# Where is the longest guitar out there?



## 333baxter333 (Feb 5, 2010)

Gentlemen, in the course of my profession I have seen and read of many extended ranged instruments. 32" appears to be the longest if we exclude bass guitars and the Giant Flying V - look this up if it is unknown to you. 

I wonder if anyone has heard of any oddities beyond 32". Even bass guitars with guitar strings and pickups. Does the string tension become too great with a lighter gauge string? 

I myself am considering reworking an electric double bass into some big ass menacing guitar.

Any thoughts, comments or queries?


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## hufschmid (Feb 5, 2010)

I've seen a 34'' scale built locally at one point, totally pointless on a guitar unless you wish it to become a bass at one point...

Meshuggah use a 32'' scale



333baxter333 said:


> I myself am considering reworking an electric double bass into some big ass menacing guitar.



2 very very different instruments there which dont work at all the same way BTW and are not designed to do the same thing.... good luck  

like you say the flying V


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## ralphy1976 (Feb 5, 2010)

pure win!!!


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## Elysian (Feb 5, 2010)

There is also this thing







Made by one of the instructors at Roberto-Venn  More pics of it here:

mitch's dr. weird guitar Photo Album - MySpace Photos


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## pink freud (Feb 5, 2010)

I can't find it, but there is an upright bass out there that is so large it takes two people to play. One to finger and one to bow. There's only a single surviving instrument, located in Ireland, if I remember right.


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## hufschmid (Feb 5, 2010)

Elysian said:


> There is also this thing
> 
> 
> 
> ...



OMG


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## troyguitar (Feb 5, 2010)

pink freud said:


> I can't find it, but there is an upright bass out there that is so large it takes two people to play. One to finger and one to bow. There's only a single surviving instrument, located in Ireland, if I remember right.



octobass


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 5, 2010)

hufschmid said:


> Meshuggah use a 32'' scale



actually, they use 30,5" scale the 32" scale comes from the one guitarist not really having a damn clue what the specs of his guitars are  (he said it himself). Dendroaspis on the forum inspected and measured the guitars, and foun out that was 30.5" scale. i wonder if they said it correctly in a later interview.

the longest scales you´ll find will usually be 30" scale. beyond that you´ll have to get a custom. 32" scale wouldn´t work very well unless it was a fanned fret guitar though.

from experience, 30" scale is more than enough for most regular super-low tunings (F, drop E, drop Eb, drop D). the high strings suffer a little though, because they get so damn tight.


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## twiztedchild (Feb 5, 2010)

Elysian said:


> There is also this thing
> 
> 
> 
> ...



  I want it and a Master Shake custome  and what would that scale be? 45"?


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## signalgrey (Feb 5, 2010)

hufschmid said:


> I've seen a 34'' scale built locally at one point, totally pointless on a guitar unless you wish it to become a bass at one point...
> 
> Meshuggah use a 32'' scale
> 
> ...




That guys name is Ralph, he works in Port Jefferson Station in a place called Guitar Shack. He built that himelf. At the time he was my repair guy and he showed me all the stuff as he was building it. Hes also really good friends with Bakiti Kumalo, the bass player for Paul Simon (also was my teacher).

He was playing that guitar at the local guitar show. it was pretty awesome. i bought a used Tele off him cause he was such a nice guy.


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## twiztedchild (Feb 5, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> That guys name is Ralph, he works in Port Jefferson Station in a place called Guitar Shack. He built that himelf. At the time he was my repair guy and he showed me all the stuff as he was building it. Hes also really good friends with Bakiti Kumalo, the bass player for Paul Simon (also was my teacher).
> 
> He was playing that guitar at the local guitar show. it was pretty awesome. i bought a used Tele off him cause he was such a nice guy.




Im shocked that it is a working guitar though  I'd buy it for a decoration but wouldnt be playing it much


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## signalgrey (Feb 5, 2010)

originally he had built it to put on top of the shop. he either made the pups or had them made. I know Daddario made the strings since they are located on Long Island.


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2010)

Elysian said:


> There is also this thing
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What the heck is going on with the frets on that thing? Is it even remotely lined up with any notes on a 12 tone scale?


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## hufschmid (Feb 6, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> actually, they use 30,5" scale the 32" scale comes from the one guitarist not really having a damn clue what the specs of his guitars are





something is soooo wrong about that, like they receive free shit and they are suposed to know what they are using because they endorse it and must speak whenever they can about it to promote it... yet they have no fucking clue...

