Guitar 101, Headline »

Today, in Guitar 101, we’re looking at the guitar neck.  And, this time, we’re taking considering scale length and string compensation.
Scale length
Scale length is, effectively, the ‘sounding’ length of the string – i.e. the bit that actually ‘sounds’ (or vibrates – it’s the same thing) when plucked.  This means that we’re only considering the length of string between the nut and saddle (see our article on Guitar Anatomy if you need a refresher on these terms).

Some of the common scale lengths of popular guitars and basses are:

Many Gibson Guitars, Les Paul, SG, …

Workshop »

There are a number of reasons that a plucked guitar string might buzz.  We’ll probably go into some of those reasons in future articles but, as I happened to have one of the more uncommon reasons for a buzzing string in the workshop, I thought I’d share it with you.
What I had was a Tele with a few minor issues and a pronounced, ‘zingy’, buzz on the D-string.  This wasn’t fret-buzz – the string buzzed even when fingered at the last fret with no more neck in the picture (and …