Narrow nut

[Stray Feathers]

I was matching up the fretboard and the neck for a 00 I am making, with a 12-fret neck on a standard 00 body. I was aiming for the 43 mm nut (1.693", just under 1 11/16) width given in the Grellier plan I am using. When I was done I found I had been a little zealous and ended up with 41.29 mm (1.625" or 1 5/8). I have not found references to any acoustic guitars with nuts that narrow (some electrics are close). I can't decide whether to make a new neck and "get it right", or whether to treat it as an experiment. I have small hands so it might be okay, but I wonder if it is just too small. Any thoughts appreciated. Bruce W.

[tippie53]

yes there are a few at this width

[MaineGeezer]

That would be way too narrow for me, but do you have to decide now? You can always make a wider neck later, if you try it for a couple months and decide it's not what you want.

[Stray Feathers]

Yes, I can certainly replace the neck later, Steve - just more work but doable. And John's reply prompted me to improve my web search this morning, by looking up "1 5/8" guitar necks". I learned that a number of guitars from the mid-20th century had 1 5/8" necks, including some Gibson and Epiphone and some from Guild. I also learned that some (perhaps many?) of Michael Gurian's guitars from the 1970s had 1 5/8" necks. So the fact it is not unthinkable makes me feel a little better, and I think I will finish it as is and learn from the experience. I had a Gibson J-45 from that era and I was not even aware what the nut width was. But I will find out what a narrow neck is like in due course! The string spacing at the saddle can be according to the plan, so it should not affect the right hand much anyway. Bruce W.

[phavriluk]

When I was confronted with a similar problem (a pair of too-narrow necks I bought) on my first two building projects, I made some lemonade and sawed the necks in half lengthwise and laminated a wide-enough contrasting piece of sized lumber between the two halves and then carrried on. It worked great.

I suggest that it's never appropriate to compromise on a critical dimension, which neck width certainly is.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Well neck/nut width is certainly a personal preference when choosing a guitar to play. A smaller hand with shorter fingers may really benefit from the 1/16" "narrower than a Martin" neck. Divide that by the 4 inside strings and it pretty minimal.
In the same way, a finger style neck is usually wider at 1 3/4" or even more .
So I say play it....you may find you rely like it!

[Stray Feathers]

Peter -

Ironically, this neck was made from two pieces of mahogany glued together - I just goofed when taking it down to final dimensions. And I did consider what you have done, but this neck is finished, with a slot head already cut, ebony headplate, and mother of pearl inlaid, so it was not the best solution. I did also consider removing the fretboard and scabbing some mahogany on the edges (1 or 2 mm each side) to widen the neck, and then adding binding to the fretboard and refitting it, but even that came with too many possible messups. So on this I agree with Kevin's reasoning. I'd be happier if I could find a reason to say it was intentional . . . Bruce W.

[phavriluk]

Ouch! Good luck storming the castle!

(I've happily ducked that bullet by attaching the fingerboard and trimming the neck to match. So far I haven't ruined any fingerboards. There's still time....)

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Peter
I have always glued down the fretboard then taken the neck width flush to it. This after the neck can be attached to the body (bolt on) and the neck/fretboard centered.
Has always worked a treat!

[phavriluk]

Kevin, you've described what I've settled on doing. It's worked so far.