Can I expand my string spacing?

[SirMrGuitarDude]

I purchased a new Cordoba 9 crossover yesterday from a store about about a 2 and half hour round trip from my house (which was a mistake). The setup is atrocious although it sounds very nice and overall I do like the guitar a lot. Due to how far away the store is I am going to eat the cost of a repair man near my house. Here is a pic:





I know there is a regular classical neck option but this is so close to perfect. I may just need time to adjust to it but I also think a fraction more space will make it perfect.

Thanks.

[SirMrGuitarDude]

http://www.mediafire.com/view/t54osw...%20spacing.jpg

I'm not sure why but whenever I post vids or links in general they never seem to work. Here's a link.

[runamuck]

You'll need a new nut so even if you were near the store you purchased it from, I doubt they'd replace it for free.

[SirMrGuitarDude]

Thanks for the reply. I'm more concerned with whether there is enough space on the fingerboard to accommodate expanding the string spacing? I came across one poster somewhere on this site who specifically said these crossover necks can be widened but I am having trouble finding the thread I found that comment in.

[mirwa]

So much wasted edge space, the general layout and between string spacing on the nut look clean, just way too much edge distance on the E strings for my liking.

Steve

[lar]

Mirwa, since this is a nylon guitar do you still think the spacing to the fretboard edge is high? Or are you saying it's more spacing than a steel string?

I've found that nylon guitars need more fretboard edge space than a steel guitar because of the lower tension, larger diameter high-e, and slipperier strings (they tend to slip down off the fret and off the fretboard, especially up the neck).

OP: I have a Cordoba Fusion (and thinking of buying a C10) and I have similar issues. I'd like to eek out just a smidge more string spacing. Here is what I'm thinking of doing:

1) slide the existing nut down to see how much high-e to fretboard edge spacing I'm comfortable with. If I'm comfortable with less, I can gain more string spacing by moving some strings down. Mirwa's comments above lead me to think there is more space to gain.

2) ditto with the low-e string (but move it up)

3) With the space remaining, and with a new nut, space out the rest of the strings in an uneven pattern; more spacing between strings 5-6 than 1-2 for example. The low pitch strings (4,5,6) have lower tension and are thicker, both of which contributes to my finger muting the adjacent string when I'm fretting. I never have muting issues with the high pitch strings.

This will be an undertaking, so I'm in the 'thinking' stage right now. Maybe I'll have time to do this in June. I've never made a nut (have made many saddles) so I'm exited about doing this and seeing what my results will be. The only other options are to 1) live with infrequent string mutings or 2) get the Cordoba with a non-crossover neck.

Here's an experiment for you: tune up 1/2 step. Do you still have a string muting problem when fretting? (the increased tension should help).

[murrmac123]

Might as well get the actual image showing on the thread



Looks like a fairly standard classical string spacing to me , but by all means have a go at widening it a smidgeon ... what's the worst that could happen ?

You can always refit the original nut in worst case scenario ...

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by lar

Mirwa, since this is a nylon guitar do you still think the spacing to the fretboard edge is high

Sure do

Steve

[KKroydon]

This is off topic but looking I just noticed that the way your A string is wound around your tuning machine, it pulls the string at quite an angle towards the E string behind the nut. This doesn’t effect the space issue you were asking about, but it could contribute to some tuning difficulties. It looks like if you loosened the string and wound it on the D side of the tuning machine it would hit the nut without binding, just like your other strings. It might not be causing you any problem at all but if making this change could help the playability of your guitar, you may want to take a couple of minutes to give it a try. Good luck with your string space management issue.

[ztbishop]

Digging this up as I have the same plan.
I have a Cordoba Fusion 12 Orchestra CE.
Cordoba's website states String to string spacing = 40mm.
However, it measures only 38.5mm from center of E to E.
This is the same width as my acoustic (which does have quite wide spacing for a steel string).
I'm in the process of converting my guitars to Zero Fret nuts. I put one on my strat and love it for the ease of tuning (no need to lubricate the nut) and it falls back into tune when bending.
The nylon crossover is the only guitar they don't have anything readily available for. But I can send them my own specs and custom order it for $70. This is pricey, but I'd rather do this before sinking money into nut files that I will never use again (I'd need a different set for each guitar). Strat, Archtop, Steel acoustic, Nylon, Bass. I'd be spending hundreds on files.

So when I send the specs for the custom nut I'm debating how wide to actually go. Seems like their "Classical" ready nut is 42.5mm string to string. My Cordoba is 38.5, but cordoba's own specs claim 40.
I'm thinking of just sending it in as 40...I'd assume this is wide enough to comfortably play classical music with. As is, it works okay but I do get some sloppy buzzing for actual "Classical" music due to hitting adjacent strings with my fretting fingers. The neck could probably take a bit over 40mm but I'd like the option of using this guitar for some jazz (altho I have an archtop for that).

Curious for those of you who went wider - what spacing you used and how you like it?

[RonMay]

Originally Posted by SirMrGuitarDude

I purchased a new Cordoba 9 crossover yesterday from a store about about a 2 and half hour round trip from my house (which was a mistake). The setup is atrocious although it sounds very nice and overall I do like the guitar a lot. Due to how far away the store is I am going to eat the cost of a repair man near my house. Here is a pic:





I know there is a regular classical neck option but this is so close to perfect. I may just need time to adjust to it but I also think a fraction more space will make it perfect.

Thanks.

I'm not getting it. What's the problem?
It looks ok to me.

Ron

[runamuck]

I've widened string spacing on both steel string and classical guitars and you can certainly do that with this in that the spacing to the fretboard edge on your guitar is ample. You'll need a new nut.

[ztbishop]

I went to Gold Tone's website and filled out the specs form for a CUSTOM zero glide nut. Their pre-fab nuts are good price, but I had to do custom to fit a crossover nylon guitar. It was expensive ($75), but even tho it said to allow a couple weeks for custom, they shipped it same day and I had it 2 days later. It was worth the cost for me to not hassle with cutting my own nut, and to have the perfect height from the get-go.

My Cordoba Fusion 12 Orchestra CE had a nut width of 48 and string spacing was a bit under 38.
I went with 40.5 center to center and here is the finished product.
I would not go any wider on this guitar.
I think 40 would be perfectly safe. This should work as long as I don't get sloppy.
I played a few tunes and when I barre chords I push the low E very close to the edge but all in all it seems to play nice. It feels a bit more like a classical guitar without the extra side spacing. Narrower seemed fine for jazz, but I struggled a bit with classical songs on the old nut.

Here are the specs I used in mm:
String spacing: 40.5
Nut width: 48
Thickness: 4.6
Fingerboard height: 6 (I think I should have used 5.5 and will likely file the bottom down a tiny bit at the next string change.) The fret height is sill correct but it angles it a bit forward since I spec'd it a little high.
Nut material: bone
String gauge: Classical Nylong .048", .038", .032", .044", .036", .032"
Radius: 16"

First picture has the old nut sitting on the fretboard for comparison.