Wide Fret Board?

[woods]

I'm a guitar player with a recording studio. I am looking for a mandolin to have in the studio.

I probably would be using the mando myself here and there on recordings for production and arrangement stuff. Not any virtuoso solos etc.

So I am wondering -- because I am used to a wide fret board -- should I be looking for a mando with a wider fret board too?

What is the typical mando fret board width? And how much wider is a wide fret board?

Do most mando builders offer a wide neck version? If not what is the most well known company that offers wide necks?

Thanks,

Woods

.

[John Flynn]

I am a long time guitar player who after 12 years on the mando, now considers mando my main instrument. I like a slightly wider, fatter mando neck than average. I don't know if that has anything to do with my guitar playing. I would try as many mandos as I could and see what feels right to you. Mandos, being small, have smaller tolerances. A 1 1/8" nut width is fairly standard, with a 1 3/16" neck also being common and a 1 1/4" nut width being definitely "wide." So a 1/16" graduation is significant, whereas that is probably a trifle on a guitar. The only company I know that markets a "wide" neck is Mid-Missouri. I have played one of thier "W" options, which has a 1 1/4" and they are nice. Most builders who accept custom orders should be able to make you a wide neck version. Also keep in mind that while nut width is the common measurement, it does no good to have a wide neck and have the same string spacing, which I have seen on rare occasion. As my luthier, Joe Mendel, says, "You need to use all the real estate you've got."

[steve in tampa]

When I went to mando from guitar, my first "good " mandolin was an Ovation MM68.Nice wide neck, ebony fretboard.
Noticed one for sale in the classifieds. I've got 2. Can't beat the elctronics.

[jasona]

Mid Missouri makes mandolins with a wider neck as an option. Rigel and Breedlove makde wider necks as a standard feature. In the realm of custom mandos, Silverangel/Ratcliff mandolins have a wider neck. A wider neck might not be a bad idea for many folks, according to Niles/Mandocrucian.

FWIW

[Yellowmandolin]

If you have the cash, look at the Gibson Sam Bush model.

[Wando]

Rigel!

[MANNDOLINS]

I use a wider 1 3/16" at nut also. I'm a guitar/ mando player and find this really helps. check this one out A STYLE MANN (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3751569223&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1)

[neal]

Those teens Gibson A's have a wider neck, and you can't beat the tone. Of course, that's subjective.

[Bob A]

Started out on a '21 Gibson F4. Love the wider board, and the deep neck. Got lots of mandos now - was personally very surprised that I like and can play the very narroe neck on an Embergher-style bowlback.

What seems to make the most difference to me personally is not at all the width of the board: it's the depth of the neck. It appears that I just don't care for a shallow neck depth.

Really, the best thing is to play a bunch of them, see what floats your particular boat.

[Big Joe]

The Sam Bush model has a wider neck and we occsionally do an F5G with a wide board. We can do it on any of our models if one is special ordered.