neck width has nothing to do with hand size!

[Brent Hutto]

Well as a neophyte, the root of the problem is this. You have days, weeks, months in which to read and re-read all this Internet based angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin specsmanship. Then you make a several hour drive to a place that has something other than generic Takamines acoustic-electrics and HPL Martins for your first real chance to shop among instruments with some actual variety in their proportions, shapes and sizes (not just what wood grain you can see on the back, the shape of the headstock and the color of the fret markers).

Once you get there you're so fumble-fingered, tense and nervous that you can't even start-and-stop your way through the handful of songs you thought you knew. And if you're real unlucky, you can't find a place to sit comfortably and there's no strap buttons on the guitars so you're trying to do the whole thing while the guitar slides off your laps, kept in place only by your death grip on the neck with the palm of your left hand.

Then you go home, freaked out and disappointed and resume reading all the wonderful verbiage on AGF about 2-1/8" string spacings versus 2-5/32" ones and the impossibility of fingering an A chord on a narrow neck. Right back into your comfort zone of ignorance buttressed by the like experiences of your forum buddies.

OK, let's admit it. How many of us have been there? It's a killer pattern and I wonder at my own (lack of) sanity for continuing to engage in it. I've visited two really world-class custom guitar builders and in both cases when handed a gorgeous guitar to play could not as much as execute a clean four-chord progression or play a simple beginner's fingerstyle song. It's so frustrating I'm going to be loathe to even accept the next opportunity to visit one of these guys. Or if I do I'm going to claim an attack of gout or something to avoid having to play a guitar.

Man, talk about getting something off your chest?

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

Your hands know best. Stop thinking so much.

the short version of what I said a couple pages back......in the words of Jim Croce "if you dig it, do it, if you really dig it, do it TWICE"

[Mystic]

Burger King makes your hands shrink...

[Taylorplayer]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

Your hands know best. Stop thinking so much.

Originally Posted by fitness1

the short version of what I said a couple pages back......in the words of Jim Croce "if you dig it, do it, if you really dig it, do it TWICE"

Very true! My original comment is right in step: "One thing I have learned. The left hand (assuming you play right handed) is pretty darn smart!" Let your hands be your guide. And much Like Brent posted: If I tried to follow every bit of advice I've read, I would never get past an open G chord :-)

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Brent Hutto

Well as a neophyte, the root of the problem is this. You have days, weeks, months in which to read and re-read all this Internet based angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin specsmanship. Then you make a several hour drive to a place that has something other than generic Takamines acoustic-electrics and HPL Martins for your first real chance to shop among instruments with some actual variety in their proportions, shapes and sizes (not just what wood grain you can see on the back, the shape of the headstock and the color of the fret markers).

Once you get there you're so fumble-fingered, tense and nervous that you can't even start-and-stop your way through the handful of songs you thought you knew. And if you're real unlucky, you can't find a place to sit comfortably and there's no strap buttons on the guitars so you're trying to do the whole thing while the guitar slides off your laps, kept in place only by your death grip on the neck with the palm of your left hand.

Then you go home, freaked out and disappointed and resume reading all the wonderful verbiage on AGF about 2-1/8" string spacings versus 2-5/32" ones and the impossibility of fingering an A chord on a narrow neck. Right back into your comfort zone of ignorance buttressed by the like experiences of your forum buddies.

OK, let's admit it. How many of us have been there? It's a killer pattern and I wonder at my own (lack of) sanity for continuing to engage in it. I've visited two really world-class custom guitar builders and in both cases when handed a gorgeous guitar to play could not as much as execute a clean four-chord progression or play a simple beginner's fingerstyle song. It's so frustrating I'm going to be loathe to even accept the next opportunity to visit one of these guys. Or if I do I'm going to claim an attack of gout or something to avoid having to play a guitar.

Man, talk about getting something off your chest?

Hi Brent,
I don't know how old you are, and it really doesn't matter in the end. Some people start playing when they're young and some people wait longer.

I started playing when I was 12 years old, and I pretty much made all my own mistakes and my own progress.

I never really had a mentor when it came to guitar. I certainly did not have the internet, and boy was that a good thing, in hind sight.

I was never nervous going into music stores. Excited, though? You bet!!!

It was never a contest for me, though, so what's to be nervous about?

I will say that I can vividly recall my first 'Duh' moment, though.

I was a huge Ventures fan so when I first saw a Mosrite 'Venture's' model hanging in the upper glass-enclosed rack, I was itching to try it, so I had the salesman roll the rolling ladder over to where it was, get it down, and plug it in for me.

What an incredible disappointment!!! I could not believe how narrow the neck was!!! There was nothing to hold onto at all!!! I still thought it was a cool looking guitar, though.

And I was 13 years old at this point, making up my own mind about something.

I think the trepidation that underlies many poster's statements about their quests for new guitars is that they're trying to 'get it right' the first time, or second time.

Got bad news for you: You still have to go through it by yourself and no matter how much you try that will never, ever change.

Yes, it's good to get GOOD information, and read reviews, sure.

I've been doing that recently in thinking about getting a camera for our daughter. Those Nikon Cool Pix S-270 (I think that's the model) that Aston Moore (:-)is advertising look really nice............Until you read the hundreds of negative reviews and most of them went with a Panasonic that was hundreds less...........until you start looking at the good reviews that expose certain shortcomings of that Panasonic............and on and on and on and on.....................

You have to learn to trust yourself, and not only be willing to make some mistakes, but MAKE A POINT OF LEARNING FROM THEM!!!

