Just had a new fretboard made for my 59 Annie as the original had been sanded down to the point that the thumb inlays were paper thin and was also badly damaged. So my local guitar luthier made a new one from Gaboon ebony, but said that had never seen that kind of fret spacing on any guitar before. The Gibson 24.6 scale was closest he had. I will be gluing the board on to the guitar myself, but before I do, I wanted to check if the Gison 24.6 will be ok? Cheers, George

I've never owned a Gibson but I have heard their scale length described as 24.75" although I've also heard that they haven't always been consistent with it. As far as I know Gretsch's scale length is exclusively Gretsch.

Measure the scale. You can measure from the nut(or zero fret, if it has one) to the 12th fret & X2. Why didn't your luthier check it first & cut it right?
Call LMII & see if they can cut one with the correct spacing for the guitar. 24.75 is a very loose term for scale length. I think it's just easier for some to remember & say.

To answer the "Will it be ok" question... Does everything line up & look ok? The 14th fret should be at the neck joint.
Theoretically it should be "ok", so long as everything still lines up & the finished job looks natural. The bridge position "will" change slightly.

To answer the "Will it be ok" question... Does everything line up & look ok? The 14th fret should be at the neck joint.
Theoretically it should be "ok", so long as everything still lines up & the finished job looks natural. The bridge position "will" change slightly.

It seems to be the same from the first fret to the 14'th, but then it starts to vary by 1-2mm

When you fit it to the neck will it look ok? Sounds like it will be fine mechanically. The difference will be where the bridge sits. If the new board is shorter, the bridge will be closer to the pickup & visa versa.
My biggest concern on a job like this is if it will look correct. Personally, if I can't tell that anything has been changed, I'm not going to question it. But, I'd rather put the correct scale back on it.

What you are seeing is probably the minimal difference in scale length overall. 1st - 12th fret the change isn't visually much. As the you get further up the board the change in length becomes more drastic.
Here, play with this... http://www.stewmac.com/free...

Just measured new v's old fingerboard.The new board is around 5mm longer. Thanks

From StewMac, showing Gibson had different scale lengths over the years:

Scale Length Explained

Note: Gretsch isn't mentioned.

I think you need to do the math and make sure the spacing is correct. He should have measured and copied what you have.

Also, you know it's not a simple thing to glue and clamp the fretboard. You should drill and pin in a minimum of four places so it doesn't creep when it's clamped.

If you think about it there are a lot of things to consider when setting necks, cutting fretboards and slotting the board. Keep in mind there has to be a 90° reference to the strings or you will end up with weird bridge placement or angle. Sometimes you see a bridge set angled towards the nut on E, A and D which is the opposite of what we expect, have you ever wondered why that is?

Curt, "I think you need to do the math and make sure the spacing is correct. He should have measured and copied what you have. "

No "quality" luthier would have guessed.

That was my feeling, as well. Now that two others have come forward & said it, I'll back it up

Using this chart as a reference point, if a Gretsch scale length is in fact 24.6", that equates in fraction as 24 3/5" which makes the 1959 Gibson scale length the closest, but still shorter in length by 1/16".

Thank you all for your responses. After reading your responses, I have decided I will have another board made with the correct Gretsch fret spacing. The luthier I went to usually does a great job, But in this case got a little lazy and just used a Gibson fret scale ruler which was closes instead of copying the spacing exactly.

I just went thru this with a pre-war Martin... As was hinted at above, there is theoretical scale length, and then there is what is on your guitar. I've taken to cutting them on a CNC machine, and it's still work to get it right for the job.