E strings distances from the edges of the nut

[terahertz]

Do you have a preferred distance for 1E and 6E strings from the edges of the nut?

In my experience, when the 1E string is too close to the edge, my palm will unintentionly mute that string. If too far, the spacings between the other strings will be reduced.

When the 6E is too far from the edge, the thumb on 1st fret for F chord will be more difficult.

Any standard or optimum or preferred distances for the 2 strings? Thanks.

[jmagill]

It's a good question and not often given enough consideration.

The longer I play the more I've come to appreciate custom setups to get each of my instruments' playability optimal specifically for my hands. Since these are very fine adjustments typically within most repairmans' tolerances, I've learned to make my own nuts & saddles, and how to adjust each string's height and spacing at the nut and 12th fret for all my guitars and mandolins in order to get things just as I like them. Perhaps it's a little OCD, but it's fun and the results are very satisfying.

I've included measurements in inches of the indents of the 'E' (6th) and 'e' (1st) strings below for five of my guitars, made with digital calipers. All measurements were taken from the edge of the fretboard at the nut to contact with the string. I set all of these placements by feel; the measurements are just what I came up with. Keep in mind these were adjustments for my hand which has pretty long fingers.

In general, I like the 'e' indent a little deeper than that of the 'E' because, as a fingerstyle player, I'm fretting the first four strings, which carry the melody, more than the last two and I want their fingering to be as easy as possible. I also like the spacing between these four strings to be a little wider than that of the others.

I don't have a 'standard' indent, but customize it for each guitar because, while my hand stays the same, each instrument has variables to be considered to maximize playability for me. These include:

– Neck profile (C, D or V-shaped)
– Neck width (determined by nut width)
– Neck thickness (front to back)
– Fret end shape (squared, rounded square, 'bullet'-shaped)
– Fret slope or 'fall-off' (how close to the string the dressing of the fret end begins)

As always, your mileage may vary.


(E & e in inches)

2007 Circa OM – .1250 .1460
2017 Buendia Jumbo – .1065 .1415
2019 Doerr Legacy – .1090 .1315
1930 Martin 0-21 – .1170 .1175
1930 Martin 0-18 – .1395 .1405

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by terahertz

Do you have a preferred distance for 1E and 6E strings from the edges of the nut?

In my experience, when the 1E string is too close to the edge, my palm will unintentionly mute that string. If too far, the spacings between the other strings will be reduced.

When the 6E is too far from the edge, the thumb on 1st fret for F chord will be more difficult.

Any standard or optimum or preferred distances for the 2 strings? Thanks.

Good question that isn't often asked.

First, if your playing technique is correct there's not much chance of string muting by the palm of your hand.

The real problem with addressing the distance of string to edge of fret board is more about preventing the string from being pulled over the edge if it's too close. I have for years set the outer distances to 1/8" from string center to outer edge and avoided any drama over how close to set it. I do increase that just slightly when building electric bass guitars.

There can be some variance in this distance depending on the end ramp angle of the frets, but normally this isn't a problem unless the person dressing the frets makes the angle low enough that it encourages the string to be easily pulled over the neck edge.

[Macpage]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I have for years set the outer distances to 1/8" from string center to outer edge and avoided any drama over how close to set it.

Some nice information provided by previous posters.

I also find that .125" (1/8) is a string set-in that works ideally. However, I also have one that is about .095" and one that is .137". These are fine for me as well, but I will slip a string occasionally on the .095" with aggressive playing. It probably has more to do with just not playing that guitar as much these days as the set-in. The more I play it the less it happens.

Best,

Mac

[terahertz]

Thank you very much for sharing the information.

[Robin, Wales]

Mmm....

I would say that this is something I do by eye for each guitar rather than by measurement. One measurement is not going to work on every guitar because some guitars have rolled edges, some have different bevels on the fret edges, and players may have different needs/preferences.

When I cut a nut I mount the outer two strings on the guitar so I can visually check the outer spacing alignment before using a proportional rule to mark and cut the rest of the slot positions. That way every guitar gets its maximum string spacing for that specific guitar's fretboard and frets.

Most pre-cut nuts are quite conservative on overall string spacing because of the variations to be found in fretboard edge and fret finishing from guitar to guitar.