Can someone eyeball the neck width for me?

[steve s]

47 years ago my first new guitar was stolen when our house was burglarized. We were much too poor and I was much too work-engrossed to consider replacing it. Now I'm finally getting around to it. I really liked it.

The guitar was an Espana made in Sweden and purchased in 1963 for a little over $100 with a cheap Kay trade in. Amazingly, here is my only surviving picture of it.

http://s29.photobucket.com/user/ssch...jpg.html?o=134

My question is, can anyone tell me, just by eyeballing this photo, if the neck width is 45 or 50 mm? My research indicates that after the first few (?) years of production, Espana switched from 45 to 50, and also from ladder to fan bracing. I sort of remember that the guitar neck seemed wider to me than the Kay (my first), but also sort of recall thinking that that the necks on other people's classical style guitars seemed REALLY wide. In case anyone is thinking that actual classical guitar instruction might have been involved, my only interest was in mimicking Joan Baez as best as I could wing it on my own. And, of course, I hadn't a clue about "bracing." In those days, everybody and his brother had a guitar.

Thanks!

Steve

[DenverSteve]

No, it can't be done. Not without a specific reference to measure against. Not to mention the fact you don't show the nut AND not knowing the neck profile to guess what the nUT might have been.

[Brucebubs]

What Steve says Steve.

[Bax Burgess]

I'll step into it. I'm guessing 45, because if it was 50, then it was a pretty big guitar.

[redir]

I just have a question about this story, after you lost the guitar you have not played guitar for 47 years and now want to get back into it? It's a heck of a story none the less but just curious.

I guess a forensic scientist might be able to zoom in, measure, and estimate the dimensions for you but it's a stretch.. Great picture of you and the guitar none the less. Makes ya wonder where something like that might be today.

[la palma C]

It can't be done just using the picture as a reference, but look at it this way:

45mm is approx 1.77" (pretty close to modern steel string nut width)
50mm is approx 1.97" (much wider than most steel string guitars)

Classical guitar standard nut is 52mm, approx 2.05"

If you are familiar with the width of a classical guitar neck, and you feel that your guitar was quite a bit more skinny than that, then it was almost likely the 45mm nut. If you feel that your guitar was pretty dang close to the feel of a classical, then it was probably 50mm. The difference between 45mm and 50mm is practically a mile on a guitar.

If your purpose in asking is to try and find a guitar with a similar feel to your old Espana, then (depending on your location) try to find a Taylor or Seagull to try out as a reference point. All full size Taylors have a 1.75" wide nut and IIRC most Seagulls have a 1.8" wide nut. With either of those as a reference point you can decide if you want to go larger or smaller.

[steve s]

Originally Posted by redir

I just have a question about this story, after you lost the guitar you have not played guitar for 47 years and now want to get back into it? It's a heck of a story none the less but just curious.

I guess a forensic scientist might be able to zoom in, measure, and estimate the dimensions for you but it's a stretch.. Great picture of you and the guitar none the less. Makes ya wonder where something like that might be today.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply I have not played for 47 years. About 10 years after the loss, I bought a cheap Harmony steel string--totally without charm. A few years later, that guitar disappeared to college with our son, mysteriously never to be seen again (the guitar, not the son). A few more years passed and a friend who had made a brief foray into learning guitar, lent me her student-grade Yamaha, which I eventually returned to her so I could play it when I visited to go fishing (Florida!). Then, I resurrected a presumed=hopelessly warped, cracked, and unplayable Kalamazoo KG-11 given to my brother by a family friend. For $600, Elderly Instruments brought it back to useability, It's meant for steel strings but is a lot more pleasant to play with Silk & Steel, but not quite right, of course. About 10 years ago, I decided I must be old enough to finally deserve a good guitar, and I began to haunt our Guitar Center. I assumed it would be a Martin, such as I had lusted after all my life. But, after numerous visits and trials, none sufficiently grabbed me. Then, in a chance visit to Marshall Music I picked up a Gibson J45 RW, and it was love at first strum. I shelled out the big bucks and still think it is the perfect steel string guitar. But, I still missed my Espana.

I have read that a characteristic of my personality type (MBTI's INTJ) is an unusually high level of attachment to our possessions. That fits the data, but it sure feels like there's more to it than that.

This doesn't even begin to deal with my 1965 Rambler American convertible, which I stupidly took $100 for on a trade-in for a 1971 Dodge Dart when I became a dad. Gee--maybe I do have issues!

Thanks to all for the replies!

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by steve s

47 years ago my first new guitar was stolen when our house was burglarized. We were much too poor and I was much too work-engrossed to consider replacing it. Now I'm finally getting around to it. I really liked it.

The guitar was an Espana made in Sweden and purchased in 1963 for a little over $100 with a cheap Kay trade in. Amazingly, here is my only surviving picture of it.

http://s29.photobucket.com/user/ssch...jpg.html?o=134

My question is, can anyone tell me, just by eyeballing this photo, if the neck width is 45 or 50 mm? My research indicates that after the first few (?) years of production, Espana switched from 45 to 50, and also from ladder to fan bracing. I sort of remember that the guitar neck seemed wider to me than the Kay (my first), but also sort of recall thinking that that the necks on other people's classical style guitars seemed REALLY wide. In case anyone is thinking that actual classical guitar instruction might have been involved, my only interest was in mimicking Joan Baez as best as I could wing it on my own. And, of course, I hadn't a clue about "bracing." In those days, everybody and his brother had a guitar.

Thanks!

Steve

Hi Steve,
Most likely an Espana SL-12 with a 50mm nut.

HE

[Howard Emerson]

Steve,
Until such time as you actually find the exact model you had, I can almost guarantee that you'll be temporarily pleased with this Goya version of the Espana.

12frets for steel or nylon, 1 & 13/16" (46mm) nut.

And inexpensive......and he demonstrates it.

https://reverb.com/item/6570126-goya...ntique-natural

HE

[fuman]

[Cue Boromir] "One does not simply "eyeball the neck width."

[Edgar Poe]

Your wrist in the photo appears to have little to no fat on it. Measure the wrist in the photo, measure the neck with and measure your wrist now at the same spot. If your wrist is thin like in the photo great, if it's heavier than your wrist was then, use calipers and squeeze the wrist down. The neck appears to be narrower than is your wrist.
That's how they do it on Forensic Files.

Ed