Parlor scale length

[Beau Hannam – Beau Hannam Guitars]

Intonation issues have nothing to do with body size/scale length relationship.

[Michael Bashkin Bashkin Guitars]

HI Larry:

I’ve made parlor and OO size guitars with 24.9 and 25.4″ scale lengths and there are no issues with intonation as the body size won’t affect intonation. Intonation factors are: correct fret, nut and saddle placement, string gauge, overall setup on the guitar, the player and fret height to a small degree.

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

Did you have to adjust the bracing for a new bridge position ?

[Michael Bashkin Bashkin Guitars]

Yes, the bracing moves with the bridge but I’m not sure if others do it this way.

[Dave Staudte (rhymms with "Howdy") NB Guitar Repair (New Braunfels, TX)]

This will land the bridge more in the middle of the top which is what some people and builder’s desire. And it makes sense to put it in a more centered area like on nylon stringed guitars and many other models. Builders have even made 13 frets to the body guitars to get the bridge in this area. But there are no steadfast rules. The dreadnaught and jumbos have their bridges shifted forward quite a bit from the middle of the top and they serve their purposes just fine. As long as the braces inside can support your bridge you can put whatever scale length you want on an acoustic no matter where the bridge lands. If I recall correctly, some of the earliest parlor guitars had their bridges shifted more towards the rear of the guitar.