question regarding fret spacing

[bin4christ]

hi,

is fret spacing (ie the space between two frets) supposed to be the same among all guitars, regardless of scale length?

 

[suckasucks]

no. varies from guitar to guitar. eg, gibson SGs have 1.695 of fret spacing, epi SGs have 1.68.

its all personal preference

 

[AEnimic]

well,I realise that Ibanezes always have bigger fret spaces..am I right?

 

[live33]

No, i dun think it's got anything to do with personal preferences. It's got everything to do with scale length. The longer the scale length, the more spaced out are the frets.

 

[bin4christ]

yeah i noticed ibanez/ RG-styled guitars have bigger fret spaces.

anw thx guys for clearing this question on my head hehe.

 

[subversion]

that's because Ibanez (along with Fender & some others) has a 25.5" scale length, the lengthiest in the regular scale measurement.

 

[bin4christ]

sub, so fret spacing varies on scale length right?

 

[Everdying]

of cos it varies on scale length.
imagine if a proper bass guitar had a fret spacing on a guitar, all the notes would definitely crap out.

 

[kentheman2000]

It's all in the neck. If the neck is longer, fret compensation and string guage is changed.

 

[almondx]

Also, given the same gauge of strings and the same guitar except for the length of the neck, generally the longer the neck, the longer the scale length, the longer the effective length of the strings, the more the strings have to be wound up to bring them up to pitch and hence, the higher the tension and the lower the ease of bends.

However, drop tunings will sound more defined with longer scale lengths as the strings are still relatively more taut when detuned. Hence they won't be as flubby or muddy sounding as the shorter scale lengths.

Tidbit: Contrary to popular belief, a current Gibson LP scale length is not 24.75" but 24.625". It has changed over the years as well.