Nut Width & Why It Matters on a Telecaster

[Vintagebuff]

Check out Ask Zac’s new video. It’s an awesome deep dive into how nut width affects feel and playability, especially on vintage vs. modern Fender necks. Big congratulations to Zac for the amazing work he does on his YouTube channel. His knowledge, passion, and storytelling make every video a must-watch for Telecaster lovers!

"Ever picked up a guitar and thought, “This just doesn’t feel right?” It might be the nut width, the measurement that directly impacts string spacing and left-hand comfort. In this video, we break down the most common nut widths found in the wild, and look at how the various widths affects chord shapes, lead playing and string separation. We also take a hard look at the 1.625 nut width used on the vast majority of vintage Fender guitars, and why most boutique copies, and even reissues made by Fender now tend to have a wider 1.650 nut width.If you’ve ever wondered why some necks feel cramped and others feel perfect, this deep dive will help you understand what works best for your hands and playing style."

 

[Mike Eskimo]

I’m afraid to watch. Not because Zac doesn’t always do a great job. It’s just that every time someone uses “wider” and 1.65 ? It makes me all itchy and irritated.

For 10+ years, any Gibson that was less than 1 11/16? Was called a skinny neck, and the vast majority of all Gibsons in the 60s ?

Have skinny necks.

(Have tiny hands/modest digits ? Well I’ve got 10,000 cherry red 335s that I’d like to sell you…)

OK OK, I’ll watch it. But I hope he goes into how the depth of the neck has everything to do with whether the width works.

I can play a 1 5/8 nut width all day long with a neck that’s 1 inch deep all the way down.

1 5/8 nut and .80 deep at the first fret ? My hand wraps around and I’m terrible at playing Hendrix thumb over chords

Ok, harrrumph, I’m watching it , I’m watching it…



BTW - Carters in Nashville and Folkway in Guelph are the champions at measuring width and depth of Guitars they are selling.

 

[tomtama]

One thing he did not mention, nut width and string spacing can be independent of each other. For example, a wider nut does not necessarily mean wider string spacing.

 

[Buzzgrowl]

I passed on a very affordable '68 335 mainly because of a narrow neck.

My best players both have 1.75 nuts.

1.650 is narrow for my hand. Can't play 6 string chords and drone strings on those.

 

[Twangandy_]

Saddles can compensate and limitatebthe risk the e strings fall down out of the fretboard

 

[memorex]

Who cares what he likes anyway. I only care what I like.

 

[bumnote]

I have a '95 MIK Casino with a 1.614"/41mm nut. It's impossible for an adult to play. I've always order 1.650" on any neck I've had built and did 1 11/16" on the last...makes huge difference.

I haven't watched it yet, it was added to my watch tonight list when it came out. Zac is right now one of only two YT guitar related channels I still subscribe to. He's got the best balance of music discussion, gear, the why behind the gear, and player stories without making it all about himself and that's hard not to naturally start doing when you solo host.
The others I used to subscribe to became either too repetitive or basically turned into "here's my collection" over and over because they've run out of content.

 

[ScottJPatrick]

I can play a 1 5/8 nut width all day long with a neck that’s 1 inch deep all the way down.

My '59 3/4 scale Melody Maker has a 40mm nut which is about 1 9/16'' but the neck depth at the 1st fret is just under an inch, feels very comfortable to me.

 

[stephent2]

I built my guitar necks similar to the acoustics I love, w/ 1 & 3/4ths nut and wide string spacing. (Mods relax, company closed). Coupled w/ 12" radius and a fairly chunky neck. Adult size.

 

[brookdalebill]

I like 1 11/16 or 1 3/4 inch nuts, on a deep U shaped neck.
My four Gibsons all feel great, as do my three Cabronitas.
My Goodall acoustic is 1 3/4 inch at the nut.

Perhaps strangely, I greatly prefer the narrower Jazz bass nut width on my two basses.
I cannot bear a narrow, skinny neck on a guitar.

 

[BristolKeeno]

He's a great talker, full of information and I really enjoyed that. Gonna have to measure all my nuts now

 

[goonie]

I don't have the patience for YT pundits but he's right, nut width matters. It's why I can't buy a Gibson from the mid-late '60s.

 

[castertom]

One thing he did not mention, nut width and string spacing can be independent of each other. For example, a wider nut does not necessarily mean wider string spacing.

Yes - the G&L Modern Classic neck profile is setup as follows, "1 11/16” nut width with 1 5/8” string spacing allows a generous edge roll for superb comfort without string fall-off. Fairly slim with mild taper from 0.820” at 1st fret to 0.870” at the 12th fret."

Also the original EVH music man was slightly narrower than 1 5/8" - some claimed that the high E sat too close to the edge of the fretboard.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

All my 10 partscasters (4 Teles, 6 Strats) have 1 5/8" nut width. Its just what I've gotten used to. That said, I have other guitars with wider necks and can play them too. I do not have any with 1.75" necks and didn’t get along with the one acoustic I had in that size.

 

[43mmNut]

He's a great talker, full of information and I really enjoyed that. Gonna have to measure all my nuts now

I enjoyed it too. I've learned a lot from Zac.

 

[Ron C]

One thing he did not mention, nut width and string spacing can be independent of each other. For example, a wider nut does not necessarily mean wider string spacing.

Great point, and something it took me a long time to figure out. I was stumped why my ES-335 and Yamaha RGAX2 felt so cramped. They had 1-11/16" (43mm) nut width, right?

Finally I put the calipers on the string spacing instead of the nut and it all became clear. The Gibson's string spacing was just over 34mm. I tried widening it some with a new nut but the fingerboard edges were so rolled that I couldn't achieve much. Contrast that with my Vintera II Nocaster: 42mm nut and 36mm string spacing. That's a noticeable difference.

And it only took me two decades of tinkering to figure out that string spacing at the bridge has plenty of impact on the feeling of space, too. At the 12th fret it has just as much impact as the nut's string spacing, and above it has more.

I really like how Guitar.com includes string spacing in some of their reviews (example)

 

[43mmNut]

I checked out my guitars necks width's after watching that episode. LOL, it didn't occur to me that my new AVII '51 Prototype White has a 1.650 (42mm) nut width. The neck is a "U" so, as he pointed out, the skinny neck of the '51 is less noticeable. I would have liked to see him mention the widths in milometers also.

 

[trev333]

yeah, mm's are easier to deal with than fractions for me, too... even though I grew up with imperial units...

 

[TimTam]

For 95% of the world, and most electric guitars ...

41mm
42mm
43mm
44.5mm

Imperial conversions for main 5 sizes [usage from Zac] ...

1 9/16" - 40mm (rounded 39.7mm) [Gibson mid/late-65 (ES-335)]
1 5/8" - 41mm (rounded 41.3mm) [vintage Fender, rarely used now]
1.65" - 42mm (rounded 41.9mm) [vintage Fender reissues and other current models]
1 11/16" - 43mm (rounded 42.9mm) [Gibson, PRS, Martin, some Fender]
1 3/4" - 44.5mm (rounded 44.45mm) [less common]

 

[Humbuckers]

Many, if not most, current Fender Japan guitars have a 41mm nut, which is slightly narrower than 1 5/8”. Too narrow for my tastes, so they take a lot of otherwise very appealing guitars out of the running for me.