Mandolin nut widths

[Mountain Boy]

Can anyone help a newcomer to the mandolin market understand nut widths? Can you list the most common widths from most narrow to the widest? I have long fingers and have played a 1 3/16". I'm looking for the widest width available. What manufacturer makes the widest width?

Thanks....

[John Flynn]

Nut widths can run from 1 1/16" to 1 1/4", but those extremes are rare. 1 1/18" and 1 3/16" are the most common. You can also custom order about any width you want. My mandolins all have different widths and I have large hands. Frankly, I'd recommend not worrying to much about it. First, the difference is not all that much. Second, the size of your hands is not all that relevant. You get used to whatever width you have. Third, there are other factors: string spacing, fret board radius and neck shape that are also factors in the "playing feel" of a neck.

As far as brands, Breedlove mandolins have 1 3/16" nuts, with a rounded neck shape and a radius. They are very accommodating for large hands and a great deal on the market. The best thing is to play instruments you are interested in and see what suits you.

[Gregory Tidwell]

I'm 6'8" and have hands in proportion to the rest of my body (not sure how to describe my hand size other than that). I have a Breedlove I bought in 2003 with a 1 3/16" radiused fretboard and it works just fine. But I personally have trouble with equally wide flat fretboards (that being said, I have gotten better with a flat fretboard through practice). When I bought I just went with the most comfortable I could find, and that turned out to be a good choice.

[Cheryl Watson]

I think that what matters more than the overall size of your hands is the size of your fingertips when it comes to the nut width which effects the string spacing between the courses. This is a separate issue, of course, from the size/shape of the neck profile.

If you have large fingertips, a mandolin with a narrower nut may not have enough space between the string courses for you to fret cleanly. It is best (if you can) to try out at least a 1 1/8" (the most common nut width) and maybe a 1 3/16" nut. I know one player with large hands/large fingertips and he can play a 1 1/8" nut but 1 3/16" is a better fit for him. I've seen mandolin nuts as wide as 1 1/4" and as narrow as 1". And, there are well-known players with large hands who prefer a 1 1/16" or even a narrower 1" nut width. So, it is not a hard, fast rule that wider nuts are better for larger hands.

[ccravens]

I think that what matters more than the overall size of your hands is the size of your fingertips when it comes to the nut width which effects the string spacing between the courses.

If you have large fingertips, a mandolin with a narrower nut may not have enough space between the string courses for you to fret cleanly.

This has been my experience as well. Nut widths do matter.

Once I went to 1 3/16, I could fret cleanly. Now I'll never go back to 1 1/8.

[Tim2723]

One wouldn't think that 1/16" spread out among four courses would make much difference, but for those who need it, it's very important.

I think our friend is asking for makes and models with the widest available string spacing.

[Shelagh Moore]

I've seen nuts a tad under 1" and others wider than 1 1/4" and almost every size in between (many makers outside the USA work in millimetres as well). The Daley I used to have had a 1" nut but I could manage on it despite having large hands. I do now prefer a slightly wider nut.

(Sorry... re-reading this could sound a little risque!)

[shortymack]

A wider nut doesnt necessarily translate into wider spacing. Eastmans for example are 1 3/32" but have wider spacing than say Kentucky or the Loars which have the standard 1 1/8". A lot depends on how the nut is cut.

[Austin Bob]

The thickness of the neck and whether or not it has a radius fretboard can also make a difference in how it feels, not just the width of the nut. But after going from an thin neck model with an 1 1/8 nut and a flat fretboard to a thicker nect with a 1 5/32 nut radius fretboard, I can tell you that it didn't take me long to get used to it.

I have big hands. So do a lot of violin players, and yet they somehow manage.

[JGWoods]

93208 I have big hands. 1 3/16 works great. At 1 1/4 I cannot easily cover two courses with a fingertip as is sometimes a useful technique.
I think most folks who come to mandolin after playing guitar, bass, banjo or what have you, want a wide fingerboard. There is good reason to work hard at adapting to the common sizes in use. Long experience has shown them to be best. Of course there are exceptions...

[Jim Garber]

I must be in the minority: I much prefer a 1 1/8" nut width. I have owned a few mandolins with 1 1/4" and I have trouble playing them for some reason. My hands are pretty average in size. I don't mind a deeper neck or even a different shaped neck profile but with I like a standard neck width.

