# Guitar Neck - How wide do you like them?



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

There have been a few threads lately on the width of guitar necks and rightly so as we all have different size hands. Has this been an issue with you? Do you have a specific width you look for before deciding on a guitar?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I'll be in the minority and say 1 5/8 - I suspect the most will be in the 1 3/4 category. I'm 'average' sized, with average sized hands but I learned to play on a G&L that has their skinniest narrowest profile - I didn't know any better and it was the only guitar I played for years, so that's what I got comfortable with. I've let go some VERY nice guitars just because I couldn't get comfortable playing a wider (and in particular fatter) neck. I still own the G&L but my #1 is a '62AV RI Tele that also has a narrow and skinny neck, though a touch (16th?) wider than the G&L.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

keto said:


> I'll be in the minority and say 1 5/8 - I suspect the most will be in the 1 3/4 category. I'm 'average' sized, with average sized hands but I learned to play on a G&L that has their skinniest narrowest profile - I didn't know any better and it was the only guitar I played for years, so that's what I got comfortable with. I've let go some VERY nice guitars just because I couldn't get comfortable playing a wider (and in particular fatter) neck. I still own the G&L but my #1 is a '62AV RI Tele that also has a narrow and skinny neck, though a touch (16th?) wider than the G&L.


I'm in agreement with you on the thinner neck. I like them wide but I also like them slim.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

do you mean the width at the nut or the 12th fret? my solid body is 1 5/8" at the nut, and it feels alot wider than the neck on the squier strat, although i don't know what that measures. it also feels bigger than my 533, but not by much. all 3 necks have a diferent taper as well.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

cheezyridr said:


> do you mean the width at the nut or the 12th fret? my solid body is 1 5/8" at the nut, and it feels alot wider than the neck on the squier strat, although i don't know what that measures. it also feels bigger than my 533, but not by much. all 3 necks have a diferent taper as well.


Yes, at the neck. That is the determining factor for neck width. Regards, Steadfastly


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Is this wide enough for you?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Sneaky said:


> Is this wide enough for you?


Holey, moley! I finally found something that's too wide even for me. What is that, anyway?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the best neck i have ever played is the musicman albert lee models:

_Neck Width:1-5/8" (41.3 mm) at nut, 2-1/4" (56.9 mm) at last fret._


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Almost all my guitars I have made have a 1 3/4" to 1 13/16" wide nut. I like just a little more fretboard on the outer edge of the high and low E strings then many companies leave, as well as a slightly wider string spacing. I have made a few Tele's with 1 5/8" nut widths but I have a harder time with my "fat" fingers cleanly chording without touching adjacent strings.

AJC


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Steadfastly said:


> Holey, moley! I finally found something that's too wide even for me. What is that, anyway?


It's part guitar and part Chapman Stick.

Charlie Hunter's 8 string has a pretty wide neck too.


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## Cdn_Cracker (Oct 7, 2006)

Sneaky said:


> Is this wide enough for you?



Compensation issues... probably drives a Ferrari or HUMMER too.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Double post.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Sneaky said:


> It's part guitar and part Chapman Stick.
> 
> Charlie Hunter's 8 string has a pretty wide neck too.


OK, I looked it up, here's a video of a Chapman stick.

[video=youtube;_JjimMO2SdE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JjimMO2SdE[/video]


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I've never really measures--I just check how it feels in my hand.
I don't mind narrow necks or wide necks, but I tend to prefer wide ones--unless we're talking 7 or 8 string ones.


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## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

Sneaky said:


> It's part guitar and part Chapman Stick.
> 
> Charlie Hunter's 8 string has a pretty wide neck too.


its actually a sitarla, cross between a guitar and a sitar,played by hideki ishima of the flower travellin' band. i was actually interested in trying but they arent exactly mass produced. the 2 ishima has are the only one i know of that exist.

Bobby


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## Maxer (Apr 20, 2007)

Wow, great playing on that Chapman stick... really fluid and soft. I'm more familiar with Tony Levin or Trey Gunn's work... this guy has got a really nice light touch.


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## Traivs (Aug 13, 2010)

I like 'em a bit on the wide side. Can't handle my left hand fingers touching the wrong strings.


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## Bobby (May 27, 2010)

in my reply,i meant the very wide guitar the japanese guy is playing is a sitarla,not charlie hunter's 8 string,obviously.


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## droptop88 (Aug 25, 2006)

1 3/4 is my personal fave, but can get used to pretty much anything lol - Its funny, but the backshape seems to change my perception of the width. This build I did utilizes an older warmoth neck that is 1 3/4 wide at the nut, 1" thick all the way up. Now that may seem like a monster of a neck to some, but its a C shape and very very comfortable. If it was veed at all it would seem to me to be narrower. Weird?


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## Setneck (Nov 23, 2009)

11/16 seems to be the most comfortable for me but the thickness is more critical. I like slim necks. Not necessarily the 'wizard' necks but slim like the real 60's 335 or the real early 70's LP' Not the re-issues of late; they are no where near as slim. I am thumbs guy with small hands and like to get to at least B using my thumb on the E string.
I love the Gibby sound but can't understand why they don't offer a slim neck as an option ? Not everyone wants to be "batter up". PRS is the same. They used to offer a "wide thin" but in all my travels in music stores, on-line guitars for sale sites etc, I have never come across one. This really bugs me.
I have to satisfy my GAS by buying high end 70's MIJ guitars.


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

Whatever the width of the PRS Standard neck carve is, that's how wide I like it. That's the perfect neck for me.


