The difference is obviously very small, but like most other people I notice it and prefer wider necks. I tried to get used to 1 11/16, but it just seems like less fun to play for me, it's too crowded.

But I was thinking - I suppose most people can feel the difference between string gauges, too, and that can be pretty small difference as well. They'll feel different to your picking hand, obviously (less tension the lower you go), but also to your fretting hand, I think. Seems like small differences will be noticed by most people using their hands/fingers all the time, doing the same things over and over.

It all depends on what you want to play on your guitar (Rythem/Solo/Fingerstyle)

Personaly for me its 1 7/8' V neck for fingerstyle, 1 11/16' for Rythem & Solo...

I didnt find in my area a 1 7/8' inch guitar so i bought a 12 string Washburn guitar that had 1 7/8' and turned it to a 6 string, very happy with it although i know that once i do find a 6 string with a V neck and 1 7/8' ill replace it, if someday i have enough cash a custom built or a Martin Ditson 333...IF i find a Martin HD28VS (1 3/4' with a V neck) that might do aswell ;).

String spacing at the nut
 

We all know to mute or make a string buzz is matter of .001"..all your fingering hand has to do is lightly touch the string you don't want it to in order to ruin a song.

You're right ... but you should be aware this thread is 9 years old.

I know you all have real experiences and I can't argue with that. But it really sounds like "the princess and the pea" or Goldilocks stories to me. I play a wide range of stringed instruments and they all have different nut widths, scale lengths, fretboard radius, fret size, body weight, number of frets to the body join, string gage etc. None of these is "just right" for every playing situation, but I easily adapt from one to another multiple times within a performance or practice session.

Maybe its just a guitar phenomenon? I never hear/see fiddle, mandolin, banjo, dobro, upright bass players discuss nut width like we do here.

This thread is like a time machine, taking us back to 2009. Since I wasn't playing guitar in 2009, I can't answer it!

Hard to believe, but in the last 9 years hand technology has improved to the point that I can play guitars with either nut size!

If you have a guitar with 1 11/16" nut and you want 1 3/4", (assuming it is the spacing between strings you want), couldn't you (or a luthier) make a new nut that is still 1 11/16" but has the string spacing of a 1 3/4" nut?

Seems like there would be room to do so, as the two E string slots are still a good distance from the actual outside edges of the nut.

Doesn't really matter to me because I am such a clod I can't tell the difference anyway.

THIS IS LONG ---BUT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT.

Here's some history :

All Martin guitars had either 1 & 7/8" or 1 &13/16" until the 14 fret OM came in in 1929. Fact.
Why? Because they were modeled on the European classical instruments and largely for similar playing styles. You can see the siilarity - 12 fret, and slotted headstocks. Right?

Why the OM (Orchestra Model?) Surely everyone knows about Perry Bechtel ?
Jazz and dance music was changing in the '20s and the tenor banjo was starting to sound out of place - so if those players wanted to keep their seat in the rhythm section they had to transfer to guitar.

Gibson Archtops were already established on the market and happened to be very suitable for orchestra use due to their percussive middle/treble projection when being chorded.

Martin needed to react and responded to Bechtel's request for a Martin to use in a band situation more suitable for a banjo player who played mostly chords on four strings.

So ...they lengthened and slimmed the neck FOR BANJO PLAYERS, who they thought would only need to play closed chords, probably on only four or five of the strings anyway.

The OM28 was introduced in 1929. (Remember that the OM was based on the LARGEST Martin avaiable at the tijme - The 000!

It didn't work! It did not have the percussive projection of the Archtops. It was discontinued in 1933.

In 1931 Martin introduced the original 12 fret slotted headstock (1 & 7/8" nut) - Whilst it was an excellent design, No-one understood it.

Martin also nitrocuded their C model Archtops but they didn't compete with the Gibsons and Epiphones etc. Same thng with their F model archtops in 1934.

In 1934, still trying to make a competitive OM (Orchestral) product, Martin brought out the 14 fret skinny necked Dreadnought. (also originally called an "OM").

It took on - slowly - but not as an orchestral guitar but as a rhythm guitar in the emerging country/folk field.

If you wanted to play fingerstyle the Martin Style "O","OO" and "OOO" 12 fretters were still available.

gibson and Epiphone were maing ever larger archtops guitars anwith thinner necks - Epi went down to 1 & 5/8"!

Martin weren't rally in the race but they emulated te ever skinnier necks on what they saw as merely strumming guitars (the Dreadnoughts).

That is the History.
.................................................. ...

I play mostly 1 & 13/16" 12 fret guitars because my fingertips are fairly flat and I need as much spacing as possible between the strings.

I played a '73 D35 from '75 until '96, but there was a ten year gap of no playing due to a serious illness.
When I started playing again in '93 my style was different, I wanted to play more melodically. Foolishly I changed to a J-40 which had a skinny neck but also had a shallow profile.

It took me a long time to realise that the standard Martin neck was holding me back, and so I changed to Collings which gave me an ideal compromise of neck geometry.

To say that a little difference makes "no" difference is to fail to understand the importance of individual physiology and playing styles.

Whilst I fully realise that many people can play intricate music on a rhythm neck and some seem to have difficulty playing on a wider neck, I choose to play the instruments with the appropriate geometry for my style and my hands.

Ahh, yes.
I believe you're right.

https://i.imgur.com/ugk0OZrl.jpg

Jack,
It's not mental.

It's physical.

The human body is far more sensitive than the brain is capable of rationalizing, so that's all you need to know, and then ignore the rest of nonsense.

If it feels different, it is different.

If it doesn't feel different, you have more choices.

HE

It's definitely not just guitar players. I was a trumpet major in college. There are many different brands of trumpets and they all have a slightly different blow. If you're a junior high trumpet player you don't care, as long as it's shinny. But for professional players the smallest difference can feel huge. Obviously I can play on any trumpet (or guitar), but to make my best music I want to think about the instrument not at all while I'm playing. That requires as much comfort as I can find.

I can talk trumpet differences until the cows come home. I'm also pretty good on the flute and play it professionally (although not at symphony orchestra levels). I have $5,000 flute and it sounds pretty good, but in the professional flute world that's a very cheap instrument - $1,500 is probably the normal base price there. I cannot talk flutes until the cows come home. I have not played enough instruments and I don't have the expertise.

I also play quite a bit of piano. I own a Yamaha grand that is only about 20 years old. I was playing our church Steinway Sunday that is about 100 years old and complaining about how loose the action had become. It's a fine 7' grand and I can certainly play it the way it is, but comfort does not take a genius to discern.

I'm pretty sure Chris Thile can talk mandolin nut widths until the cows come home. I'll bet even money YoYo Ma knows cellos. I'm pretty sure that most people who devote hours every day to their instrument know instruments. Maybe not all, but it certainly isn't just guitar players.

This is the way that I like to think about it as well. I guess that I have been hanging out with too many guitar makers. :)
I have a custom guitar on order with Sparky Kramer and it will be a 25" scale length with a nut width of 1 23/32". I find his neck shape very comfortable and we did have a conversation about string spacing. So, all these measures taken together can make a difference to a player for sure.

Best,
Jayne

Agreed with many posts here. I think it comes down to neck shape. I prefer 11/16ths guitars but what it really is is that many 3/4 necks are too chunky and round for me!

.013 makes a HUGE difference for me. Going from not having enough space for my sausage fingers to actually having space is a big difference. I'm a 1.75 guy through and through.