Nut Width Decision Advise needed

[TheLeadFlatpick]

Hi all, so I’m looking at ordering my first good mandolin and I’m having trouble deciding on what nut width to choose. I’m mainly a guitar player (my preffered width there is 1 23/32”, 2nd choice would be 1 11/16”) and I haven’t been able to play enough mandolins long enough to know what size would be my preference. The cheap Chinese-pressed top mandolin I’ve been playing has a nut width of 1.095”, which kind of feels a little crowded, but I Think its because I havent been playing very long. The mandolin I’m looking at ordering has a nut width of 1.060” which I’m afraid is going to be too tight, but I can go with a wide nut instead (1.120”), it’ll just be a longer wait. Since I don’t think I’m going to be ordering another mandolin anytime soon, I’d like to get it right the first time. I’m leaning towards the wide nut currently. Which nut width do you prefer? I feel like I could adjust to either but I’d rather nut wish I’d gotten the other width later on when I’ve improved my technique. Thanks

[Nashville]

When I was finally ready to buy a good mandolin I faced your same decision. I went with a wide nut 1 3/16" and it's been fantastic. Made a big difference for me. There is a good selection of wide nuts here: https://themandolinstore.com/product...nut-mandolins/

Funny thing is that now after playing a wide nut for the last 5 years, I am now more comfortable playing on most all mandolins.

[sunburst]

These days most people think of 1 1/8" (1.125") as a standard width for a mandolin nut. I suspect you would find that suitable. 1 1/8" is not really thought of as a wide nut. 1 3/16" and 1 1/4" are common widths also, with 1 1/4" being about the width where people start to think of it as a wide nut.

Something to think about:
Sometimes folks who transition from guitar to mandolin think the nut width feels too narrow when first picking up the mandolin. Some of those folks eventually start to become mandolin players (rather than guitar players who play "a little mandolin") and when that happens some of them start to prefer narrower mandolin nuts/necks. Sometimes mandolins come up for sale because of this with the seller saying something like: "It's a great mandolin but I just can't play the wide neck anymore".

Another thing to consider.
The string spacing can be adjusted so that the same nut/neck width can feel different with wider or narrower string spacing.