Just like in one of the videos when one of the players has no clue which wood they used to build the body 

Umbalivable


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## Cheesebuiscut (Feb 6, 2010)

twiztedchild said:


> I want it and a Master Shake custome  and what would that scale be? 45"?



Looks like all the frets are spaced out the same I doubt its functioning


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## vampiregenocide (Feb 6, 2010)

I've seen 38" scale basses, don't know about guitars though.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 6, 2010)

troyguitar said:


> octobass


Here is is!!


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## twiztedchild (Feb 6, 2010)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> Looks like all the frets are spaced out the same I doubt its functioning



that guy has a video on youtube of him playing it at the Luitier school office he whent to, he only plays at about the lenght of a reg guitar but it is working


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 6, 2010)

hufschmid said:


> something is soooo wrong about that, like they receive free shit and they are suposed to know what they are using because they endorse it and must speak whenever they can about it to promote it... yet they have no fucking clue...
> 
> Just like in one of the videos when one of the players has no clue which wood they used to build the body
> 
> Umbalivable



i guess they just tell the guys at ibanez LACS what they´re after, and what kind of tone/sound/feel they want, and trust them to make the right choises for them


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## LLink2411 (Feb 6, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> from experience, 30" scale is more than enough for most regular super-low tunings (F, drop E, drop Eb, drop D). the high strings suffer a little though, because they get so damn tight.


The Fender Bass VI and the majority of the other six-sting, short-scale Basses are 30' scale instruments.


The longest Bass scale on the other hand that I have seen is 38" (and it is tuned to E-standard). The lowest tuned Bass I have seen is tuned C# F# B E (ie. the highest string on there is the lowest string on a standard 4-string Bass) with a 36" scale (which is pretty short even for something tuned F#-std).

Unfortunately, that Bass turns a mix to mud faster than an even the most obnoxious high-school aged 8-string guitar player could ever dream. Thankfully that Bass is in the hands of a sane enough to find metal music silly.


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## -One- (Feb 6, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> from experience, 30" scale is more than enough for most regular super-low tunings (F, drop E, drop Eb, *drop D*). the high strings suffer a little though, because they get so damn tight.



I hope you're referring to one octave down with a dropped D, because standard drop D is NOT that low


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## Daiephir (Feb 6, 2010)

I think he is. He did say super-low tuning


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## LLink2411 (Feb 6, 2010)

I think he is talking about an octave down, because he is talking about drop E and Eb as well.


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## signalgrey (Feb 7, 2010)

DROP Z#!!!!

LOWEST TUNING EVAAAAARRR!!!!


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## Daiephir (Feb 7, 2010)

Actually, I think Zb Standard is lower than Drop Z#


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## chaosxcomplex (Feb 7, 2010)

Ahh...Drop Zb...perfect for those Demolished chords...haha


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## Explorer (Feb 7, 2010)

Acoustic or electric?

There's one each at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, with a scale length of something like 300". The acoustic has a hole in the side so you can stand inside the body and pluck strings through the soundhole....


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## 333baxter333 (Feb 7, 2010)

madness. 

My electric upright bass is 41". I might move the bridge closer in to reduce the length. 

Does the tone at excessive lengths turn to mud because the string is too long or is it because of the thickness required? 

I've looked into some pickups by Langcaster in NZ which are quite different. The advantage is that they are used for both guitar and bass. Perhaps they'd be sweet on extended range instruments.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 8, 2010)

Jauqo III-X - Chicago bass player

Jauqo III-X - Chicago bass player
Not longest, but lowest tuned.


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## 333baxter333 (Feb 8, 2010)

thanks for the link. I found it inspiring


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## Variant (Feb 8, 2010)

> The longest Bass scale on the other hand that I have seen is 38" (and it is tuned to E-standard). The lowest tuned Bass I have seen is tuned C# F# B E (ie. the highest string on there is the lowest string on a standard 4-string Bass) with a 36" scale (which is pretty short even for something tuned F#-std).





All_¥our_Bass;1849063 said:


> Jauqo III-X - Chicago bass player
> 
> Jauqo III-X - Chicago bass player
> Not longest, but lowest tuned.



