guitar scale length and string gauge myths

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I love this channel and this guy! 45 years of road, session, workshop and tech work and like Will, dealing with delusional folks who can buy but most definitely can't play will drive ya nuts. If I sold an airplane to a guy he most likely could fly it. If I sold a 3000$ guitar to a guy and asked him to strum Happy Birthday in C#, he most likely couldn't. When I tell him its just a I,V,I,IV, he'd most likely just look like I spoke Martian. It is like selling telescopes to the blind. Bless your heart Will.

[@PetraKann]

Neither could Hendrix who didnt know what C# was You may want to look at the long list of successful musicians who know very little or no music theory, taught themselves and often play the instrument in non-conventional ways, using novel personal and novel playing techniques. Incidentally this is about 2,500 years ago; "Pythagorean tuning is a musical tuning system based on the ratio of 3:2, which is found in the harmonic series. The Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras discovered that music could be reduced to mathematical rules and relationships. He used this discovery to create the major scale and the Pythagorean tuning system" When traveling around the circle of fifths in Pythagorean tuning, the note you end up with is slightly sharper than the note you started with. The difference between these two notes is called the Pythagorean comma. So what do you mean by C# ?????

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@PetraKann oh Goodness,!! 40+ years of making a living as a session and sub guy, mostly R&B and blues, Country and I very, very rarely EVER have played any job where the other artists couldn't play me a C# in at least 2 or 3 positions. What world do you come from?

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@PetraKann ...lol.. easy answer, any C# available on a standard tuned guitar. Example. Lets play a good ol cowboy A major...move it up to be a C# ( barre @ 4th fret.... How bout a good ol' F major...move it up...barre at fret 9

[@rustyshackleford9557]

Now if ya play that C# @ fret #9 and use an A shape barre chord that chord directly below is a IV, two frets up is the V. Best wishes.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

I honestly hope that guy can play like Stochelo. Otherwise he is EXACTLY why I quit working in music stores as a kid. They talk ..but if you invite em to come out and sit in and give em a heads up that there is a IIm in the song they just look lost.

[@alejandroschmid88]

I wish I had this info many years ago. Thanks Will, kudos for having Ava present this video

[@chraffis]

9:15 😂 Oh man I love these vids so much!

[@MrVyrtuoso]

What I found interesting on the difference between the Fender and Gibson on the A string is how the low frequency response of the Gibson seemed to have an envelope of a slower attack, which once that did more fully set in sounded just like the Fender. Anyway, great work as always, Will!

[@rowbags3017]

I love the clear, zero BS way you explain things. 👍

[@fryrock9391]

I’m agree with every word(as a guitar luthier). Great job! Great vid!

[@joerobertson795]

Very well explained. Great vid!

[@NintenDub]

Keep the vids comin will Youve always been an asset to the guitar community. I dunno who your cool with these days, if you talk to anyone or if youve mended any bridges or ties, but id enjoy seeing a podcast, or even a documentary/explanation style video going over the years on youtube, what and how got some of these big debates going, as well as what was going on at the time wether certain marketing or whatnot from the guitar brands that also tied into these different chapters. Id also be interested to see you self examine, and see where your at on some of these topics now, wether youve ever changed your mind on some of this stuff, or did a discussion video and looked deeper, and ever went "hm...damn I guess i was wrong about blank" or ever went deeper and found you where right, for a different reason, or if youve ever been right but for the wrong reason and found the same conclusion just through a different path

[@jjcale2288]

Man, I've been following your content for years. I tried to find flaws in it and I still can't! Just flawless! 👏👏👏🤗

[@ashleyjohansson230]

Everyone has always told me not to put 008 on a gibson but I did it anyways lol

[@WillsEasyGuitar]

its what billy gibbons uses

[@nicholasaragon4126]

I wish Elixirs made 8s otherwise I'd be with you. The more you defy the unfounded "conventional wisdom" the more wise you actually become.

[@wasichu66]

Your vids should be mandatory, been a follower for years and loving it. I just had a short exchange on FB a few days ago about reverse headstocks, with a genius who was firm in his "demonstration" that it made absolutely no difference to anything, because the distance between nut and saddle was the same.... string length vs tension, nearly 11cm of difference between low and high E tuners on a 6 inline, etc, he would have none of it. I just let it be, cuz...you know, can't argue with zealots.

[@yoheff988]

Superb explanation!

[@stevepelham9010]

Yeah it is not only about guitars but about almost everything. Knowledge is made as twisted or thrown out the windom alltogheter. Plumming, heating, crazy stuff.

[@ramcharger154]

I haven't been able to find this channel in almost a decade where have you been hiding?❤

[@RuTnVI]

Hi, so am i wrong if I'm looking for 26.5 scale length? My goal is to play Drop A on 012 string gauge.

[@An2oine]

How would you compare Eb Strat, to a E Gibson. Would they feel the same tension wise? Since the scale is basically the first fret difference?

