I need a caliper for my guitar experimentation.  Is there a better value out there than this one?  I see this one on Amazon -- any good?

The really cheap ones are fine, they just don't last as long -- I seem to buy a new one every year or three, but I use mine almost daily. I don't think the more expensive one you linked has anything going for it other than a label.

i have a pair of mitutoyo absolute digimatic, not sure how much i paid, both are 4+ years old, no problems yet.

I just use the ones from Harbor Freight. Not up to Kevin's standards ($$$, ), but they work fine for what I need. They are often on sale for < $20.

I just use the ones from Harbor Freight. Not up to Kevin's standards ($$$, ), but they work fine for what I need. They are often on sale for < $20.

This.

well they weren't anything like that much when I bought them, maybe $50

 

now this on the other hand...

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/bigger2.jpg

So that one is for me?  

well they weren't anything like that much when I bought them, maybe $50

 

now this on the other hand...

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/bigger2.jpg

 

Kevin, is that your answering machine in the bottom right of the pic?

 

Regarding the caliper, the only thing I would say is to consider 8" instead of 6", unless you are absolutely sure you will never need the extra length. I bought a 6" a while back and on a number of occasions really wish I had sprung for the 8".

yes an answering machine. that was almost 20 years ago. at the time i had 3 phone lines,

now i have one, and its on a hardware blocker. But the merlin-20 is still hooked up to

every single room in the house. Still works 30+ years later. i will bet the at&t does not

build stuff with that quality anymore.

Thanks everyone!

Regarding the caliper, the only thing I would say is to consider 8" instead of 6", unless you are absolutely sure you will never need the extra length. I bought a 6" a while back and on a number of occasions really wish I had sprung for the 8".

Good advice!  No, since I'll be doing some stuff on 7- and 8- (and maybe even 9-, eventually) -string guitars, 8" sounds like a good idea.

Go with the Amazon one. Stewmac is extremely overpriced, according to my Luthier friends. The Amazon one is essentially the same.

Probably going with this one, yeah?

 

EDIT:  I should probably make sure it's accurate enough to differentiate between string gauges, though, so maybe not.  If it's between 6-8 inches, I don't need string gauge accuracy, I need measuring tape accuracy, neh?

 

Or will an accuracy of 0.001" make it prohibitively expensive?

Actually, this one appears to be accurate to 0.0001" and goes to 12", so yeah, think I'm going with that one purchased.

EDIT:  Although one report said thousandth of an inch, which is 0.001", so might get a little more tight on the high E string, so...we'll see.