Actually, Yves Carbonne's Jerzy Drozd Legend XII single-course 12-string fretless bass bottoms out at B00, which he utilizes regularly, and Garry Goodman has experimented with his Alder single-course 12-string bass as low as E00  (his Octave 00 strings are available up to .270 gauge!)... though normally composes in C#0 like Jauqo, I believe. Personally, I've used my Conklin GTBD-7 down to C#0 (S.I.T. .195 string) on one of the tracks I'm working on for our band's debut album, and plan to go lower. 

As for scale length, Skip Fantry's Knuckle Guitar Works' basses are 39.25" in scale, longest available for a soldibody electric bass, I think... though Ned Steinberger's NS Design's electric uprights can be configured to play in a "normal" position and the Double Bass model sports a 41.73" scale.


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## Durero (Feb 8, 2010)

hufschmid said:


> I've seen a 34'' scale built locally at one point, totally pointless on a guitar



This is completely untrue. 

Just ask Allan Holdsworth. He's performed and recorded on custom extended scale guitars built with 36" and 38" scales. These allow him to reach baritone tunings (down 5 to 7 semitones) with _no change in string gage whatsoever_. For him that's the point. He want's to reach lower tunings while preserving the exact same clarity and tone (also feel and playability) he's used to with his light gage strings in standard tuning and 25.5" scale.

Extending scale length has a huge impact on tone. It allows you to use thinner, more flexible strings which give you a huge increase in clarity on the low notes. For low tuned strings the longer the clearer. For high tuned strings the longer the sharper, harsher, or "twangier" which is why multiscale designs allow the best of both worlds.


I've been playing my self-designed 36" - 32" multiscale 7-string since 2003 which arose from my discontent with the low B string on my 1990 Ibanez Universe. The improvement in tone throughout the entire range far surpassed my expectations and I'll never go back.


To the original poster I'd say go for it. Be prepared to experience low note clarity you've never imagined from a guitar, but keep in mind you may want to mod the bass with some guitar pickups and / or tweak the position of the pickup(s) under the strings.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 8, 2010)

i would actually love to have a 34" scale guitar with a really really warm sounding pickup in it for amazingly nice cleans. of course chords would be harder on the low end, but still. i´d use it for some slow mellow stuff.

it´s pointless in a totally practical setting though.


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## Hollowway (Feb 8, 2010)

Durero said:


> I've been playing my self-designed 36" - 32" multiscale 7-string since 2003 which arose from my discontent with the low B string on my 1990 Ibanez Universe.



Do you have pictures of that bad boy on here? I'd love to take a look.


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## Durero (Feb 8, 2010)

Sevenstring.org - Gallery - Leo Pedersen - Raven front


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## Sang-Drax (Feb 8, 2010)

troyguitar said:


> octobass



Comparison:


















Gibson baritone... though the lack of a bridge pup is a little unsettling, I wonder what is it tuned to:


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## vampiregenocide (Feb 8, 2010)

hufschmid said:


> something is soooo wrong about that, like they receive free shit and they are suposed to know what they are using because they endorse it and must speak whenever they can about it to promote it... yet they have no fucking clue...
> 
> Just like in one of the videos when one of the players has no clue which wood they used to build the body
> 
> Umbalivable



They mentioned they tried a few different specs out on prototypes before settling on a final model. I don't think its a big deal really because they obviously know their shit, as you can tell from their well produced albums and tight live shows. Nowadays I think they stick with alder as a body wood and a 30.5" scale.


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## Durero (Feb 8, 2010)

Allan's 38" scale DeLap baritone

[googlevid]-1899558536914863101[/googlevid]



Allan's 36" scale DeLap baritone

[googlevid]3416311295266077028[/googlevid]


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## plyta (Feb 8, 2010)

Durero said:


> Allan's 38" scale DeLap baritone
> 
> googlevid
> 
> ...



Too bad there are no pictures of these guitars or construction details on the net


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## hufschmid (Feb 8, 2010)

bringing it in for a repair 






For a kid its easy because the guitar becomes a baritone instantly


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## 333baxter333 (Feb 8, 2010)

Durero said:


> This is completely untrue.
> 
> Just ask Allan Holdsworth. He's performed and recorded on custom extended scale guitars built with 36" and 38" scales. These allow him to reach baritone tunings (down 5 to 7 semitones) with _no change in string gage whatsoever_. For him that's the point. He want's to reach lower tunings while preserving the exact same clarity and tone (also feel and playability) he's used to with his light gage strings in standard tuning and 25.5" scale.
> 
> ...



