"Most
players agree that the best pedal steel guitar is the one that sounds
the best. Most players have also played only instruments with 24 or
241/4 inch scales. They've had to put up with shrill-sounding high
notes and muddy low notes. They haven't played a Sierra guitar with
a 25-inch scale. Adding one inch to the scale length may not seem
like much, but it's no exaggeration to say the difference is night
and day. Treble strings lose none of their brightness, but they sound
bigger and rounder. Bass strings acquire a harmonic richness and presence
it's impossible to achieve with a shorter scale. Even the lowest notes
on the universal tunings don't just go "thud."
There's never been a good musical
reason for the shorter scale. It's always been used to keep string breakage
to a minimum, since the shorter scale re- duces string tension. Sierra
has eliminated this problem by employing a unique gearless tuner. There
is no extra string length behind the nut to in- crease string tension.
Even on the E9th third G# string, there is less string breakage with
the 25 inch scale, because the actual string length is about 2 inches
shorter than on the 24 inch scale with standard tuners. In addition,
there is no backlash from the gearless tuner, and tuning is much quicker
and more accurate.
The other great advantage to the
25 inch scale is sonic accuracy. A longer scale means more room for accurate
bar placement, and less difficulty in getting harmonics (chimes). In
fact, the.longer scale produces more harmon- ics, including some you
may never have been able to get at all before. None of this is manufacturer's "hype" --
this really is what happens with a longer scale, and only Sierra® gives
it to you."