[terzinator]

I must be in the minority: I much prefer a 1 1/8" nut width.
That's why 1-3/16" nut mandolins are so rare! They make fewer of them, but the majority of players want them!

Kidding.

But I really do like the 1-3/16" nut width on my Collings MT.

I think I've seen Big Muddy/Mid Missouri mandolins with 1-1/4" nuts.

[michaelpthompson]

Coming from guitar, a 1 1/8" width feels so tiny, you're sure you'll never be able to play it, but you soon get used to it. I even have a bowlback with a one inch nut width and it's not that hard to play any more. However, I made my own nut, and I don't like the string spacing, so I need to do it over again. The string spacing is really much more important than overall width, though one can have an influence on the other.

[Jim Garber]

Coming from guitar, a 1 1/8" width feels so tiny, you're sure you'll never be able to play it, but you soon get used to it.

I did a little bit of calculating. If you have a more or less standard guitar nut it measures 1 3/4". If you measure four of the strings it comes to only slightly more than 1". Compensating for the doubled strings, 1 1/8" is prob not that much narrower than 4 strings of a guitar. The bottom like, of course, it what feels good for you and your playing.

[michaelpthompson]

You're right Jim, and that's probably why it's no big deal after a while. The narrow neck feels like it will make the strings too close together, but it doesn't actually, so as you learn to play, you get along fine. Within the parameters of string spacing and fat fingers of course.

[sunburst]

FWIW, there seems to be a trend among people moving from playing guitar to playing mandolin. Many of them seem to think that mandolin necks are too narrow and tend to like 1 3/16" to 1 1/4" nut widths. As they become mandolin players, rather than guitar players playing mandolin, many of them start to prefer narrower, more "standard" mandolin necks. From talking to, setting up instruments for, and building instruments for mandolin players for many years, I find that most mandolin players prefer a nut width of 1 1/8". I've made a few 1 3/16" widths, and I've known a couple of players who prefer the 1 1/16" (or even smaller) width common of Loar signed F-5s, but most mandolin players like 1 1/8".
When I started building mandolins I didn't know much about them, and I thought the necks seems awfully small on the ones I could get my hands on to study. I figured surely mandolin players would like them bigger... so I built them bigger. I started making necks about 1 1/4" wide at the nut. When I took my early efforts around to get people to play them and tell me what they thought, sometimes they would say "the neck feels a kind of big", so I started making them smaller a little at a time until players either didn't mention the neck at all or they said "I like the neck!" and that is how I arrived at a nut width of 1 1/8".

[shortymack]

I am one of those guitarist to mandolin converts you speak of John and agree with you completely about not wanting or needing a wider neck, 1 1/8" is perfect for me.

[Jesse Harmon]

I guess I am hooked on the 1 3/16 nut with radial fretboard. It felt better from the first I played my Rigel Q and now I find that when I try the 1 1/8 it doesn't work for me. Doesn't seem possible that the difference is significant enough to cause a problem. I'm in the market for and f hole of some kind now and wanted to try something different than the Rigel just to pick up more volume and a different sound but haven't found anything that feels comfortable for me.

[Earthwood]

I went from a Rogue (not sure on nut width) to an Eastman MD315 with 1 3/32" nut and radiused fingerboard and loved it. I went from the Eastman to a Gibson F9 with a 1 1/16" nut width and flat fingerboard and couldn't get used to it. Just now transitioned to a Breedlove FF with 1 3/16" nut and radiused fingerboard and it is the best playing/most comfortable mandolin I have played. I have been playing mandolin for 3 years, and guitar for 15 years. I still play guitar now but not that often, as the mandolin is my main draw now.

I think the radius matters more to me than nut width. It is crazy how such a tiny difference in nut width or radius or neck profile can completely change the playing experience and make or break a mandolin for different people.

[Steve Sorensen]

I think a big part of the perception of neck comfort is actually string spacing and action at the nut.

Amazing how a slim neck with perfect string spacing (including spacing from the edge and how spacing carried forward to the bridge) and low/consistent action at the nut creates the feeling of more space on the neck.

Both uneven spacing and high/inconsistent string height force your fingers to work harder and "search" for the right spot while fretting.

Steve