I hope that somehow helps at least one of you who might read this.

There's only one absolute about any of this and that is that you're involved in this forum because you're into, or getting into playing guitar, probably acoustic.

Probably the next most important thing is that you enjoy the 'trip' more than reaching the destination. After that it's certainly nice if you have someone close who supports you in your musical endeavors.

I hope you all have a healthy, happy and safe holiday of some sort and that the new year is even better than this one was, on some level.

Sincerely,
Howard Emerson

[WythPage]

i think fret spacing/scale lenght more important,
my guitar 43mm nut width with wide spacing fret easy to fretting Achord very comfort
but fretting Gchord always loss, though so i still prefer narrowest nut 40m/39mm i want dominate fretboard where
i can use my thumb, though fretting classical looks elegant

[WythPage]

-sorry dopost-

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by patticake

i keep reading threads here and elsewhere where people feel they should get a narrower neck because they have small hands. a lot of them don't find wider necks uncomfortable, or don't even know the nut size on their current guitar.

so for the record, folks, i am a 5' 3" female with normal hands for my height. that means i have small hands. i not only dislike playing narrower necks or very shallow necks, but they hurt my hands and wrists. i am very comfortable playing for hours on a guitar with a 1 3/4 or 1 7/8 nut, and if only seagull put that original s6 neck on a parlor, my life would be very happy indeed.

there's more to neck size than hand size. in fact i played a standard sized classical when i was 5' even, and i had no problem. neck angle, profile, depth and shape and radius affect my playing, but for a neck to be too wide for me, it would have to be pretty darn wide. your posture, the shape of your hands, that has a lot more to do with it than hand size. i promise.

thanks for letting me get that off my chest

Back in the 60's there was a guitar method book that had a picture of one of the author's students - a 10 year old girl playing a full size classical guitar. The text said pretty much what you are saying here.

Tony

Even though this thread is 5-1/2 years old, and all of the previous participants are in nursing homes, it's an interesting subject. I'm 6'5 (biiiiiiiig hands) and my guitars have nut widths of 2.1, 1.75, and 1.68. The little neck on the Gibson (the 1.68) is as easy to play as the wider necks.

[picassov7]

Rise again my children...rise again. Thanks for bringing this one back to life

[The Bard Rocks]

What we are seeing and hearing here is that it is more matter of personal preference than size. I have never paid too much attention to neck profile or nut width, but have rejected some instruments as not comfortable. Mostly, I don't seem to care. After a 40 year hiatus from classicals, I got a high quality one - and hated to play it. Too wide by far, but boy, did it sound nice.

Most of mine are 1 3/4", but the 12 string and one that is 1 11/16". I have noticed on those two that at first I make more mistakes and the playing is not as clean, but after a while, that rights itself and once I have been playing them during the course of the day, I can go between them satisfactorally.

I have a couple of mandolins, one with a chunky neck and one more normal. The small one is definitely best for me, not that I can't deal with the chunky one. My slide guitar has a baseball bat for a neck and I can't play it any way but slide, which of course is what I bought it for. So I do notice these things.

I have always wondered how folks with ultra thick fingers manage. Some do, but it seems like that would be a real handicap. I have always been glad my fingers were not like my father's (he only played the jew's harp).

[Hurricane Bob]

I cant stand 1 & 3/4 width, I have long thin flexible fingers mind you, but it feels so wrong to me. I have a hard time reaching the notes on the low E string, and the spacing is all messed up. Its a real deal buster when I find a guitar that's not 11/16th, that's why I stay away from Taylor.

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

What we are seeing and hearing here is that it is more matter of personal preference than size. I have never paid too much attention to neck profile or nut width, but have rejected some instruments as not comfortable. Mostly, I don't seem to care. After a 40 year hiatus from classicals, I got a high quality one - and hated to play it. Too wide by far, but boy, did it sound nice.

Most of mine are 1 3/4", but the 12 string and one that is 1 11/16". I have noticed on those two that at first I make more mistakes and the playing is not as clean, but after a while, that rights itself and once I have been playing them during the course of the day, I can go between them satisfactorally.

I have a couple of mandolins, one with a chunky neck and one more normal. The small one is definitely best for me, not that I can't deal with the chunky one. My slide guitar has a baseball bat for a neck and I can't play it any way but slide, which of course is what I bought it for. So I do notice these things.

I have always wondered how folks with ultra thick fingers manage. Some do, but it seems like that would be a real handicap. I have always been glad my fingers were not like my father's (he only played the jew's harp).

It must take a nice touch to play a 12 string with a skinny neck like that!

EDIT Oops - re-reading your post it looks like you weren't saying what I thought you were saying lol - ignore me, I'll go away eventually

[Br1ck]

Width doesn't effect me as much as depth. I have small hands, but give me an old D 18 over the new ones anytime. I have a friend with large hands that loves skinny necks. There is no neck I find unplayable but my preference is large, until I get to something like a telecaster fat back, then it's too much of a good thing.

[hermit]

Originally Posted by WythPage

i think fret spacing/scale lenght more important,
my guitar 43mm nut width with wide spacing fret easy to fretting Achord very comfort
but fretting Gchord always loss, though so i still prefer narrowest nut 40m/39mm i want dominate fretboard where
i can use my thumb, though fretting classical looks elegant

Watching what he can do with his hands on the neck is telling. At one point he bends his thumb over overlaps other fingers. I just did that with my hand. For me to do that the neck would have to be at most an 1.25 to 1.50 inches wide with about a .5 to .75 inches deep. Are 1/2 size guitars even that small?