Are There Mandolins with Necks Wider than 1 1/16"

[Guitarist1983]

I am a guitarist that dabbles at Mandolin. Frankly, the 1 1/16" wide nut is beating me. Please name brands/models with nuts wider than (or equal to) 1 3/16". OR, explain the disadvantages of a wider nut. I guess a better question is, "will a wider nut help make mandolin easier to play?"

Thanks.

[Charles E.]

Weber, Collings and Northfield offer mandolins with wide necks. I would think for guitar players it would be a good choice. I think standard nut width for most mandolins is 1-1/8th.
Also you could contact The Mandolin Store or any of the other fine shops that advertise on the Cafe and ask for their advise.

https://themandolinstore.com/product...nut-mandolins/

[Don Grieser]

Can't go wrong with a Phoenix mandolin with the 1 3/16" nut being standard. Other makers build wide nut models like Collings.

[George R. Lane]

My 2010 Weber Yellowstone has a 1 3/16" nut with a soft v neck and is very easy to play.

[DHopkins]

Both of my Breedloves are 1 3/16"

[MikeEdgerton]

The first thing I needed to do was to realize you don't finger a mandolin like you do a guitar. Turn your hand a little to the side and use the "corners" of your fingertips, not the ends. You callouses will migrate. Look at some videos of fiddle players and better mandolin players. They don't approach the fingerboard with the fingers straight on like you do a guitar. You may not need the wider nut and the wider nut model might not resolve your issue. The guitar and mandolin really are different.

[gtani7]

They commonly go to 1 1/4" wide at the nut e.g. http://www.bigmuddymandolin.com/faq/, but here's some really wide ones (1 1/2" wide nut!): http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...lin-neck-width

if you can fit your fingers comfortably between the black keys of a piano, I figure you have normal width fingers. Also, i gotta say, trumpet, bassoon, violin, etc players are always talking about how difficult theirs are, you'll never get anywhere without years of private lessons and a really expensive instrument, yadda yadda, but mandolin is pretty tricky too.

[Randi Gormley]

I'll reiterate what Mike said -- there's a chance you're having problems because you're holding the instrument wrong. If you hold it up to your chin as if it were a violin/fiddle, you'll notice that your hands naturally angle along the fretboard. This is pretty much the way your hand should be when you hold the mandolin in front of you. it is not a little guitar and your natural guitar-holding techniques won't work easily.

OTOH, if you're holding the instrument correctly and still feel cramped, certainly look for a larger fretboard/nut. I had to go the other way because I have some arthritis in my fretting hand. My favorite mandolin's nut is 1 inch and nobody I've ever handed it to has had problems fretting notes or playing it. just a thought.

[sblock]

The "standard" nut width these days is about 1-1/8". A so-called "wide nut" (preferred by some guitar converts, or those with large hands) is about 1-3/16". Gibson Loar nuts from 1922-1924 were often as narrow as 1-1/16", or even just 1". Note that the entire range of nuts listed here is just 3/16", or less than 0.2 inches -- so these vary by less than 20%.

If you can't play comfortably using the standard mandolin width, then the chances are good that (1) you either have exceptionally large hands (do you use a men's extra large glove size?) or (2) that you are using a guitar technique to fret, and not the proper mandolin technique. My bet is on (2), but (1) is a possibility.

[Nashville]

I bought a wide nut Lafferty from the Mandolin Store and it's been great for me, since I have been a guitar player for 50 years. It allowed me to progress in my playing. Now when I play on a standard nut width it is not so tedious as before, but I still prefer the wide nut, maybe because I'm used to it now. I think Sam Bush plays a wide nut. Of course it's just personal preference but you must find what you like and what works for you.

[JeffD]

Of course it's just personal preference but you must find what you like and what works for you.

Keeping in mind that what works for you in transition from a guitarist to a mandolinner may not be what works for you once you have made it over to the dark side.

[Larry Simonson]

When the topic of nut width comes up i am always confused about its meaning. Is it the actual distance across the nut or is it the distance across the strings at the nut?

[trevor]

It is usually measured as the distance across the nut. The string spacing can vary with the same nut width but not by much for a mandolin. I often think for guitars string spacing should be included, spacing at the saddle is always the string measurement.

Of course then you get into whether the measurement should the at the center or outside of the strings.

[dang]

My personal preference is a wide neck. I have a couple of wide neck mandolins with radiused fretboards.
Weber Bighorn with 1 1/4 in
Collings MT2 with 1 3/16 in
Collings MT2-O with 1 3/16 in

I have had several other mandolins that I have played over years with smaller necks and I found my left hand would fatigue faster. A Gibson A9 that I loved had a 1 in neck and though I loved the sound it killed my left hand to play it.

I have pretty big hands, and I am left handed but play mandolin right handed so am very sensitive about using my left hand too much.

Ymmv but for any length of time I want a wider board. Yeah, I can play pretty much the same on either but a wide radiused fretboard is what I want for comfort, so that's what I have gravitated to over the years.

[Frogstar]

Which mandolin(s) are you playing now?
If you can find a Breedlove Crossover in your area to try, it would at least be worth a shot. However, I don't think it's a significant factor.
But I'm also not particularly sensitive to nut width differences on my guitars either, and some folks are quite sensitive in that regard, so YMMV.

[fatt-dad]

prior to ~'20, the paddle head Gibson's had 1-1/4" nuts. The Phoenix is actually in mm and not quite 1-3/16ths. Great mandolins.

Flat-top Flatirons feel wide-enough for me. They are also made for light-gauge strings and play great - sound a touch different than an arch-top mandolin. Flatirons are no longer made, but appear on these classifieds and also seem to show up at Elderly.

Big-Muddy also makes a flat-top mandolin and you can order them to 1-3/16ths inch.

