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Gtrfinger 11-10-2010 04:18 PM

String spacing
 
just wondered what string spacing you all have at the nut. that's the string spacing itself, not the nut width.

I'm considering getting a nut totally re cut. I currently have 40mm spacing on my 48 mm nut. A little wide perhaps but helps with fingerstyle playing. however my other guitar is 38mm on 48mm nut, but its saddle width is too narrow. Just a thought. I'd be interested to see what you have, or what is standard. I asked Lakewood specifically to cut the 40mm spacing. Maybe it's a simple case of the grass is always greener.

Larry Pattis 11-10-2010 04:27 PM

I have 45 mm on the overall width of my current guitars (1-3/4", standard on many fingerstyle guitars in the U.S.)...but with a slightly narrow 37 mm as the E-to-E spread (center-to-center...or 1-15/32").

It's all about personal preferences, of course...

...and I am fond of saying that one plays the string-spacing (at the bridge and nut), and not the overall nut width...although fingerboard geometry *is* important.

I may go to 1-13/16" as the overall nut width on my next guitar (approx. 46 mm), but I will leave the E to E spacing the same (37 mm at the nut), as I like that width, but want more room between the E strings and the edges of the fingerboard.

Gtrfinger 11-10-2010 08:25 PM

Thanks Larry. If you're playing a 45 mm nut with 37mm string spacing, that leaves (without taking into account half the thickness of top E and bottom E) 8mm room, ie 4mm at each end. Thats the same as me with my 48mm nut and 40mm spacing.

Larry Pattis 11-10-2010 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gtrfinger (Post 2404020)
Thanks Larry. If you're playing a 45 mm nut with 37mm string spacing, that leaves (without taking into account half the thickness of top E and bottom E) 8mm room, ie 4mm at each end. Thats the same as me with my 48mm nut and 40mm spacing.

...yes, but this is actually considered a narrow string spacing on a 45 mm width nut...Many builders go wider by a mm.

I personally want more room to the edges, without changing the string spacing...so any future custom guitars would leave the E to E spacing at 37, but go wider overall at the nut.

You're wanting to go to a wider E to E spacing, and of course this would be on a current guitar...a very different thing. You can do it, and the danger will be in getting the E strings too close to the edges. You can shift the overall spacing so that the low E is closer to the edge than the high E (while going to a wider spacing), but there are limits to this...and you'll have to have a new nut (or multiple nuts) made to discover what might be most comfortable for you.

Shabby Chic 11-10-2010 09:25 PM

nut width - 1/8 to the center of the string from each edge


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