Cheers mate. That was like a candle in the dark for me. Yeah, I will persevere. Need to earn more cash first. I've had a few dreams pointing out the way in the past. I dreamed I was playing some big ass guitar outside my house, just sort of swaying around with it. It was all black and had two red ribbons dangling from the head. 6 to 9 months later I saw the electric upright bass in a shop and knew I had to buy it despite being a guitar player. 

Damn those Holdsworth solos are amazing. Its like a totally new archetype of influence to enter the imagination of what is possible and what sounds cool.


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## Hollowway (Feb 8, 2010)

Durero said:


> Sevenstring.org - Gallery - Leo Pedersen - Raven front




Ooooh, that is sooo not gonna do! You seriously need to get some close up shots of that thing, specs, etc! Based on its construction and when you built it, there was no NGD, so better late than never! But in all honesty, I would really like to take a close up look at that beast. Everything on it looks so cool, right down to whatever is going on in terms of fret markers.


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## Bungle (Feb 8, 2010)

Hollowway said:


> What the heck is going on with the frets on that thing? Is it even remotely lined up with any notes on a 12 tone scale?


That's what I thought, then I realised that it was a replica guitar designed on one from a cartoon


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## Durero (Feb 8, 2010)

333baxter333 said:


> Cheers mate. That was like a candle in the dark for me. Yeah, I will persevere. Need to earn more cash first. I've had a few dreams pointing out the way in the past. I dreamed I was playing some big ass guitar outside my house, just sort of swaying around with it. It was all black and had two red ribbons dangling from the head. 6 to 9 months later I saw the electric upright bass in a shop and knew I had to buy it despite being a guitar player.
> 
> Damn those Holdsworth solos are amazing. Its like a totally new archetype of influence to enter the imagination of what is possible and what sounds cool.


Yeah Holdsworth is a visionary player. Huge inspiration to so many of us.

Great to follow your dreams man 



Hollowway said:


> Ooooh, that is sooo not gonna do! You seriously need to get some close up shots of that thing, specs, etc! Based on its construction and when you built it, there was no NGD, so better late than never! But in all honesty, I would really like to take a close up look at that beast. Everything on it looks so cool, right down to whatever is going on in terms of fret markers.



My introduction thread from years ago has the specs and a few more pics.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/new-member-introductions/4719-experimental-designs.html


Understand that it's a prototype and a vehicle for experimenting with component design. Right now the poor thing's been ripped up to have single-string pickups installed for multi-channel output so it looks bad. I'm gathering tools and components to build a bunch more prototypes with more range.


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## Hollowway (Feb 10, 2010)

^^ Yeah, I saw that when I searched for your guitar before, but the link just brings me back the SSO home page. No worries, though. But I love the Thomas Edison/Ben Franklin philosophy you have. Very cool, unique and functional stuff.


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## twiztedchild (Feb 10, 2010)

Durero said:


> Yeah Holdsworth is a visionary player. Huge inspiration to so many of us.
> 
> Great to follow your dreams man
> 
> ...




i know this is getting off topic now but how would a single string pickup look/work?


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## Durero (Feb 10, 2010)

Hollowway said:


> ^^ Yeah, I saw that when I searched for your guitar before, but the link just brings me back the SSO home page. No worries, though. But I love the Thomas Edison/Ben Franklin philosophy you have. Very cool, unique and functional stuff.



Sorry Andy it's been quite a while. This link works for me but if it doesn't work for others you could go to the gallery feature and enter Durero in the Search By Username field: Sevenstring.org Durero Gallery

Thanks for the kind words too. Years back I was going to study engineering at university, but ended up in music instead. Now it feels like the engineering bug has really caught up with me. My desire to become a luthier is overwhelming.





twiztedchild said:


> i know this is getting off topic now but how would a single string pickup look/work?


I'm refining my second prototype single-string pickup right now. I'll post pics when they're installed and playable. Basically if you can imagine a traditional humbucker sliced into an individual pair of magnets & coils - one pair for each string - that's what I'm doing.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 10, 2010)

are there any clips in existence of your fanned-fret 7 dude? i´ve seen it a bunch of times, but never thought about the fact that i´ve never heard it. it sounds tasty with those insane scale lengths


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## Durero (Feb 10, 2010)

There are youtube clips of me playing it in a world-music context which really doesn't show the range or clarity with distorted tones at all.

I'm rushing to get my multi-channel system up & running because my band is recording right now and I'm dying to use it. Should have complete tracks ready in the next few months.


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