Bass nut and bridge.

How far a part are the nut and the bridge supposed to be?? And is it measured from nut to front of bridge, or nut to middle of bridge or back of bridge. Can someone help?

From the fretboard end of the nut, to the theoretical middle of the saddles set at halfway. So if you have a Tune-O-Matic bridge it would be to the middle of the bridge post diameters.

This is the scale-length of the guitar. So if you know you have a 24.75 or 25.5 inch guitar you can measure it and see for yourself.

Because of intonation, it won't be that exact length for each string.

Measure from the fingerboard side of the nut to the crown of the 12th fret. Double that to get your scale length, the string length from nut to saddle.

Since this is th the bass forum... Standard 4 string P and J Fender Bass scale is 34"
there are some shorter (30 - 32) and longer scale basses (35 - 36).

If you have a neck and don't know what the scale is see above... (what Ricky D said).

From the fretboard end of the nut, to the theoretical middle of the saddles set at halfway. So if you have a Tune-O-Matic bridge it would be to the middle of the bridge post diameters.

This is the scale-length of the guitar. So if you know you have a 24.75 or 25.5 inch guitar you can measure it and see for yourself.

Because of intonation, it won't be that exact length for each string.

Sorry, this is not correct. That's not how you measure the scale length, and if you already know the scale length, that's not how you place the bridge.

Scale length is measured the way Ricky D. described. It's determined by the fret layout. You place the bridge so that the distance from the nut to the where the string goes over the saddles equals the scale length, with room to move the saddles backward for compensation.

If you have, say, a 34" scale bass and place your bridge so that 34" is in the middle of the saddles' travel, then you're wasting half the travel. The compensated length will never be less than 34".

SO what's the best way to mount my bridge with a 34inch scale bass?

extend the saddle for the G string almost all the way out, then place the bridge so that the center of that saddle is at your scale length. Let's assume that's 34". Then just make sure the bridge is square to the centerline of the neck.

How come you say extend the G string saddle almost all the way out.... if it's almost all the way out and I mount the bridge and my notes are all sharp on the g string don't I need room to adjust it or even if their not sharp, either way. I would think that you would put all of the saddles in the half way position and then measure 34 inches down from the nut on the neck to the saddles in their half way position.

And then mount the bridge from there.

And then mount the bridge from there.
I should stop to read before I post. I didn't realize you were dealing with a bass.
What I said still applies, but this guy talks about setting the saddles at 1/3rd 2/3rds instead of halfway.

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