1 5/8 nut vs 1 11/16 nut ???

mavrik6050 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:50 pm

Hey does anyone have any opinion on what they prefer? I am building a new strat neck from Warmoth and cannot decide which to go with. I have big hands and play a fairly fat neck. I play mostly blues and rock, with an emphasis on lead, single note runs. All my guitars except for my Les Paul have 1 5/8 nuts, so I am used to this but I am wondering if there is any benefit to going to a wider nut.

akstratistic · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:41 pm

You're talking about a 1/16th of an inch, less than the thickness of a nickel, spread that out between the spaces of the strings and it's hardly measurable. I doubt it would be perceived really. I think the profile of the neck is where you feel the difference.

cedarblues · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:52 pm

My first Strat (79 hardtail) has a nut width of 1 9/16. I played this Strat for years... a few months ago I got an Am Dlx with the 1 11/16 nut, I thought I really liked the neck at first til I started really playing it (I play Blues), could never get comfortable with it. Hated the profile too!

I ended up having a custom Musikraft neck made to match my 79, love the guitar now! Everytime I pick up a new Strat with a 1 11/16 I feel the same way, so yes, that 1/16 of an inch makes a difference to me.

mavrik6050 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:29 pm

cedarblues wrote:

My first Strat (79 hardtail) has a nut width of 1 9/16. I played this Strat for years... a few months ago I got an Am Dlx with the 1 11/16 nut, I thought I really liked the neck at first til I started really playing it (I play Blues), could never get comfortable with it. Hated the profile too!

I ended up having a custom Musikraft neck made to match my 79, love the guitar now! Everytime I pick up a new Strat with a 1 11/16 I feel the same way, so yes, that 1/16 of an inch makes a difference to me.

Thanks for the reply. So I am wondering if it was a combination of the neck shape and the nut width you didn't like? I cannot play any stock Fender Strat or any other guitar for that matter because I just can't find a comforatable neck. The only ones I can play are custom shops and avri's.

Was the Musikraft a thicker profile as well? What is it about the narrower profile that you liked on the nut?

cedarblues · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:38 pm

3 things are important to me, profile, nut width, frets. When all 3 are exactly what I like then I'm happy.

My 79 has kind of a chunky C profile, and jumbo frets. Since this was my first and main guitar for years I've gotten very comfortable with it and I'm too lazy to get used to a newer neck

Musikraft neck is almost a copy of my 79 neck, they feel very similar.

mavrik6050 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:42 pm

Are you happy with the quality of Musikraft? I have had great experience with Warmoth but they are expensive and take a really long time. I can get the same neck i am looking for at Musikraft for $60 cheaper than Warmoth.

cedarblues · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 8:47 pm

EXTREMELY!

Thinking about getting another one actually, instead of replacing the frets, for a little more money I can get the neck I want.

mavrik6050 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:14 pm

Necks look fantastic! That must be the $80 premium flame option, it is a very pronounced. Very nice!

cedarblues · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:30 pm

Actually this was the cheaper "select" option, I didn't want too much flame.. but I did spend extra for the Brazilian Rosewood, very happy I did, it feels and sounds wonderful!

BTW, Musikraft has an ebay store, you can find some great deals sometimes, I haven't been that lucky, it's either wrong frets, wrong nut or I lost the bid...

http://stores.ebay.com/jamersonguitars

jpmist · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:57 pm **Posts:** 84

My own limited 2¢ is to stay with the 1 5/8 neck you're comfortable with. The wider neck will help if you fingerpick at all and your fingers will have more room for those E and Am chords down on the neck, but that's about it. And BTW, doesn't your Taylor 414 have a 1 11/16th neck?

mavrik6050 wrote:

Hey does anyone have any opinion on what they prefer? I am building a new strat neck from Warmoth and cannot decide which to go with. I have big hands and play a fairly fat neck. I play mostly blues and rock, with an emphasis on lead, single note runs. All my guitars except for my Les Paul have 1 5/8 nuts, so I am used to this but I am wondering if there is any benefit to going to a wider nut.

adriandavidb · **Joined:** Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:17 am **Posts:** 293

akstratistic wrote:

You're talking about a 1/16th of an inch, less than the thickness of a nickel, spread that out between the spaces of the strings and it's hardly measurable. I doubt it would be perceived really. I think the profile of the neck is where you feel the difference.

Have you played guitars with different nuts widths??

We measure them in mm in the UK, but the sizes cover the same ranges, and I can assure you that 42mm (Vintage) 42.3mm (Am Std) and 43 mm (an Ibanez I own) subjectively feel VERY different. This is partly because of the differing profiles, but a lot has to do with the width. It might not look much on paper but it actually makes a BIG and noticable difference!!

mavrik6050 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:37 pm

adriandavidb wrote:

akstratistic wrote:

You're talking about a 1/16th of an inch, less than the thickness of a nickel, spread that out between the spaces of the strings and it's hardly measurable. I doubt it would be perceived really. I think the profile of the neck is where you feel the difference.

Have you played guitars with different nuts widths??

We measure them in mm in the UK, but the sizes cover the same ranges, and I can assure you that 42mm (Vintage) 42.3mm (Am Std) and 43 mm (an Ibanez I own) subjectively feel VERY different. This is partly because of the differing profiles, but a lot has to do with the width. It might not look much on paper but it actually makes a BIG and noticable difference!!

I have a Les Paul with a 1 1/16 nut, but the whole guitar feels so different from a Strat which I play 95% of the time it is almost hard to get a feel for the difference. How do you find the bigger sizes plays differently? Where does it benefit you? I am wondering on a much flatter profile like an Ibanez that would probably help lead work and single line runs but on a 9.5 radius I wonder if it would be as noticeable.

akstratistic · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:48 pm

adriandavidb wrote:

akstratistic wrote:

You're talking about a 1/16th of an inch, less than the thickness of a nickel, spread that out between the spaces of the strings and it's hardly measurable. I doubt it would be perceived really. I think the profile of the neck is where you feel the difference.

Have you played guitars with different nuts widths??

We measure them in mm in the UK, but the sizes cover the same ranges, and I can assure you that 42mm (Vintage) 42.3mm (Am Std) and 43 mm (an Ibanez I own) subjectively feel VERY different. This is partly because of the differing profiles, but a lot has to do with the width. It might not look much on paper but it actually makes a BIG and noticable difference!!

Yup, and no with my big fingers I don't perceive the difference in a 1/16th" nut width only girth of bigger neck profiles.

TTSC · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:13 am **Posts:** 1174

Wow very nice figures on that neck. Custom all the way.

DIN0 · **Joined:** Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:59 am **Posts:** 141

adriandavidb wrote:

It might not look much on paper but it actually makes a BIG and noticable difference!![/color]

I'm with you on that, Adrian! If I play a guitar with a different nut width I'll start missing strings when I play and all manner of craziness. I get used to it after a while but as a rule I prefer narrower necks that are fat round the back - Gibson, for example. Rickenbacker necks are too narrow, though.

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