Big Lou Wide Nut Teles

[Donelson]

I can't vouch for the quality of the Big Lou axes; but he's made it his mission to sell guitars with an adult-sized 1-7/8" nut. Like all steel-string guitars had in the early (pre-vintage?) days.

So far his efforts were strats with whammy bars, etc. Not something I'd want.

These axes seem to be cheapy imports.

I got an e-mail from Lou saying that he is hoping to introduce wide-nut teles, that he has the samples and hopes he can get it done.

Maybe some will scoff; but if so name the better seller of a tele, stock, as-is, with a 1-7/8" nut width.

Leo Fender is gone from us; yet he offered such an option. I guess those 1-7/8" Teles or Strats are RARE birds, but they do exist somewhere. I personally owned & miss a Gibson ES335 that had a 1-7/8" nut.

 

[Axis29]

I vowed I would learn how to make a neck this year (my New Year's Resolution, actually). As I started working out the patterns and cutting out my templates, I purposely went big and fat at the nut. I've been contemplating trying a big 2" width...

 

[benderb9]

I have a friend thats 6'7" and his pinky finger is bigger than my thumb.He plays lefty from an industrial accident and has a Fender Bullet Tele neck (80's that I installed) on an 80's Fender Strat (2 knobs and the input jack in the third knob spot).He literally covers the fretboard with 2 fingers and it just disappears.Currently another friend is making him a neck that is more suited for his size, that is wider...fortunetly there is a full machine shop available so a bridge can be fabricated and he's an excellent carpenter as well .This is the first I've heard of people wanting wider necks recently, I remember them being an option as well direct from Fender for a slight extra fee.I suppose that small market demand caused that demise and now for a major investment the Custom Shop can fulfill what you want...or with a little good ole American ingenuity anything is possible

 

[Steveareno]

+1 Those wide neck Fenders must be really rare. I think they only offered that option in the early 60's but pretty much stuck with 1 5/8" (which I feel is too narrow). There's a photo of a stock Strat in the Fender Amp Book the First 50 Years, with a really wide neck, but I've never seen one in person. Strange with SO many options now out there, there's not many stock electric guitars available with WIDER necks. G&L offers 1 3/4" as an option, but again...never seen one. Will probably order a 1 3/4" neck for my Tele one day.
Swang on,

 

[mellecaster]

I can't vouch for the quality of the Big Lou axes; but he's made it his mission to sell guitars with an adult-sized 1-7/8" nut. Like all steel-string guitars had in the early (pre-vintage?) days.

I think you may have your History facts a little skewed, most Pre-War stuff had 1 3/4" Nut widths...I'm not saying a few 1 7/8" didn't exist (and I mean a Few)....but they would be quite rare, and on Electric Guitars almost non existing.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I wonder if his neck has a standard heel size: Warmoth 1 7/8" necks do, because the fretboard hangs over the sides, whilst USACG 1 7/8" necks require a wider neck slot. It would be cool to order just a cheap neck from him and be able to try it out in a standard body.

 

[Donelson]

I think you may have your History facts a little skewed, most Pre-War stuff had 1 3/4" Nut widths...I'm not saying a few 1 7/8" didn't exist (and I mean a Few)....but they would be quite rare, and on Electric Guitars almost non existing.

Yes, I should have typed "Like MANY steel-string guitars had in the early (pre-vintage?) days." A bit of hyperbole I suppose.

However, if you look at early 20th C steel-string guitars online or in books you will see numerous examples of 1-7/8" or 1-13/16" nuts used. 1-3/4" was more common, but 1-7/8" seems to have been a "regular" width back then.

I have several guitars. I try to play them all fairly regularly. They range from a Fender flattop at 1-9/16" (!) to a spanish guitar at 52mm, over 2". After a few minutes my LH adjusts & they're all playable. The main advantage to me with the wider nut, like the 1-7/8" on my Takamine steel-string, is polyphonic ability--much easier to hold a note or notes while moving others. You can even do finger substitution like on piano while holding the note.

Wide necks clearly aren't for everyone, but I think many players would like them if they tried them for a while.

 

[Jeff H]

A 1 7/8ths nut ,histroically., was not common. Until late 1939 Martin used 1 3/4 then contracted NNS..Narrow Nut Syndrome...

No charge for using my long time coined term.. "adult sized nuts".... I have been prostletising with that slogan for over 30 years..... check UMGF for a decade of examples search for narrowmnut syndromem or jefe46..... or the Former Taylor Forum.....

1 13/16ths is my ideal and 1 3/4 is MAS.. (minimum acceptable standard...)
I suffer with 1 11/16ths and simply cannot play anything smaller..

There is a reason classical guitarists prefer 2 " plus nut width.. it is called ease of play..


