Gibson RD Artist scale length.

[Shockwave]

Hey guys.

I was wondering what the exact scale length of a Gibson RD Artist. My luthier has just measured one, and claims that from the nut to the crown of the 12th fret, it measured 17" and double that equals 34". Yet many websites and some forum posts claim it is actually 34 1/2 or 34 3/8".

Can anyone measure their Gibson RD Artist (Not Kris Novaleselic models). And tell me what result they come up with?

Cheers!

Rob.

[Mr. Foxen]

The guitars changed scale apparently, so maybe the bass did too.

[Shockwave]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1351703891' post='1854424']
The guitars changed scale apparently, so maybe the bass did too.
[/quote]

I know, I just want to get it right!

[evilLordJuju]

I just measured one for you.

It is tricky...from the centre of the nut to the centre of the 12th fret is pretty close to 17 3/16" - so that is exactly 34 3/8"

But tape measures are pretty tricky to get decent measurements, and if you measure from the nut edge rather than centre you'll get a shorter distance too.

[iiipopes]

OK, why?

If string length is the consideration, then with the Gibson 3-point top-load bridge, the ball anchor is actually closer to the saddle than on Fender-style bridges, so most conventional strings should work.

If it is a reach problem, the difference in the scale at the first fret is less than 1/32 inch or 0.7mm, so it should not be a problem, either.

I think "official" scaling is 34 3/8 inches.