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Hi folks, does any one know what the scale length of a 1937 Martin O-18 is please?

TIA

Serge

My guess would be 24.9, but somebody may know for sure and then I should be completely ignored.

Homeboy

I would say 24.9 as well .. for sure if its a 12 fret .. the 14 fretters didnt come along till after the war I think.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

24.9 is the correct rounded dimension. this site gives then all:

     http://www.mimf.com/archives/m artin_dimensions.htm

Thanks guys, i'm thinking that 24.9 would be correct for a 12 fretter also but what if i was to build a 14 fretter? what would be the scale length then ?

TIA again!

Serge

Anything you want it to be man, ... anything!

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If you wanted to use the 00 size body, you can use almost any scale you want like Alain said.

If you were to make a 14 fret neck joint, I would probably use a 25.4 or 25.6. Depends also on what is to be played on this little guitar. Drop tunings? I'd go with the higher scale, but if it were for finger pickin' and some strummin', I'd stick with the 25.4

Sooooooo since no one else has asked yet.....

What you doin' Serrrrrrrrrrgio???

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[QUOTE=Serge Poirier] Thanks guys, i'm thinking that 24.9 would be correct for a 12 fretter also but what if i was to build a 14 fretter? what would be the scale length then ?
[/QUOTE]
Serge-
I was thinking about this last week as I have some 25.4 fingerboards and I'm building a parlour (O-size) guitar. Either scale length will do: if you think of the measurements from the neck/body join line, the longer scale will move the bridge about .25 inch or less (and the nut the same distance 'away' from the body). Not a big deal.
Changing from 12 to 14 fret join point (with either scale) will require you to move the bridge a fair bit, so you will have to check your bracing and the rest of your plan...
With the smaller body guitars, there's less lower bout to move that bridge around in, so it makes an interesting exercise.
Just my 2 cents worth..
John

I've got two 00-18s 1934 and 1963, both of them are 24.9, My 000-18 (1935) and OM-28 (1931) are both 25.4. I believe that in the 30s the 0-18 had the original 24.9 scale. Also if your going authentic they switched to tortoise binding on the 18s in 1936.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I know I'm probably being a thorn in peoples sides, but will everyone please
stop saying 25.4? I'm sure many already know that Martin never used a
25.4" scale length, but many don't and it can lead to confusion. The 25.34"
that they did actually use is only .060" less, but it can be enough to make a
difference when someone is locating a bridge. If anyone has any
fingerboards, templates, etc., that are labeled 25.4, you should either
measure them or check with the manufacturer. I know that Stew Mac labels,
or at least used to label their 25.34 templates as 25.4, but I don't know
about other parts distributors.David Collins39094.8772569444

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Many thanks my good friends, i really appreciate all your input on this since it will be a guitar that i will give to my young brother Martin so the 1937 Martin O-18 is very attractive to me!

Thanks Alain buddy!

thanks Rod, check out my newest thread, Friday night at Serge's shop!

Thanks John, Colin and David, i will probably go the 25.34" route with the 14 fret since i'm used to do it that way and i already got the templates for that scale length, thanks again all!

Serge

[QUOTE=David Collins] I know I'm probably being a thorn in peoples sides, but will everyone please
stop saying 25.4? I'm sure many already know that Martin never used a
25.4" scale length, but many don't and it can lead to confusion. The 25.34"
that they did actually use is only .060" less, but it can be enough to make a
difference when someone is locating a bridge. If anyone has any
fingerboards, templates, etc., that are labeled 25.4, you should either
measure them or check with the manufacturer. [/QUOTE]

Good point, David.
I guess I'm naturally suspicious/cautious, but I always check the 0-12 fret distance on the fingerboard (if pre-slotted, template if not) rather than trusting a measurement. An accurate scale (Starrett 36 inch??) is way out of my price range anyway.
John

I just briefly checked a 1940 0-15 at the shop and it came out to around
24.78". Precision in fret board slotting was never one of Martin's strong
points (you should see how far off some of the slots are on a 1960 D-18
I'm working on are ), but depending which intervals I look at I can
come out with from 24.76" to about 24.89". I realize I'm rather lucky to
have a nice set of 26", .001" graduation calipers. I made a set of
replacement tips to measure point to point, edge to edge or a
combination and I absolutely love them.

I would personally choose a shorter scale for a 0-style. I'm a big fan of
old parlor guitars and most of them use a 24" scale. I don't know how a
small body like that would sound with a long scale, as I really don't know
as though I've ever seen one.

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David, the PROGECAD file i have says it's a 14 fret join and the searches i've done on the net have given me a 23" scale length so that's why i was asking because 23" seemed abit weird to go with a 14 fretter so maybe i should go with a 12 fretter and a 24.9" SL to make sure?

David,

I know little to nothing about traditional Martin (or other make) scale lengths, but it occurs to me that sometimes confusion comes from sloppy (or different) definitions of scale length that people can and do use. Sometimes people (not you or other builders I'm sure)include the saddle compensation (in the middle of the saddle) to what I would call scale length (excluding the complexities of any shortening of the fretboard at the nut). In this way 25.3" becomes 25.4" ('ish) and 24.8 becomes 24.9 ('ish).Dave White39095.5526273148

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De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave, you're certainly right about careless or casual numbers becoming so
commonly used, and once they make it in to print enough times people start
to take them as accurate facts. I've never paid much attention to the
accuracy of the "24.9" scale, although now I'm beginning to think that may
be further off than the "25.4" number. I guess that makes me as guilty as
anyone for passing on misinformation. I'll have to start keeping better notes
on short scale Martins as they come through the shop.

Serge, I'm not sure where the 23" scale length came from, but that does
seem a lot shorter than I would want to try (unless you want to tune a step
high). I would say anywhere from 24.5"-25" would seem appropriate for a
custom 0-style.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Many thanks David, just in line with what i was thinking! YES!

Serge, I'd also check with John Hall.

Martin O guitars whether 12 or 14 frets clear of the body I believe are all 24.9" scale. If you check the MIMF link Michael McClain provided, I think you will see that both the 12 and 14 fret clear of the body are 24.9".

The O size 12 and 14 fret also have a different body length as indicated in Michael's provided link. Here's a handy link on Martin vintage guitars that contains some interesting historical factsVintage Guitar Info

Anthony Z39096.9802430556

Thanks Anthony, when i checked Michael's link at first, i was embarrassed to say that i could not find the info , i just checked more thoroughly and found it this time, thanks to Michael and to you as well Anthony, 24,9" for sure now.

Serge, were you logged in? In order to view the archives there, you have to be signed in first.

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Aoibeann

oh yeah, weird, wonder why i could have access to the archives yesterday without being logged in? i found what Michael was refering to there.

i must concur wth david that it is somewhat confusing to old hands, much less the new ones when the manufacturers published nominal dimensions are not the same as the manufacturing specifications. it is even worse when what they build is not in line with their manufacturing specs.

in a similar vein the range of variations around gibson's nominal 24.75" scale length was extensive.

measuring the fret board is the only way to devine what is going on and then inconsistencies as cited above rear their ugly head.

all that being recognized, martin still refers to their two most common scale lengths as 24.9" and 25.4" and for such discussions as these i see no harm in using the maufacturers own terminology. there is no reason, as lord denning, mr, once said, "...to throw an entirely gratuitous shovel of manure into an already sufficiently muddied stream!"crazymanmichael39098.3582175926

For some odd reason I find the 12 fretter more pleasing to my eye. I love
parlours!