Widen Nut String Spacing on X20?

[new2guitar_eh]

Wondering if anyone has tried making a nut for an X20 to widen the string spacing a little, by putting the E strings a little closer to the edge? I seem to recall comments that there is a little more distance from the edge of the fretboard to the strings on Emeralds.....but who knows, maybe I am confusing this with another brand .

Why am I asking? I'm looking at getting an X20 and wanted to know if there would be value in getting Emerald to cut the nut slots a little closer to the edge.

[mountainmaster]

Originally Posted by new2guitar_eh

Wondering if anyone has tried making a nut for an X20 to widen the string spacing a little, by putting the E strings a little closer to the edge? I seem to recall comments that there is a little more distance from the edge of the fretboard to the strings on Emeralds.....but who knows, maybe I am confusing this with another brand .

Why am I asking? I'm looking at getting an X20 and wanted to know if there would be value in getting Emerald to cut the nut slots a little closer to the edge.

I don't know if this is helpful but I have custom zero glide nuts on my Emerald X20 Nylon and X30. I did not change the string spacing though because I actually like the extra space at the edge for legatos.
Cutting slots is easier with zero glide nuts because they don't have to be as accurate. Still, I was too lazy to even do that and ordered fully custom zero glide nuts from Goldtone, including stainless steel frets and black delrin material.

I am sure Emerald can change the string spacing at the nut if you ask them, but wouldn't the spacing at the bridge have to be widened as well?

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by new2guitar_eh

Wondering if anyone has tried making a nut for an X20 to widen the string spacing a little, by putting the E strings a little closer to the edge? I seem to recall comments that there is a little more distance from the edge of the fretboard to the strings on Emeralds.....but who knows, maybe I am confusing this with another brand .

Why am I asking? I'm looking at getting an X20 and wanted to know if there would be value in getting Emerald to cut the nut slots a little closer to the edge.

Emerald leaves too much space between the outer strings and fretboard for my tastes, so it would be worth asking if that's a concern. My issue is being able to thumb-fret the E string. My X-20 isn't the worst (of my guitars) in that respect, but it's more roomier than average. To give you an idea, here is how my X-20 compares to some other guitars I've measured. This is the distance from the fretboard edge to the center of the E (blue) and e (orange) strings:

String Margins_600.jpg

You can see the X-20 has more spacing than most of the others. I've made new nuts for two of my guitars to help with that but haven't done the X-20 yet.

I'd be interested to hear what Emerald says if you ask them to change the string spacing at the nut. I tried to get the neck width shaved down a little but was told my guitar was too far along in the build to do that.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

...I am sure Emerald can change the string spacing at the nut if you ask them, but wouldn't the spacing at the bridge have to be widened as well?

No, not really. You might get another 1/16" of string spacing at the nut, and the angle at the bridge would be imperceptibly tiny. I suspect that wider string spacing might be limited by the programming of the Plek machine more than anything. They are set up for 1.75" nut width and 1.5" string spacing.