Long & Short scale: volume

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by ChalkLitIScream

Using the same amount of force to pluck the strings, will the shorter scale produce a louder volume because it's strings are under less tension and require less force to move?

I wont have the chance to compare guitars side by side since the same model isn't made in different scale lengths, and this is just theoretical at the moment.

How does this lower tension affect its ability to drive a top and get that same projection, given that the top is braced for long scale (factory guitar, so no special attention would be given to the short scale)? Do you need to strum or pick harder on the SS?

Using the same amount of force to pluck the string, the volume of the long scale and short scale should theoretically be the same. I don't believe that either has a higher efficiency of energy transfer, so they would both deliver the same amount of energy to the top.

You will never be able to compare guitars side by side, the variation in the wood used to build them introduces more difference than the variation in scale length.

Similarly, the variation in the wood used to produce guitars in a factory setting precludes optimization for a specific scale length, the differences in stiffness of the top wood is greater than the difference between the string tension.

An individual luthier can measure the stiffness of the top and braces and determine the thickness of the top and the sizes of the braces needed for a specific scale length and string gauge, but that's not practical in a factory setting.

[J Patrick]

...overall volume is a nonissue to me...all good guitars have respectable volume...that said..other than resonators the loudest guitars I have owned over the years have all been longer scale guitars..but only if I play them louder....in fact...smaller shorter scaled guitars I have can often produce more volume and projection when I play them with a lighter touch...which is why I prefer them overall....I rarely play with a hard driving style these days...but when I do and need to stay in the mix with banjos and such...the dreadnought gets the call...