Good cheap caliper?

[Dusty Chalk]

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?

[dsavitsk]

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.

[kevin gilmore]

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

[Pars]

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.

[n_maher]

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.

[kevin gilmore]

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

[spritzer]

So that one is for me?  

[GeorgeP]

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".

[kevin gilmore]

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.

[Dusty Chalk]

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.

[recstar24]

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

[Dusty Chalk]

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?

[Dusty Chalk]

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.