possibly building a guitar

[hachikid]

hey guys. I'm starting to learn guitar a little bit. I've been a bass guitarist for 10 years, and it's been my main instrument for as long as I can remember. with my recent foray into songwriting, I'm realizing it'd benefit me if I could learn how to play guitar. I currently play a '68 Ovation Hurricane 12 string that I freaking love, but I figure it'd also be good to have a 6 string, as well. I'm thinking that building a long scale guitar would help with the transition when I go from guitar to bass. so, I opened the Warmoth guitar builder, and I'm not quite sure where to go. there's a LOT more options on the guitar side than the bass side (Warmoth?...). pro scale conversions, back contours, and fingerboard radii oh my!

I'm curious how I go about deciding what I would like best. I don't know which guitars these options are modeled after to compare at a guitar center, or something. I know with my bass, I love the huge thick neck that I had put on it. I'm thinking I'd like this about guitar as well, or I'm wondering if that would just make my hands cramp up even more. I have generally large hands (about 8" from bottom of hand to tip of middle finger), and I'm thinking it would be fine after I've conditioned my hands to deal with it. I generally know about tone woods and such, so that's not such a big deal. also, I'm wondering about nut width. not sure if I'd like a wider or narrower nut. I know with a jazz bass, I hate how close the strings are together. but the p-bass is a little too far apart. I'm wondering if it'd be better to get a little wider neck, too.

another question, is there such thing as a "long scale" neck that would tune standard EADGBC? I saw the baritone option, but isn't that tuned differently? or would standard tuning work on those, as well?

 

[Danuda]

hey guys. I'm starting to learn guitar a little bit. I've been a bass guitarist for 10 years, and it's been my main instrument for as long as I can remember. with my recent foray into songwriting, I'm realizing it'd benefit me if I could learn how to play guitar. I currently play a '68 Ovation Hurricane 12 string that I freaking love, but I figure it'd also be good to have a 6 string, as well. I'm thinking that building a long scale guitar would help with the transition when I go from guitar to bass. so, I opened the Warmoth guitar builder, and I'm not quite sure where to go. there's a LOT more options on the guitar side than the bass side (Warmoth?...). pro scale conversions, back contours, and fingerboard radii oh my!

I'm curious how I go about deciding what I would like best. I don't know which guitars these options are modeled after to compare at a guitar center, or something. I know with my bass, I love the huge thick neck that I had put on it. I'm thinking I'd like this about guitar as well, or I'm wondering if that would just make my hands cramp up even more. I have generally large hands (about 8" from bottom of hand to tip of middle finger), and I'm thinking it would be fine after I've conditioned my hands to deal with it. I generally know about tone woods and such, so that's not such a big deal. also, I'm wondering about nut width. not sure if I'd like a wider or narrower nut. I know with a jazz bass, I hate how close the strings are together. but the p-bass is a little too far apart. I'm wondering if it'd be better to get a little wider neck, too.

another question, is there such thing as a "long scale" neck that would tune standard EADGBC? I saw the baritone option, but isn't that tuned differently? or would standard tuning work on those, as well?

Some of those questions others here will be better equipped to answer, but as far as tuning a baritone to standard tuning it is a bad idea.  They are designed to be tuned down from standard tuning.  If you went standard there would be too much tension on the neck and you would probably snap strings.  I would think that standard tuning with a standard neck would be easier as the notes would be the same.

 

[richship]

If you like the 12 string, measure that neck width. You can get a 1 3/4" neck width for no extra and get a superwide for a bit more.

You could tune a baritone to standard. You might want to use thinner strings to get the tension down. Some chords are going to be tough at that scale though. My hands are about the same length and 25.5 works fine (24.75 is a little tighter for chords up the neck).

 

[drewfx]

Bass is also my main instrument, but I dabble... My opinions, FWIW:

Get a 25.5", not a baritone - if you want to learn guitar it's better to just jump in and do it and not pretend it's a bass. They're really 2 different instruments, both physically and conceptually.

1 11/16" nut width is kinda standard; I'd go wider mainly if you were interested in learning fingerpicking. Warmoth compound radius is fine.

'59 Roundback neck profile seems to work pretty good for me. Haven't tried the boat or the fatback, so I can't comment on those.

If I were only going to have one guitar, I'd get the HSH (or HSS) pickup route.

Definitely get SS frets for easy bending.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Some of those questions others here will be better equipped to answer, but as far as tuning a baritone to standard tuning it is a bad idea.  They are designed to be tuned down from standard tuning.  If you went standard there would be too much tension on the neck and you would probably snap strings.  I would think that standard tuning with a standard neck would be easier as the notes would be the same.

I don't think strings will snap if a lighter gauge is used (like 009s or 010s) when tuning to standard pitch on a baritone.

 

[tfarny]

I would also recommend just getting a 25.5 standard scale, 1 11/16 nut, and '59 roundback neck. It's a good size for adults, my hands are about the same as yours and it's perfect. 1.75" necks are mostly but not entirely used for fingerstyle acoustic players. It will slow you down a bit on electric guitar. Good luck!

 

[hachikid]

wouldn't the tension be the same for an E on any scale (within reason)?

 

[bob7point7]

The string tension definitely changes with scale length. Think about the act of fretting. When you fret you effectively shorten the scale length, but the tension didn't change. The shorter vibrating length of string is now playing a higher pitched note. To lower the pitch back down you would have to detune, reducing the tension. This is why basses are longer in the first place. If you tried to get those low notes with a 25" scale the strings would be totally floppy. I agree with drewfx and tfarny that a 25.5" scale with '59 roundback profile, compound radius, and 1 11/16" nut width would be a solid choice. Good luck!

 

[drewfx]

The frequency of a note on any stringed instrument is related to the length and mass of the string, as well as the tension.

Heavier or longer string = lower pitch at the same tension
Lighter or shorter string = higher pitch at the same tension

or

Same frequency, lower tension = shorter length and/or less string mass
Same frequency, higher tension = longer length and/or more string mass