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  #1  
Old 12-04-2008, 12:41 PM
BaylinerCapri BaylinerCapri is offline
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Default Ok, I gotta ask..

I see in alot of threads people talking about nuts! And I quote:

"the DC has the 1-11/16" nut and the OMC the wider 1-3/4" nut."


What does all that mean??? Does it affect sound etc..?
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Old 12-04-2008, 12:43 PM
cc132 cc132 is offline
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No, the nut width indicates how wide the neck is.
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Old 12-04-2008, 12:45 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
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The nut is the white block at the upper end of the fretboard that the strings pass over before they get to the tuners.

How wide it is is just that...how wide is it from side to side.
The wider it is, the wider the neck of the guitar is.
Some folks like narrow necked guitars. Some like wider necked guitars.
Narrower necked guitars tend to have the strings closer together. Wider necked...further apart. (The bridge spacing at the other end also determines how wide apart the strings are...and how close together the string slots are cut in the nut.)

No. It doesn't affect tone.
It does affect how comfortable a guitar is to play (for many folks.)

You may want to check out this site.
Full of information about guitars.;
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html
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Old 12-04-2008, 12:46 PM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BaylinerCapri View Post
...What does all that mean??? Does it affect sound etc..?
Hi BC...
Width of the fingerboard at the nut.

A second measurement which accompanies it is the width of the saddle in the bridge.

Fingerstylers tend to like a 1 3/4'' nut and a 2 1/4'' or 2 5/8'' saddle. Some of us also like the nut to be wider than 1 3/4''.
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  #5  
Old 12-04-2008, 12:48 PM
BaylinerCapri BaylinerCapri is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff M View Post
The nut is the white block at the upper end of the fretboard that the strings pass over before they get to the tuners.

How wide it is is just that...how wide is it from side to side.
The wider it is, the wider the neck of the guitar is.
Some folks like narrow necked guitars. Some like wider necked guitars.
Narrower necked guitars tend to have the strings closer together. Wider necked...further apart. (The bridge spacing at the other end also determines how wide apart the strings are...and how close together the string slots are cut in the nut.)

No. It doesn't affect tone.
It does affect how comfortable a guitar is to play (for many folks.)

You may want to check out this site.
Full of information about guitars.;
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html
Ok, cool. I remember hearing someone call that a nut before just forgot. THis is what mine has:

FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT NUT: 1-11/16''
FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2-1/8''
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  #6  
Old 12-04-2008, 12:50 PM
BaylinerCapri BaylinerCapri is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BaylinerCapri View Post
Ok, cool. I remember hearing someone call that a nut before just forgot. THis is what mine has:

FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT NUT: 1-11/16''
FINGERBOARD WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2-1/8''
Says this too:

BRIDGE STRING SPACING: 2-1/8''
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Old 12-04-2008, 12:52 PM
sharkydude50 sharkydude50 is offline
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A wider nut will usually give greater string spacing on that part of the neck. They are generally perferred by fingerstyle players, or those with thicker fingers.
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Old 12-04-2008, 12:56 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BaylinerCapri View Post
Says this too:

BRIDGE STRING SPACING: 2-1/8''
The bridge is the white thing at the other end of the strings...that they pass over before diving into the guitar top.
How wide it is (side to side again) relates to how widely the strings are spaced at that end of the guitar.
2 1/8" is fairly narrow bridge. Not much room between the strings.
You may or may not find you accidently hit strings you don't mean to/mute them while playing.

To answer your next question...yes, an 1/8th of an inch ...or even 1/16".....1/32"...at the nut and/or bridge can make a big difference in how a guitar feels/plays for many people.
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  #9  
Old 12-04-2008, 12:57 PM
Shadowraptor Shadowraptor is offline
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I am very comfortable fingerpicking on my Yamaha CG-171SF. The nut width is just over 2", and provides nice string spacing for the size of my hands. After playing this one for awhile, then playing one of my steel strings, I notice the difference. My new acoustic bass is really confusing my finger memory
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  #10  
Old 12-04-2008, 01:18 PM
BaylinerCapri BaylinerCapri is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff M View Post
The bridge is the white thing at the other end of the strings...that they pass over before diving into the guitar top.
How wide it is (side to side again) relates to how widely the strings are spaced at that end of the guitar.
2 1/8" is fairly narrow bridge. Not much room between the strings.
You may or may not find you accidently hit strings you don't mean to/mute them while playing.

To answer your next question...yes, an 1/8th of an inch ...or even 1/16".....1/32"...at the nut and/or bridge can make a big difference in how a guitar feels/plays for many people.
I do find that I mute some strings when chord changing. I thought it was me cause i got big fingers.
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Old 12-04-2008, 01:24 PM
brian a. brian a. is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff M View Post
The bridge is the white thing at the other end of the strings...that they pass over before diving into the guitar top...

Not to criticize, but the SADDLE "is the white thing...." The bridge is the black (brown or other color) thing that the saddle sits in which is attached to the body of the guitar between the sound hole (on a typical flat top acoustic) and the end pin (bottom).
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  #12  
Old 12-04-2008, 03:17 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brian a. View Post
Not to criticize, but the SADDLE "is the white thing...." The bridge is the black (brown or other color) thing that the saddle sits in which is attached to the body of the guitar between the sound hole (on a typical flat top acoustic) and the end pin (bottom).

Correct, of course.
My fingers left my brain behind.
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  #13  
Old 12-04-2008, 03:18 PM
Jeff M Jeff M is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BaylinerCapri View Post
I do find that I mute some strings when chord changing. I thought it was me cause i got big fingers.
Try some guitars with wider nut/saddle spacing. 1 3/4" and 2 1/4" are very common.
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