Scale length is the vibrating length of the open string, from the nut to the bridge saddle. It's fixed by where the bridge sits, so you can't change it with a setup. On October 31, 2026, Thomann listed the scale length for 3,832 of its electric guitars (multiscale guitars aside):
| Scale | Guitars | Share | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25.5" (648 mm) | 2,250 | 59% | Fender, Ibanez, ESP, Jackson: most Strat and Tele styles |
| 24.75" (628 mm) | 1,104 | 29% | Gibson, Epiphone, Gretsch: single-cuts and semi-hollows |
| 25" (635 mm) | 226 | 6% | PRS, D'Angelico, Danelectro |
| 24" (610 mm) or shorter | 89 | 2% | Fender Mustang and Jaguar, short-scale and travel guitars |
| 26.5" (673 mm) or longer | 158 | 4% | 7- and 8-strings, baritones |
The median price is about the same for both main scales, $1,204 at 25.5 inches and $1,254 at 24.75. Scale doesn't decide what a guitar costs; it decides how it feels.
What the difference does
- Tension. With the same strings at the same pitch, tension grows with the square of the length. A 24.75" guitar has about 6% less tension than a 25.5" one: a .010 high E pulls about 15.3 lb instead of 16.2.
- Bends and feel. Lower tension means easier bends and vibrato, and a slightly looser, "slinkier" feel.
- Tone. Higher tension gives more snap and clearer lows; lower tension sounds a little warmer and rounder. The pickups and wood matter at least as much.
- Fret spacing. From the nut to the 5th fret is about 162 mm on a 25.5" neck and 158 mm on 24.75". Small, but you feel it in wide chord stretches.
25.5 inches: the Fender scale
Fender Player II Stratocaster, $866
The scale of the Stratocaster and Telecaster since the 1950s. Fender strings it with .009s, which offsets the higher tension. #1 of 620 ST style guitars.
24.75 inches: the Gibson scale
Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s, $2,438
Gibson lists it as 629 mm. With the same .010 strings, the high E pulls 15.3 lb here and 16.2 lb on a Strat, which is why many players find a Les Paul easier to bend on. #1 of 253 single cut guitars.
25 inches: in between
PRS SE Custom 24, $1,001
Paul Reed Smith's middle ground between the two classic scales, and PRS has 126 of the 226 guitars at 25 inches. #7 of 146 double cut guitars.
24 inches and shorter: small hands, easy bends
Fender Player II Mustang, $826
A 24" short scale and a 42 mm nut. Good for younger players and smaller hands, and for anyone who likes the loose, rubbery feel. #1 of 28 shortscale guitars.
26.5 inches and longer: low tunings
Tune a guitar down and the strings go slack. A longer scale brings the tension back, so 7- and 8-strings often use 26.5" or 27", and baritones go longer still: the Danelectro 56 Baritone at $692 has a 29.75" (756 mm) scale. Multiscale or "fanned fret" guitars, 100 of them at Thomann, give each string its own length: long for the bass strings, shorter for the trebles.
Which one for you
- You bend a lot or like a softer feel: 24.75" or 24".
- You like snap, spank and tight lows, or play clean funk and country: 25.5".
- You can't decide: 25", or try the next string gauge up or down on what you have; it changes the feel more than you'd think.
- You tune to drop C or lower: 26.5" or longer, or multiscale.
Where the numbers come from. Every electric guitar Thomann had in stock on October 31, 2026, whose description gives the scale length in millimetres, without sets, bundles and multiscale guitars. String tensions are calculated with the standard formula for a plain .010 steel string tuned to E4. Prices are Thomann's US-dollar prices.
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Denis Kataev runs AudioFu. Every night the site records the prices of more than 38,000 instruments and studio tools at Thomann, and he writes about what those numbers show: what got cheaper, what just arrived, and which discounts are real.
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