Width of the neck at the nut...lets compare.

quincy451
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Sun May 10, 2009 4:25 am

Neil made a point in the last webnair picking up Max's Guild. He would have liked to have seen a slightly wider neck at the nut for finger picking. I agree with him a tight string spread caused by the neck width being too small can hammer finger picking. Then he mentioned some measurements and he seemed to be way small to me.

I started up playing again couple years with a yahama C40 I bought in 2001.
Wanting the briter sound of steel strings I bought a Jasmine by Takamine a S34C.
Now I like the sound of the Jasmine but the neck on it frustrated me for months.
So I took some measurements to compare observations to facts. Width at the neck for
each:
Yahama C40: 2.5 inches
Jasmine S34C: 2.0 inches

Now most guitar makers do not document this measurement where mortals can find it online. At least I don't know of such a reference if one exists.

If you good people would indulge me I would like for you to take this one measurement on your guitar or guitar(s).

Give me the measurement, the make/model, string count(6/12), string type(steel/nylon)...accustic/electric etc.

I am real curious what the 12 strings come in at.

Thanks,
David


wrsomers
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Sun May 10, 2009 10:15 am

quincy451 wrote:

Now most guitar makers do not document this measurement where mortals can find it online. At least I don't know of such a reference if one exists.


David--Guitar makers do list fingerboard width at the nut on their specs. Most steel string 6-string guitars are either 1 11/16" or 1 3/4" at the nut. You can usually find it in their catalog or online somewhere.


rcsnydley
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Sun May 10, 2009 11:21 am

David,

I have a Seagull Maritime Mini-Jumbo Cutaway acoustic/electric 6 string. The width at the nut is 1.8 inches.

Keep Playing
Ric


haoli25
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Sun May 10, 2009 12:13 pm

Good question, David. I knew mine were all different, but I never took the time to measure until now.


Mossman 6-string - 1.75 inches (44.45mm)
2 Ovation 12-strings - both 1.86 inches (47.24mm)
Alvarez Yairi Classical - 2.0 inches (50.8mm)


Haoli


quincy451
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Sun May 10, 2009 6:01 pm

Well, it might help keep stop confusion if I got my measurements right.
I took measurements at the nut and at the 12th fret. The ones I gave
in my first post where 12th fret measurements. Measurements at
the nut are:
Yahama C40: 2" just like the alvarez classical listed here.
Jasimine S34C: 1.75" not as narrow as I might have thought still.

Thanks for the results so far. And yes I did look online at the manufacture's websites for the guitars I am interested in. And I did NOT find this information. I figure any website after that, most likely has miss information. For example a number of times I have seen guitar x listed as a solid...when it is listed by the manufacture as a laminate.

Thanks,
David


Lavallee
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Sun May 10, 2009 8:49 pm

I have a Yamaha Apx900 which is a thinner body. The width of the neck at the nut is 1.69"

Marc


frybaby
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Thu Jun 04, 2009 4:14 pm

Not a guitar tech guy, but guitar neck width became an interest when I began my search for a finger picking guitar. I decided on a Taylor 514C Cedar top hog sides and back. My research indicated that Taylor had a slightly wider neck than my Guild. As I understand the most common sizes are 11/16 and 3/4. 3/4 is the Taylor size and is slightly wider that my Guild. The added width though slight does make a difference and definitely makes finger picking easier. It took a little while (a couple of weeks maybe) to get use to the wider neck, but not a big deal. Chord changes are a bit easier on the Guild.
I can switch back forth with ease though I do notice the difference at first when changind from Guild to Taylor and back, but again in a few minutes. I am on track.
Love both guitars. The 514C ( no electronics) is an ideal finger picking guitar for sure


wrench
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Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:18 pm

It's true that nut width is fairly easy information to get, but much harder to get and more meaningful (at least in my opinion), is the spread from E string to e string. For example, a Yamaha FG700S has an 1-11/16" nut and the E to e spread is 1-7/16 (1.437). An Ibanez ARX320 also has a 1-11/16 nut, but the one I owned had a spread E to e of only 1-11/32 (1.343).

wrench


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