Modify excerpt to use limit of characters

wp-exerpt.php

//Modify excerpt to use limit of characters
function get_excerpt($limit) {

	$excerpt = explode(' ', get_the_excerpt(), $limit);
	if (count($excerpt)>=$limit) {
		array_pop($excerpt);
		$excerpt = implode(" ",$excerpt).'...';
	} else {
		$excerpt = implode(" ",$excerpt);
	}
	$excerpt = preg_replace('`\[[^\]]*\]`','',$excerpt);
	return $excerpt;
}

function content($limit) {
	$content = explode(' ', get_the_content(), $limit);
	if (count($content)>=$limit) {
		array_pop($content);
		$content = implode(" ",$content).'...';
	} else {
		$content = implode(" ",$content);
	}
	$content = preg_replace('/\[.+\]/','', $content);
	$content = apply_filters('the_content', $content);
	$content = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', $content);
	return $content;
}