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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | You know what?
I'm a commited (and pretty decent, at least in my humble opinion) fingerstyle player (with big hands/fingers) that prefers a narrower nut width (1 11/16”). For me the dexterity required to control your fingers in a narrower space comes easy (at least I'm used to it as I'm used to holding and changing complex chords) and using left hand fingers to mute strings is easy.
There, I've said it!
Maybe too many years playing electric has messed with my brain.
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I have always thought ( and it's just a thought with no substantial knowledge) that the wider nut for fingerstyle players was more because the wider nut meant the strings for the RIGHT hand were probably a little further apart as well, making it easier to finger-pick.
Also, those of us used to electrics, know that we can set up to really only need to fret strings to get some nice subtle tones, where that style of the left hand has little gain for the typical fingerstyle person on an acoustic... again... unless there is more room between the strings, and it's still pretty pointless on an acoustic.
JMHO |
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Joined:
April 2007
Posts: 318
Location: Slightly northwest of Trader Jim | I mute strings with my left hand all the time, most of the time not wanting to do so.(lol) I do think Miles is right about the wider spacing for the right hand does make the "picking" easier.
And so you know "B" is a complex cord for me! :D |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | I play fingerstyle as well -- just a hack, but that's what i play and i have found that not all 3/4" fretboards are the same. It also has to do with neck profile.
I thought i preferred the 11/16" or even my 5/8" electrics until i played my 46mm Stanford. It is really comfortable, and i think it is the neck profile. That goes for my Lowden as well, it is 46 mm too. I had a Huss and Dalton 3/4" that i could never get used to. And i don't think the string spacing is a hindrance on the narrower fretboard -- at least not to me.
I have a 25/32" CFox that plays really well too.
Anyway, i don't think you are alone in your treason.
_____
gh1 |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | It's interesting this idea of right hand spacing being the reason. I hadn't even considered that!! GOSH!
Perhaps because I've move from using a pick to fingers (obvious on the RH) that I've had to learn to pick accurately so the string spacing isn't an issue. It's just the landscape I have to deal with. Deciding to learn Adrian Legg tunes early on has proabably helped as you HAVE to accurate else you have no chance whatsoever to pull it off. |
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Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 489
| As a fingerstylist for years . . . no, decades, I never knew I was supposed to prefer a wider fingerboard until I read it somewhere. I have no idea why. |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Originally posted by Losov:
As a fingerstylist for years . . . no, decades, I never knew I was supposed to prefer a wider fingerboard until I read it somewhere. I have no idea why. +1
I notice far more difference fretting than picking. |
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Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | My old golfing buddy used to ask me what I thought about at the top of my backswing just to screw with my head.
I try not to think about my guitarplaying too much. I have 4 guitars and they probably all have different widths and stuff...I can fingerpick pretty decent with any of them |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | All my guitars are 1 11/16" except the Academy.
I dug-out the KA17 after reading that ksdaddy got that great deal.
When just doing cowboy chords the difference is not that noticeable, and kinda nice.
I do notice the difference when doing quick left-hand changes...
(di-di-diddle-dum, ala Sweet Home Alabama, Heart of Gold)
But otherwise all my guitars are the same, regardless of what style I am Trying to Play.
[one of these days I really gotta learn to finger-pick] |
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Joined:
March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | I learned to finger-pick before I strummed on a Mexican-made classical with about a 2 1/4" nut. For a 12-year-old with smaller hands, THAT was an experience. My first real guitar was my 1869, with the 1 11/16", and to this day I still like playing on that neck profile.
I do think it's more about the right hand. I have longer, slender fingers, so the left-hand part has been fairly easy for me, but my technique gets sloppier on the right hand when I'm playing with less string separation. On that same note however, I do play (I think) cleaner without a pick than with one. I didn't strum or use a pick for years after I first learned to pluck. My dad was a folk guitarist...I blame it on him. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I wish I had learned like you Andrew...
My first guitar experience was just simple (stoned) strumming with a thumb or a pick.
In my old age, I bought the Lyon Started Pack with a lesson DVD that (believe it or not) told me NOT to use my fingers. I do know a bit of finger-picking... Just basically one pattern.
I know that I only have myself to blame. I start to try to practice picking, then I get frustrated and grab a pick and just beat on the strings.
Some folks have posted that the cannot play with a pick cuz they learned with their fingers...
I wish I had that problem. |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 1330
Location: ms | I think setup and neck profile go a long way for me. I also think Miles is on to something in my case anyway the right hand feels better with wider spacing the left hand i`m still looking for thr perfect fit. Heck right now i`m using a Taylor 314CE with an 17/8 nut and a 000Martin with a 1 11/16 for my live guitars and don`t have much trouble moving from guitar to guitar. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | From day 1 it was allways easier to Fingerpick on a guitar with a wider neck and it was allways my Right hand that "Noticed" the difference. I, like Andrew, get "sloppy" with my right hand for a couple of progressions until I get use to the string spacing on a narrower neck. I allways "assummed" that was the reason for a wider neck, for "Fingerpicking" |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | Chet Atkins said that when he was young, he liked a narrower neck because it was easier to fret certain chords, but that as he got older (we're talking into his 20's), he liked a wider neck because there was less unintended buzzing. It was easier to fret chords cleanly.
I prefer a narrower neck, but then I'm no Chet Atkins.... |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Perhaps because of the "manly" neck references here, I always assumed the wider spacing was to allow fatter fingers on the left hand to fret cleanly. I have problems with some songs on the wider necks when I try to reach the pinky over to the low strings. I prefer the narrower neck for those circumstances and for barre chords. I have also had problems hitting the wrong strings with the right hand, but I figured it was because of a change in the length of my fingernails. It may have been that I changed to a narrower string spacing. Another good excuse to have a variety of guitars. |
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Fingerstylist commits treason!
