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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

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.

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

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

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

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

Marc

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

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