Fingerstylists only What's your prefered string spacing?

[BluesKing777]

I suppose a question to ask is - why do you need the guitar geometry to be a certain minimum width?

Chords you play?

Fingering?

While I don't think I will ever play Alan Holdsworth type extreme stretch chords - don't generally suit the music I play - there are certain basic chords and runs that are easier and smoother with more room. The most basic tester chord is the Gary Davis type C chord, a cowboy C with added notes using the pinky on the 3rd fret 1st string. With the pinky on 3 and the index on the 1 on string 2, the chord is a breeze on wider necks and awful on skinny necks....except I think Davis with his fingers like hammers played a standard Gibson acoustic neck of the time?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQZwHcBqyQ



BluesKing777.

[Bluenose]

Just as a point of discussion, if you use your thumb to fret bass notes on chords like the old country blues players did, a real wide neck makes this difficult if not impossible for most people. I think this is why classical players are taught to use bar chords because classical guitars tend to have wider necks.

[mike in lytle]

I notice the replies are mentioning nut width, not string spacing.

Most of my acoustics have 1.75 nut, but the string spacing varies between 1.50 and 1.62. When I have nuts replaced I go with .090 off the edge of the fretboard at the nut.

I am good with bridge spacing of 1-3/16 to 1-5/16, that is what my acoustics have.

Tunings are standard, dropped D, DADF#BE, open G, and dobro open G tuned down a step (FACFAC). Some others, more rarely.

I guess my hand are average, and don't have any problems playing up and down the neck. String height is more of an issue for me.

[Martijn]

To be honest I never worried much about the string spacing and neck width. Even from the guitars that I own for a very long time already I wouldn't know these dimensions at all.

But maybe that's because I used to play both classical and electric guitar already before I bought my first acoustic steelstring guitar, which makes the differences that one encounters amongst steelstring guitars relatively small. And the size of my hands is pretty average.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Originally Posted by Bluenose

Just as a point of discussion, if you use your thumb to fret bass notes on chords like the old country blues players did, a real wide neck makes this difficult if not impossible for most people. I think this is why classical players are taught to use bar chords because classical guitars tend to have wider necks.

I often use my thumb in a country blues style on a 1 7/8 nut, which is my preferred size. I can also do this on a classical guitar with a 2" wide nut, it's just a matter of stretching and practice.
Classical players keep their thumb roughly centred at the back of the neck because it gives more freedom for the fingers to stretch and move. Using the thumb wrap is fine for certain styles of playing, but very restrictive for others, ie Classical.

[Sadie-f]

1. 1-3/4, I could probably manage wider, however my fingers are not long, and 1-13/16 would require a big adjustment in position. I'm not too fussed about bridge spacing,

2. Standard, working on Orkney tuning

3. XL gloves, my fingers are broad and not long, great for rock climbing, not so great for guitar

4. I can play with a pick, however far prefer fingerstyle, I'm a kinesthetic learner and it seems I'm far better off with lots of tactile feedback. I'm also seriously challenged I'm keeping to a beat, all my life, if there's a rhythm going, I'm on the back beat (I just received results of genome sequencing, it turns out I'm in the 0th percentile of being able to keep to a beat).

So complicated strumming patterns that have to be expressed through a pick just don't work in my brain at all however I find it quite easy to maintain a rhythm with 3-4 fingers working together.

[Erithon]

1. Nut: 1-13/16" width with 1-9/16" string spacing
Saddle: 2-5/16" or 2-3/8"

2. Standard, DADGAD, CGCGCD, drop D

3. Large and hand-shaped lol

4. I play with a fairly arched left-hand technique that I carried over from the double bass (where I was classically trained). Consequently, I find a thicker neck--21 to 23mm depth at the first fret--to be most comfortable. Anything smaller and my left hand gets cramped toward the end of a lengthy play session.

[jontewright]

1. 1 3/4" nut preferred, 2 3/8" (hail to Bill Collings and the Waterloo line) string spacing but ok with 2 1/4 +. Unfortunately I find Gibson's standard 2 3/16's a bit tight.

2. Standard, drop D, open G.

3. I'd say slightly smaller than average hands but relatively long fingers in comparison.

4. Prefer a chunkier neck to a low taper. Probably draw the line at the vintage V on the Kalamazoo kg-14, that was just too much to handle comfortably. Kg-11 on the other hand was almost perfect.

[Aspiring]

I have a few different guitars that have a variety of specs. I just took a bunch of measurements as I am getting ready to order an emerald X20 and considering neck customizations.

What I started with is I have 2 guitars that are the ones that I consistently play the cleanest on. All of my instruments are well setup and I do most of setup tweaks myself if needed so I'd say the setup is pretty consistent.

I have two more that are close seconds for cleanest playing. What's interesting is that of those 4, 3 of them are close at actual measurements of e to e spacing at nut and 14th fret even though the specs are all quite different. Those three are also my widest string spacing at:
Nut ~46mm e to e 39mm (these are effectively 1 13/16 nut spacings even though the guitars are listed as 1.72 inches , 1 13/16 and 1 3/4)

14th fret 49mm e to e.
I have larger hands
I tend to play mostly standard some open g open d.

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[phil0021]

1 3/4 nut, and however Martin spaces the strings. Spacing at bridge makes little difference. Muscle memory kicks in pretty quick.