13.77" radius vs 14" radius. Are they they same?

GrandmaShreds

GrandmaShreds

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As the title suggests, if a guitar has a 350mm radius (13.77") would this technically be 14"? Would you be able to just adjust saddles to be at 14" or does it have to be 13.77"? There isn't much difference so I don't think it would matter?

School me.
 
Same. I think some of my Epiphone have 12" radius, others 14". I never looked what the aftermarket parts were and didn't notice anything.
 
GrandmaShreds said:
They should, it affects the playability of the guitar
Click to expand...
It probably would if the difference was major.

Try this (I didn't): trace a 12" radius and a 14" radius circle. Superpose them aligning the top edge. Then from the center of that top edge, measure a 52mm (2.047238") width. Now compare the difference in height at the end of that 52mm (26mm from center point) distance. I wonder how much that comes up to.
 
GrandmaShreds said:
They should, it affects the playability of the guitar
Click to expand...
I can see that. Certainly the feel. I did chase the radius for years. Then I asked myself ‘why am I raising the middle saddles?’ I like low action.

Regardless. Mine follow more of a gentle slope from low E to high e. Once the low E stops buzzing, I just match the consecutive saddles accordingly. For me, that’s each one slightly lower.
 
In generalized terms 13.77 rounds up to 14.

They are not the same. But I suspect that the real question is whether it matters.

A circle with a radius of 350 mm has a diameter of 700 mm and a circumference of a little over 2000mm. From all that, and the width of your neck, you can find your central angle at rest and central angle of the string when fretted and then calculate the variations of length of your arc segment.

Then you can decide whether the ~1½% difference in radius, that the distinction between 13.77 inches and 14 inches represents, is significant to you.

Personally, I relied on feel and sound and left my slide rule in my pocket protector.

But that's just me.
 
What's that old saying? Close enough for government work. I'd suggest setting saddle heights to a 14" radius and if you can feel any difference well then God Bless. You win the Princess and the Pea sensitivity award.
 
I've always been learnt that having the bridge a little flatter than the fretboard is recommended. All of mine are. On all of my Indios from Monoprice, the fretboard is 13.78"(350mm) and the Gotoh ABR1 w/ part # GE104B has a 15.74"(400mm) radius. Even with that much difference, I couldn't tell any difference between the stock Nashville bridge and the Gotoh ABR1 as far as radius is concerned.

Same goes for my Epi Les Paul. It has a 12 inch(304.8mm) radius and uses the same Gotoh GE104B bridge at 15.74"(400mm) radius. I didn't play that one with the stock bridge so I can't comment on whether they felt different but I doubt I'd have noticed anything.

A 3.75 inch difference isn't enough for me to notice any issues so I highly doubt you'd notice anything at 0.25" unless your fingers are like Eric Johnson's ears lol!
 
rolandson said:
In generalized terms 13.77 rounds up to 14.

They are not the same. But I suspect that the real question is whether it matters.

A circle with a radius of 350 mm has a diameter of 700 mm and a circumference of a little over 2000mm. From all that, and the width of your neck, you can find your central angle at rest and central angle of the string when fretted and then calculate the variations of length of your arc segment.

Then you can decide whether the ~1½% difference in radius, that the distinction between 13.77 inches and 14 inches represents, is significant to you.

Personally, I relied on feel and sound and left my slide rule in my pocket protector.

But that's just me.
Click to expand...

I doubt anyone could feel a difference from that 1/4 of an inch difference. But then, I can switch between 2 totally different guitars and never have a hiccup while others might take a couple of hours to get used to that other guitar to the point that they're comfortable with it. So maybe I'm not the best "yard stick" to compare to
 
Each individual's threshold palette is unique. Some people can't distinguish one odor from another, but can hear a mosquito from 15 feet away, while others have a remarkable sense of smell but couldn't distinguish between fighting cats and a saxophone to save their skins.

oh...wait. poor choice of comparatives, they do sound alike...

Touch, hearing, taste... anything involving our senses is unique to the individual, so it truly is a matter of preferences.

What's totally cool is that many of our senses can be trained...

I know a fellow who trianed his "ear" to obtain what's known as "relative pitch" (identifying a note after being given a known standard) by using a tuning fork. He'd focus intently on middle C for two minutes every morning immediately after waking up. If I "give" him a note, he can hum or sing or identify any other...
Sorta like a human Vince Gill (guy has perfect pitch...but he's not human so there's that.)

I know another who strengthened his eyesight through a series of exercises. His dream was to become a naval aviator but his eyesight was below the minimum acceptable acuity. He worked diligently for 18 months.

He's an EA-18 Growler pilot today because of it...(I worry for him.... he's in harms way.)
 
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