#16
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This is interesting. While we have gone back and forth on 1 11/16" vs 1 3/4" nut width many times, I don't remember over the last 18 months that we have discussed this exact subject -- CAN WE REALLY TELL THE DIFFERENCE?
Obviously from the posts listed above, plenty of people can tell the difference. Bob Devellis' comments are particularly interesting to me. For me, sometimes I can tell the difference and sometimes I can't. When I started posting here, I was sure that I preferred 1 11/16" nut width, but I would have also agreed that the easiest guitar to play that I owned at that time was my Taylor 514CE, which unknown to me at the time, has a 1 3/4" nut width. I have guitars varying from 1 5/8" to 1 7/8" nut width. Once I get used to a guitar, I don't notice the difference in nut width one way or the other -- except for the 1 5/8"! The one I have the most trouble with is my Martin 000-28VS with a big fat "V" neck and a 1 13/16" nut width. But even that is not a big deal after about 5 minutes of playing. My fingers are of medium length but slender width, so my fingers fit on a 1 11/16" nut width just fine. But I've found that I can live with all kinds of nut widths. On a guitar I've never played before, I can play a 1 11/16" nut width very accurately, but I'll mess up on a 1 3/4" for a few minutes, probably because I've spent a lot of years playing electric guitars and the most natural feel for me is 1 11/16". Regards, Glenn |
#17
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Quote:
I feel to some its not a big deal and to some a card stock in thickness makes a difference . I believe that a good guitarist can adapt to what ever fingerboard width, radius or scale length that is put before them. I bought an OM because i was told I needed the wider fingerboard width for fingerstyle - but threw time i figured out i like the narrower Dread boards for fingerstyle -my philosophy is that the closer the strings are to one another the faster i can get to them - One idea is to have diferent fingerboard widths on your guitars -im betting it will make you a better guitarist and let you adapt quicker .
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--------------------------------- Wood things with Strings ! |
#18
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Quote:
To me that's like suggesting the intonation on a given string is only .063 of a semi-tone flat and doesn't need to be corrected, and asking "...will it make that much of a difference?" It would to my ears! I feel different string spacing on necks. It is not that I cannot adapt, I elect not to for my own instruments. In fact for me it would be a deal breaker if I found a guitar that sounded fabulous but had a nut narrower than 1 3/4'' and the saddle were narrower than 2 1/4''. I want to spend my time playing music not wrestling with a guitar neck... |
#19
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That 1/16" is actually a large enough difference to be a deal breaker for many guitarists. I prefer to think in terms of 1/64 increments, so the choices are really 1 11/16 - 1 45/64 - 1 23/32 - 1 47/64 - 1 3/4, and best for me and many of those I know well; 1 49/64, which I usually refer to as 1 3/4+. These smaller steps do not usually turn out to be deal breakers, and if you imagine I am being silly or obsessive, don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Schoenberg used to habitually order his guitars from me with 1 13/16, but is slowly seeing the light and currently favors 1 27/32!
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#20
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Yes, yes, yes, Eric Clapton can play anything with strings and a neck. I read the poster's thread question as what is more comfortable. For me for three reasons I prefer the 1 11/16 nut width and narrower fret boards. First, I thumb over the top on some patterns with a smaller left hand and want to stay clean on the high E string at the bottom as I do so. Second, I cover multiple strings on some chord patterns with one finger..easier when strings are closer.
Third, I feel that I can flat pick faster with shorter distances between strings. Physics. |
#21
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If you don't know any different and can't tell the difference yourself NOW, no, it won't make a bit of difference. You'll catch on and learn to prefer it I'm pretty sure. If you've played a 1.75 and move to a narrower width, you will always wish you had waited for another 1.75.
If you are a strummer and not a finger picker, it's all up to you. I don't see where that would matter as much. |
#22
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i was surprised - nay, shocked! - to discover last june that yes, that little bit of difference makes a huge difference to me. funny thing, but when i was first planning to buy a yamaha fg730s, people on this board warned me about the neck, and i thought "how much could such a little difference matter?" and went ahead with the yamaha. i ended up trading it for a seagull original s6 with great relief.
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#23
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and me too...
Quote:
After some dedicated playing time at several other dealers in my area, I finally found that 1 3/4 works just right (or right now) for me. 1 7/8 was too much and I could not move my thumb over the top and consistently make some of the chords that go with country blues and the old nut width wasn't working. So a process of elimination. I have so much more to learn, but as with Patty, I have made some mistakes along the way to find what works. And that is what matters to me...that it works and I can play with some comfort. That perception of comfort makes practice seem easier...and more attractive.
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Idaho John Martin OM-15m custom Opinions subject to change due to experience... |
#24
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It seems that most of us prefer 1-3/4", yet many of the most popular guitars in the history of the craft (Martin D-18 and D-28, etc) have 1-11/16" nuts, and this is my quandry. I want one or the other (or both), but am concerned about the 1-11/16 nut. I have very large hands, and in the store, they seem to play fine, but...
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#25
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I have paws for hands,as some of you describe,too! And really do feel that 1/16 and so prefer the 1 3/4 nut measurement. I would like to add that at one time I had a 1968 Hummingbird which was supposedly ordered by John Sebastion...it had a 1 9/16 nut with what I would call a low profile shaped neck.When I picked it up to play,the feel was "giddy-up",but I can't and I smashed some chords.
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#26
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The difference is like night and day to me. Having just gotten a 1 3/4" nut OM recently (inexpensive Silver Creek), it's about all I play right now, but the 1 11/16" size is still a joy to play as well. However there's no mistaking which is which. Far more finger-picking room (or flat-picking room) and room to form chords on the 1 3/4". Also bending room. I really enjoy playing blues on the wider nut. Strumming the large nut size is still fine, though for stumming-only the smaller nut size is easier (of course). But when I try to finger pick on it now, it's feels more like I have to "pick at" and on top of the strings on the 1 11/16", rather than the sensation of "picking in" the strings, that the 1 3/4" nut feels like. The SC also has 2 5/16" string spacing at the saddle btw.
It's all good though. |
#27
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Actually, someone on this forum did a survey a while ago -- http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...ight=nut+width
52.5% preferred 1 3/4", 30% preferred 1 11/16". |
#28
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Again, people... NECK PROFILE (and radius for that matter.)
You can't really talk about so-called "direct" comparisons of 1 11/16" vs 1 3/4" nuts without including the neck profiles. It's a HUGE (probably the biggest) part of the equation. So "guitar A had a 1 11/16" and guitar B had a 1 3/4" and I preferred guitar B"... doesn't really mean anything. |
#29
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Quote:
I have an old 1970s Korean Martin D-copy with a V neck and 1 11/16" neck, which is a pretty close neck profile comparison to my Silver Creek T-170 Martin OOO28-EC copy (and very similar, if not the same radius), and I can assure you there's a HUGE difference just from the nut width. It's amazing to me how much 1/16" at the nut, with an extra 1/8" string spacing at the saddle can make. Maybe not everyone can feel the difference, of course, but I sure do. Last edited by TomHB; 10-17-2009 at 09:43 AM. |
#30
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Which begs the question, why doesn't Martin offer a 1-3/4" nut option (without paying custom made prices) on their flagship models, the -18 and -28?
jack |