Design Considerations

	Strings and things As your guitar or bass will be very little use without a string or two, we will make the areas related to the strings our first stop for design considerations. We'll make the assumption that you know how many strings you're going to want, so now onto the other considerations around them.

Scale Length The first thing to consider is scale length. Scale length will affect firstly the sustain (as a string will need to be tensioned more on a longer scale instrument to achieve the same pitch). The scale length can also affect playability and feel - due to differing string tensions but also simply because the you may need to stretch your fingers more on a longer scale length. As is often the case, it may be useful here to look to a guitar that you already like to feel of for guidance. For reference, some of the common scale lengths in use are listed below

Scale length is often a matter of preference more than anything else. If you have small hands for instance, you might prefer a shorter scale. Many people favour the PRS scale length of 25 inches for guitars. Its sort of a 'best of both worlds' between Gibson and Fender. Some find the shorter bass scales easier to play although many bassists prefer a longer scale which usually gives better sustain and focus too.

How many frets? Somewhere between twenty one and twenty four is usual for a guitar - between twenty and twenty four for a bass. Fender guitars are generally twenty one fret instruments (the vintage ones anyway) while the Jazz and Precision basses are twenty fretters (as are many Gibson basses). Gibson guitars like the Les Paul and SG most often had twenty two frets. It's worth considering the number of frets - a two octave fingerboard can be very nice, but in some designs the twenty fourth fret may be almost impossible to reach. This can be teased out in the design phase, but it is worth giving some thought to before going too far. Another factor to consider if you want a two octave fretboard is that the neck pickups on some guitars are placed in a position that the 24th fret would occupy (placing pickups in the octave positions is tonally preferable). If you want a twenty four fret neck on a Les Paul or Tele for instance, there will be subtle differences in the sound of the neck pickup when compared to a standard instrument. The type and size of fret wire is usually down to the individual musician. This can be decided during planning.

Neck dimensions and feel Another item that is fairly subjective. Its mostly down to preference although hardware and design choices such as bridge type and neck-to-body join will make a difference. This will be pinned down more fully in the design phase. I often find it useful if a client can bring in an instrument with a feel that they like. This is often a lot easier than trying to verbally explain what is, at the end of the day, a feeling.