String spacing at the bridge is equally important... 2 5/16ths is ideal, 2 1/4 acceptable
....Fender's vintage of 2 7/32nd is barely acceptable and anything less such as my 2008 AM STD Tele is a nuisance if not a joke.. and the reason I will be selling it...

There are very few Teles with a 1 11/16th nut and a 2 7/32nd nut width.. Nashville and the original Hiway 1.....

Same sorry story with Strats....

G&L does offer a 1 3/4 nut width with a very low reasonable upcharge,, unlike Fender...

My next "Tele" or "Strat" may be a G&L...

I have called Fender many times about this.. they are uninterested in my comments and really are clueless as to the model specs and lack of wide nuts and saddles...
Their response is along these lines.. we sell as many as we can make and find no reason to change
Thanks...

 

[Donelson]

Jeff H., I have undoubtedly seen your posts on this topic on the various forums, as I have searched & read about this issue for many years!

I was spoiled at a young age by A.) starting out on a nylon string as a boy and B.) luckily stumbling across & getting an ES335 back around 1980 that had a super wide nut. Probably was close to 1-7/8". Played it for many years on all sorts of gigs. I don't have it anymore so I can't go & measure it. It was noticeably wider than my Eastman which is 1-3/4".

I just bought a highway one tele as it does have a decent width at 1-11/16". At the moment I'm not much into the "mix & match" partscaster thing.

 

[Sleph]

Bring it on Big Lou!

 

[Tremolux]

Yes, always wondered why there seems to never be any variation in neck widths, even on Cusom Shop models.

Fender's seldom-seen Seymour Duncan signature Esquire had a 1.75 inch nut width, hardly anything that radical, but at least something different. Of course, I guess someone would say they hardly sold very many of them, perhaps that's why Fender doesn't vary from standard.

As to the previous comments about G&L, yes, the 1.75 width was called the #3 neck. Never saw one, despite visiting a couple places on more than one occassion with big G&L stock (like Buffalo Bros. in CA). Might still be known as #3, but a local retailer (Chicago area) commented recently that neck styles/numbering might have changed or expanded, I forget which. Didn't ask for details.

 

[stephent2]

My builds are influenced by the acoustic guitars I've owned. All my electrics have a 1.75 inch nut and wide string spacing. I haven't run across anyone, acoustic or electric who uses the same wide spacing on a 1.75 inch nut. Players who spend time w/ first position chords (blues, Country blues, fingerpickers) are fond of the set up, but a bit of extra real estate works great for many players.

 

[jefrs]

It may be worth noting that a concert-classic has a 1.7/8-in string spacing on a 2.1/4-in wide nut.

This is on a tree-stump of a neck. Yet they do not require huge fingers to play them

 

[Steveareno]

NNS-Narrow Nut Syndrome...that's funny. I had a Gibson J45 in the early 70's (must have been made mid 60's) that had a 1 9/16" width nut that drove me absolutely bonkers. Eventually got rid of it. Now have a Dell Arte Gypsy Jazz Guitar with a 1 3/4" nut, which I love. Those narrow necks were described as "slim...fast action". Guess they thought it was easier for chords, but I found the lack of space very frustrating. My MIM 50's Classic Tele has 1 11/16" with a fairly full profile that feels pretty good....would prefer a 1 3/4" boatneck. Yeah, the Fender Seymour Duncan Esquire supposedly has a 1 3/4" nut and looks pretty cool. I think that was a very small run, but there must be a few floating around out there.
Swang on,

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I think narrow nuts may appeal to strummers.

I find 1 3/4" is my favourite width, but I'm comfortable on classical nuts, but it's a different style, isn't it?

I also like some of the wider necks on "fingerstyle" acoustic guitars, like the Larrivée LSV-11 (1 13/16").

 

[Tazz3]

i been looking for a wide nut width guitar zarley makes one also.
i wonder if there are nice then big lous

 

[kp8]

I really want a wide spaced tele neck for finger picking.

 

[Maricopa]

I have largish hands (not gorilla paws but not girlie hands either ) and on my own guitars I prefer 1.70-1.75" at the nut. I've owned a couple 1-7/8" nutted guitars and I think the majority of the people that say they want that wide a nut simply haven't played one, or at least not for very long. Unless you have *really* big hands it gets tiresome real quick, even for fingerpicking.

 

[lewis]

The 1 3/4" nut on my Martin has taken some time to learn to play properly. For electric I would rather have a fatback-shaped neck with normal nut width.

 

[Bigsnaketex]

I have huge hands (size 15 shoe!) and I'm primarily a rhythm player.....a 1.75" nut is as small as I like.......so I have to make my own nuts for my electrics and get close to the edge to make it work.

I'd love to see some wider nut Fenders from the factory!

BIG HANDS UNITE!!!