[@JoeThornhill]

I get what you're saying, but I've always thought your comparisons with violins to double basses, ukulele's to basses and standard guitars to baritones were a bit daft, because they are all different tunings and string gauges. Violin's and double basses are reversed (though basses are the same notes as the 4 low strings on a guitar, which is nice). Uke's are weird, with the two inner string thicker and tuned to G, C, E, A. And baritones are tuned B, E, A, D, F#, B.

[@ChrisCardenDrums]

I think as a general rule, when guitar players say tone, what they actually mean is feel.

[@ChrisCardenDrums]

Also, good point about string Guage, it's something SUPER important but not thought about at all by half of players and not enough by 90 percent of players

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

YEah? But what is the difference in taste?😋 I like light gauge strings.😃 They are easier to digest!😁🤗

[@The_Absurdistt]

This is some necessary angry fact spitting.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

This comes from too many Saturday mornings working in a music store. ... zillion folks using the place like an amusement park. Mamas literally dropping off kids like it was the Fair And a bunch of jabbering know it alls who literally couldnt play a 2 hr wedding reception or a bar gig if their life depended on it. It makes waterboarding seem kind.

[@realmz]

PREACH!

[@fredstuart4554]

Some people who should know this don't, I hope they're listening.

[@bveracka]

12:46 The next recommended video - from ML Sound Lab - has a thumbnail of some PRS guitars arranged from large to small, showing that longer scale length equals a brighter sound. SMH. Where these myths start, I have no clue. I don't even wanna tell anyone I play guitar nowadays, lest I get sucked into a conversation with one of these cave-dwellers.

[@dirkbonesteel]

Nice to know there are people out there dumber then I am

[@wjewell63]

I think the marketing grads create alot of crap..and some of them probably don't play...but the parrot's carry the bull on...👍

[@mate8115]

wtf is that intro?

[@suleymancetinkaya2755]

He's the patreon of many porn stars.

[@joerogansghost7402]

I was thinking the same thing, but strangely enough I've played it from the beginning a few times now. 😂😂😂

[@tylerk1013]

Boomer coomer intro.

[@markgordon4368]

Tone metals are so important, just saying.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

Folks often fail to realize how much difference in tone a knob that has numbers vs. one without will affect the harmonic resonance of a guitar. I also see folks using Phillips head screws on their height adjustment screws on their pickups. This will kill your sustain! And then there are those who fail to see just how much different strap pins will affect the output of their pickups. , It is a world gone mad...itellyawhut?

[@markgordon4368]

@@rustyshackleford9557 good call on the strap buttons, they can elongate the flux pattern especially on a humbucker 😂

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@markgordon4368 exactly! A fellow believer. I have mine machined from rhino horn, .

[@rustyshackleford9557]

@@markgordon4368 have you noticed how much a full moon will affect the frequency response of a 12" Celestion speaker? I use my Farmers Almanac now before booking any gigs.

[@markgordon4368]

@rustyshackleford9557 🤣

[@erikpeterson778]

I break international law by using a .125 B string on my 34" scale bass. Everybody knows you need to use a .135...

[@rustyshackleford9557]

That can get you a life sentence in Afghanistan.

[@fulviosanna]

Is it true that the difference in tone from different scale length is caused by the pick ups placement?It's something related to nodes and antinodes, (the fluctuations of "waves" when the string vibrates).Those have a different frequency and the pick up produces a different sound in relation to which part of the wave the pick up is placed under

[@WillsEasyGuitar]

not really. the nodes argument is dissolved as soon as you fret the string. then the nodes change position.

[@fulviosanna]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoCagJivfJ6ip9ksi=4pfc-NxhwMSxsA2a Is it any truth in what Dylan of "Dylan talks tone" KZbin channel says in this video, explaining how the pick up placement affects the tone of different guitars, and why a Les Paul sounds different from a Strat even using the same pickups?He talks about the nodes and antinodes thing, while the string vibrates.What's you opinion about this? He speaks about this starting at 3.40, thanks!

[@vw9659]

​@@WillsEasyGuitar you compensated by picking in the same relative position on both the Fender and Gibson scale lengths. Pickup position has exactly the same comb filtering effect as picking position. So relative pickup position would need to be equated too.

[@Killtonyfan413]

Most of your tone comes from these things. 1- The build quality obviously 2 - nut 3 - pickups 4- String gauge and material 5- Guitar picks (yes they make a difference) Wood and scale length barely make any difference. You get more difference tone wise from the bridge then the wood itself 😂

[@sempercompellis]

beyond the scale length. the length of the string alters the playability (stiffness) anyone with a jazzmaster can tell you that. All that "extra" string beyond the scale length greatly changes the tension

[@vw9659]

It doesn't change the string tension - that is dependent on scale length, tuned frequency, and the string's linear density (only). That's Mersenne's law. The total string length does however affect the effective string stiffness.