I have two custom mandolins that are 1-3/16ths in nuts, pricing would be to $3,000 for an entry-level custom job and it'll take a year or so to get there.

If you want to play bluegrass (f-hole arch-top) the names are above and I really don't know - some do offer the 1-3/16ths. I'm very happy with my '20 Gibson A3 (sub $2K and original). Paddle-head Gibson's with non-vintage tuners, tailpiece or case can be had for sub $1K though and if in structural condition a great wide-nut option. . . if you want an arch-top oval hole mandolin, that is?

Enjoy the journey. I think there are a lot of guitar players here, they just don't come out in public very often. I do have GAS and think I've controlled MAS - ha!

f-d

[Paul Busman]

How long have you been dabbling? That neck feels tiny for sure. I migrated from guitar and couldn't believe how narrow the neck was, but now I don't even think about it. You may well adapt. If you're happy with your mandolin apart from the neck width, you might just have to keep at it for a while.

[acousticphd]

Many benefits, in my opinion. I am with you, and would go so far as to opine that 1-3/16" is the "correct" mandolin fingerboard width at the nut.

The most obvious category of mandolins with the standard 1-3/16" nut width would be the untold thousands of vintage Gibsons of the teens-1930s and beyond. Excepting the snakehead period (when the width was narrowed to ~1-1/16"), the majority of vintage Gibson oval-hole mandolins, as even some of the f-hole models that followed (for eg, many Gibson-made Kalamazoos), have 1-3/16" nuts, but not only that, the fingerboards were wider up the neck and used wider string spacing up the neck than one finds on many modern mandolins.

It is obviously important and part of developing as a player to work on and improve your technique. But one size does not fit all. I greatly prefer 1-3/16", can/do play a couple instruments with 1-1/8", but any narrower and it is too uncomfortable.

I agree that 1-1/8" is a common standard, but that is definitely not universal. If wider is your preference, some choices may not be a good fit (like Eastman, who uses even narrower). Another very important factor is string spacing. One of the most common features of inexpensive/entry-level mandolins is that the nuts are cut with an overly narrow string spacing (G to E). This can be remedied to an extent simply by getting a new, carefully slotted nut.

Breedlove is the one brand that comes immediately to mind that uses (or used) a 1-3/16" standard nut width on many models.
Mid-Missouri/Big Muddy, as noted by some others here, were closer to 1-1/4".
Jon Mann's acoustic instruments have/had 1-3/16" nuts, and generally wider fingerboards than the garden variety mandolin, though his his instruments pop up infrequently.
The earlier-era Kentucky KM505, which was and still is a highly regarded instrument for the price, had a 1-3/16" nut, and the current version may still. These also have a radiused fingerboard, which I would wager that you would find more comfortable. This instrument, IMO, would be a really great f-hole mandolin for any new-intermediate player.

[fscotte]

Funny how much 1/16" makes a difference in comfortability.

[Austin Bob]

As you have figured out by now, lots of manufactures make wider necks. Even Gibson makes the Goldrush with a 1 5/64" width, and in the past they made a custom F5-G for The Mandolin Store with a 1 3/16" nut. Their other models are 1 1/16".

Lots of different opinions here. I have both a 1 1/16" and a 1 3/16". At first it seems like a huge difference, but for me, after a while it's like switching between a Strat and a Les Paul. Both have a completely different feel, but both are very playable.

And BTW, I have monster sized hands. I wear a size 15 shoe, and I can never find gloves with long enough fingers.

[blind road]

I thought the same thing when I started mandolin and asked around about wider string spacing but was encouraged to stay with it and now I can ring clear with my big fat fingers, there's a reason the mandolin has gotten a standard, 10s of millions mando players through the years can't be wrong. It helps fretting chords like F and using a single finger to fret 4 strings, as a guitar player I sympathize but stick with it.

[Bonniej]

My Weber Gallatin has a 1 3/16" nut and is easy to play. I bought my mandolin new and was not aware that it had the wider nut until I called Weber to get more information about it. Weber makes quality instruments and I've heard they have great customer service. They've been great when I have called or emailed. Bruce Weber sent me a a couple emails himself. I've read that he has returned to the production shop working directly with warranty and repair instruments since he turned over his administrative role to his son. BTW I've got average sized "girl" hands-
Good luck- shopping for Mandos is great fun!
Bonnie

[mandroid]

I'm thinking do fiddlers ask for wider necks too?

[George R. Lane]

My Weber Gallatin has a 1 3/16" nut and is easy to play. I bought my mandolin new and was not aware that it had the wider nut until I called Weber to get more information about it. Weber makes quality instruments and I've heard they have great customer service. They've been great when I have called or emailed. Bruce Weber sent me a a couple emails himself. I've read that he has returned to the production shop working directly with warranty and repair instruments since he turned over his administrative role to his son. BTW I've got average sized "girl" hands-
Good luck- shopping for Mandos is great fun!
Bonnie

Bonnie,
I am glad you like your Gallatin, I love my Yellowstone. Just to inform you Bruce Sr. and Jr. no long have any ties to Weber instruments, it is now owned by Two Old Hippies owner,Tom Bedell. Yes, Bruce Sr. is doing warranty work for them, for time being. Hopefully Bruce will start making mandolins sometime soon, but they will not be under the Weber name. I will be visiting with Bruce on Monday and will ask him about his future plans.

[Bonniej]

George,
Lucky you to be able to stop by and see Bruce. They had a Yellowstone where I got my Gallatin- it was still there last fall when I was there. It was gorgeous- I played it a bit. I played mine last night at a jam with a group who hasn't had a Mandolin in the group for some time. They really liked it and all came over to check it out. It really sings and stands out -even with 6 acoustics and a banjo- didn't get drowned out. Let me know what you found out from Bruce.