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

My new guitar is 41mm at the nut and it feels a bit tight. I have to shorten my nails even more than usual. Kind of struggle playing finger style. Strange to think that an extra 1mm could make so much difference. A 42mm nut seems much more playable.


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## sj250 (Oct 26, 2010)

PRS Wide Fat seems to be the perfect neck for me. My LP Standard has a fat 50's neck that I love but it is very D shaped and I wish the shoulders were a bit less pronounced.


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## Petey D (Sep 8, 2011)

sj250 said:


> PRS Wide Fat seems to be the perfect neck for me. My LP Standard has a fat 50's neck that I love but it is very D shaped and I wish the shoulders were a bit less pronounced.


+1. I've got sausage fingers, so it's a lot easier for me to noodle around on a fatter neck. Both my Sparrows have fairly chunky necks, as did the Gretsch and PRS that I recently sold off.


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## Nick Burman (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm not that fussed. Anything narrower than Kevin Eubanks' guitar is fine with me.
Check out the width of this neck- I figure it's over 2" at the nut

http://www.zimbio.com/Kevin+Eubanks/articles/ISQXYC-mDdu/Kevin+Eubanks+Tonight+Show+Music+Director


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

I love my Strat but I wish it was a little wider at the nut. And I have pretty skinny fingers.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The wider the better for me.

There's really several aspects to neck width. One is certainly how it feels in your hand and what avoids cramps from squeezing or stretching too much. But another is defnitely the space between the strings. I don't have big fingers/hands, but I find I never have enough space between the strings for proper bends, or noiseless finger vibrato, or simply picking one string without accidentally picking another.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I'm surprised how many like the 1 7/8" wide neck as I do. What is most interesting is that this is very difficult to find in an electric guitar.


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## big frank (Mar 5, 2006)

I don't like baseball bat necks.
Gibson's slim taper is fine.
I have an es 325 that is ridiculously narrow and thin and I really like that too.
I like a Mexican telecaster neck as well. Maybe it's the vintage sized frets


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## MarkusV (Sep 24, 2009)

Setneck said:


> 11/16 seems to be the most comfortable for me but the thickness is more critical. I like slim necks. Not necessarily the 'wizard' necks but slim like the real 60's 335 or the real early 70's LP' Not the re-issues of late; they are no where near as slim. I am thumbs guy with small hands and like to get to at least B using my thumb on the E string.
> I love the Gibby sound but can't understand why they don't offer a slim neck as an option ? Not everyone wants to be "batter up". PRS is the same. They used to offer a "wide thin" but in all my travels in music stores, on-line guitars for sale sites etc, I have never come across one. This really bugs me.
> I have to satisfy my GAS by buying high end 70's MIJ guitars.


Fully in agreement with the MIJ 70's statement
I have 2 Yamaha SBG's with wide thin necks (80's MIJ in my case) and it's become my reference for a great neck.Can't play a baseball bat and many of the new Gibson's feel a bit that way to me.
Fret size is another thing for me. Wide and medium- high to high'ish is my preference
Just feels right somehow

Markus V


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## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

I like a 1 5/8 or 11/16 width nut with a fat C or V neck (baseball bat).


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Normally neck width doesn't particularly matter to me except when the arthritis in my hands kicks up, usually tied into the weather change, then I prefer a wider, rounder neck with larger frets. Thin necked guitars then become a literal pain to play for a while.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...just to clarify:

a neck's width is what you see when you are looking at it from the back or front?

a neck's thickness is what you see from the side?


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## Nick Burman (Aug 17, 2011)

You got it,David. The width is usually measured at the nut and will typically be 1 5/8" to 1 11/16". The thickness is also measured at the nut as well as the 12th fret and can be anywhere from about 9/16" to about 7/8" or more.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

david henman said:


> ...just to clarify:
> 
> a neck's width is what you see when you are looking at it from the back or front?
> 
> a neck's thickness is what you see from the side?


Yes, that is correct.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

I've always been a fan of the older '60's Tele neck and the 3 bolt '70's Strats.


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## Blue Velvet (Aug 16, 2012)

It makes no difference to me; I can switch from one width to another without any problem.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I'm surprised that only 37% prefer the narrower necks whereas 63% prefer a wider neck, yet most mfrs. continue to offer only narrow necks on their guitars. 

It's obviously cheaper for them to produce a narrow neck but I wonder how much their market would increase if a larger manufacture produced guitars with a wider neck or at least offered a choice.


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## allanr (Jan 11, 2012)

Hmmm. I have small hands and learned to play ukulele before guitar, so I mostly like narrow.

But... I just bought a PRS with a "wide fat" neck, and I have to say that for picking blues riffs it is awesome. A bit of a struggle for me to barre though. Fortunately I have my ukes to play when I get the urge to strum barre chords


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Broom handle.
My Charvel Sandimas feels about right.
Ima big guy with average/smallish hands. I dont like to have to go finding strings. Or maybe Im just a sloppy player.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

If I cpould split a broom handle in half to fit my girly hands,it would be perfect.!!!


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## Guest (Jan 29, 2013)

how's about a shovel?

[video=youtube;tc6gv-fbUDs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc6gv-fbUDs[/video]


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## S6 Cedartop (Jan 26, 2013)

Best steel-string acoustic neck I've used is the Seagull S6 - 1.8", slightly wider than most. After years of messing with classical guitars, it gives me room to finger things cleanly without the stretch the 2" classicals require.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

S6 Cedartop said:


> Best steel-string acoustic neck I've used is the Seagull S6 - 1.8", slightly wider than most. After years of messing with classical guitars, it gives me room to finger things cleanly without the stretch the 2" classicals require.


Those S6"s have the perfect neck for me. When I pick one up, they just feel right.


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