String Lengths
The long and short of it. - from the newsleltter of the Sacramento Guitar Society

For those of us who were fortunate enough to hear Jose Merlin at Crocker Art Gallery last October, you know the guitar has been released into another dimension. Being a guitar enthusiast myself for many years, I thought I had seen everything. But wait, the following day, Brandon Yip, hosted a master class by Jose Merlin: where he gave further insights into the art of the guitar playing. It had occurred to me to ask Jose Merlin what string length he preferred and as I suspected it was a shorter string length that enhanced the light and airy touch of his resqueos. This subject of string lengths is an interesting one and one I hope will inspire discussion within our group of fellow guitar enthusiasts.
Let’s define some terms. Jose Merlin plays a guitar with a 650 mm (millimeters) string length, this is considered to be a short string length when compared to some Ramirez guitars that run 666mm, a long string length, such as the guitar played by Christopher Parkening. In general terms short would be 650mm, a medium 655mm and a long 660mm or longer.
On the plus side, guitars with a long string length have more tension, more power, more volume and longer sustain. We do love those long string lengths. On the minus side, the frets are further apart making the reaches longer for the left hand. When a longer string is plucked it goes around in a bigger diameter than a short one, which will cause the string to buzz against the next fret unless the action is set a little higher by raising the saddle.

Some of you may recall the problem the first string off pulling off the neck when fretting. This is because the longer vibrating string length though it has more tension is more elastic. Because of this elasticity, when the strings are fretted on the first or sixth strings they can be pulled off the fingerboard more easily. This makes it necessary to have either a wider fingerboard or closer string spacing at the nut. A heavier gauge string might also help.
A short string length guitar can have lower action, has shorter distance between frets and a thinner neck for those who have small hands. That does not mean that the shorter string lengths take second place in balance and tone.
Back to Jose Merlin. The next day, after the master class, at our guitar society meeting, who was to walk in but Louis Johnson and Jose Merlin. Louis and Jose played a duet together and I could hear plainly the tone of the long string length of Louis’s Oribe and the tone of Joe Merlin’s guitar with its shorter string length. What I thought most interesting was the way Louis controlled his volume and dynamics to match the tones and colors Jose was producing with his guitar. These two great masters gave us a treat we’ll not soon forget.
Many thanks to Jose and Louis for playing so beautifully for us.
This is not a one size fits all situation, but a personal choice that luthiers as well as players go back and forth on. Consider the pluses and minus and you might come to the conclusion I did, I need both. If you have small hands a short string length guitar might be all you need.
Many of you know Arnie Gamble as a guitar restorer / repairman and local luthier. He has set up and repaired many of your guitars over the years. Arnie has also built over 100 fine classical and steel string guitars since1978.