Les Paul and 9 1/2s on my Fenders. This keeps me from having to modify my playing technique too much.

[MrSoulauctioneer]

because of scale lenght and the upper side cuts, its easier for a player to transition between Strats and Les Pauls than Strats and Teles. The horn on a Strat moves the ''center'' over a few inches. I'd never thought of it before, saw it pointed out just the other day.

[performancetesting]

Some chords are easier to play on wider scale for me. Fingers seem to jam up and mute strings I want to ring unless I fret very awkwardly.

[thisnameistaken]

My question is, in terms of comfort and ease of playing, does the closer action of the longer scale length make up for the increased tension? I like my strings to be as easy to fret as possible and I'm not sure if slightly less tension but slightly further action would be easier to fret, or slightly more tension but slightly closer action. Please inform me!

[logrinn]

Nice! A video that cover most (all?) things regarding the differences in scale length.
But I would argue that the difference in sound and the difference in tension (totally irrelevant imho) often gets too much attention. An attention that can often be seen in the comments in videos like this.
More important is the relationship between the scale length (as well as the neck profile) and your hand size. If you have to play big intervals requiring wide stretches, like for instance on the same string at the lower frets, you either have to have larger hands (and/or longer fingers) or better yet, a neck that is better suited for your size.
Look at it the same way you do when you shop shoes. You can see a nice pair of boots, but I'm pretty sure you try them out before you buy them, or otherwise you might end up with boots that don't fit. The same thing should be taken into account when trying out a guitar.
Personally, I only play 24" scale guitars nowadays, and I'm able to feel the difference in scale length, when picking up an unknown guitar, just like I can tell if shoes I try in a store are too small or too big.

[smsuperstrat]

Would love to see a real world comparison with a strat or tele then 2 identical wood warmoth necks. One 24.75 AND ONE 25.5, AND bonus a 25 scale to get that PRS thing in there.

[mikeslavin]

Great presentation, thanks. I settled for a PRS to 'get the best of both worlds'. Love the feel - and just enough 'bite' in the tone.

[montydaniels]

It would be lot better to aim a camera at the fretboard & bridge so people can see exactly where you're measuring at/to & so on. Some people figure you measure from the center of the 12th fret & not from the 12th fret bar - 12th fret wire.

Sometimes I just check out video's to see if they help out a novice or a player who usually has all their work, [setups] done by a local Luthier. I do my own setup's so I'm pretty well versed on measuring out a Strat, or a Les Paul type of guitar....

[blowera]

What point of the bridge would you measure to if you want to confirm your bridge is positioned correctly? (Potential issue on cheaper guitars that won’t intonate)