1-11/16 Nut size and finger picking

[cascade]

 I'm reading too much...

This is condensed, so don't think I have crappy grammer:

I've been playing guitar 27 years. Used to be technical electric guy, now more acoustic/singer, campfire type. Also write and record with very limited time. Have 20 year old bottom barrel yamaha acoustic. Friend said get something that sounds better or we won't jam together no more!

Bought $300 Mitchell from GC, had setup multiple times, pretty much junk - no better than old. Returned.

I have access to a supplier discount shimmy-sham with fender, and found that guild is fender owned. So, I purchased the bottom of the line cutaway dreadnought from guild (AD-3CE). I love it. Strumming and singing, rocking out solos and even scale practice. Fabulous guitar - nicer than anything I could've ever imagined owning.

With renewed interest, I broke out old Cordoba classical and play that  a little more than new guild at the moment, since I have some classical/fingerstyle favorites. 

Don't want, nor can I afford multiple acoustic guitars. Gotta make work with what I have, but would like to finger pick more I think. I'm affraid to go all out on the guild because I read that at least a 1-3/4 nut is needed for finger picking, and I don't want to create any bad habits that will need breaking with my limited time. I have a 1-11/16 nut, which I thought should be average to fine for all purpose, as I still do a lot of flat-pick.

The guild is now sweated up, natural finish already getting shiny spots. Basically it is mine now, no returning for another model. I'm I one tool with multiple many purposes guy and this new guitar is it for a long awhile.

Is there any reason I can't excell enough to play some fingerstyle really well on the new guild? Longer fingerstyle practice would be on classical, but any campfire performance would be on the 1-11/16 nut guild. I couldn't imagine doing the campfires or holiday visits with multiple guitars just to pick off a few tunes for casual entertainment.

Do I need to get yet another guitar for performance based finger picking? From what I read, most fingerstyle guitarists go for that "a tool for every purpose". I suppose that is fine if you never throw a guitar in the trunk and jam a bit somewhere, but in reality having a seperate guitar for subdivided styles isn't very realistic for me. 1-11/16 nut is not ideal; my right hand does cramp, but I just tell myself to toughen up. Would it still cramp at 1-3/4? Plus, I only have my classical to compare to, which isn't even in the same realm.

Buying anything is a real drag. I always seem to learn something detrimental to the purchase after the deal is done.

... and this is the condensed version!

 

 

 

 

[garthman]

You can fingerpick on any guitar. I'm primarily a fingerpicker (~ 90%) and I do so on all my guitars ranging from neck widths of 40mm (electric) through 42mm to 48mm (acoustic) and 52mm (classical).

Your fingers soon "remember" the different widths - if you play regularly within a few weeks you'll be switching between guitars with ease.

[Freeman Keller]

Cascade, one of the reasons that guitars with 1-3/4 nuts are considered bettter for fingerpicking is that they frequently have wider string spacing at the saddle - usually about 1/8 inch wider than a 1-11/16 nut.   Flat pickers and strummers seem to like the narrow spacing since all they need to get between the strings is that skinny little piece of plastic - us finger pickers need to get big phat digits in there - occassionally with metal picks on the ends of them.

One other thing that some wider neck guitars have is slightly flatter fretboard radius - electrics are usually 12 radius or even less, 1-11/16 acoustics are usually 16 and 1-3/4 are sometimes 20 inch radius.    Traditionally classical guitars have nuts about 2 inches wide and dead flat fretboards, but the new generation of "hybrid" classicals are often a little narrower and have some radius (so they feel better to people used to steel strings).    Anyway, 20 inch radius fretboards are my preference because I do play a lot of slide.,

The last part of guitars with wide nuts is they are often small bodied.   Most dreads and jumbos are 1-11/16 - these are the flatpicking/strumming guitars.    Again, many of us who play finger style like smaller guitars for their overall balance - OM's or 000 or similar - and these are often long scale and wide nuts.

However, as brother Garthman said, you can play any style of music on any guitar - Doc Watson did a real fine job fingerpicking his big old Gallagher dread, Gary Davis a Gibbie jumbo, John Fahey about anything he could get his hands on.

[Graeca]

 

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cascade wrote:

 

 

 I'm reading too much...

 

This is condensed, so don't think I have crappy grammer:

 

I've been playing guitar 27 years. Used to be technical electric guy, now more acoustic/singer, campfire type. Also write and record with very limited time. Have 20 year old bottom barrel yamaha acoustic. Friend said get something that sounds better or we won't jam together no more!

 

Bought $300 Mitchell from GC, had setup multiple times, pretty much junk - no better than old. Returned.

 

I have access to a supplier discount shimmy-sham with fender, and found that guild is fender owned. So, I purchased the bottom of the line cutaway dreadnought from guild (AD-3CE). I love it. Strumming and singing, rocking out solos and even scale practice. Fabulous guitar - nicer than anything I could've ever imagined owning.

 

With renewed interest, I broke out old Cordoba classical and play that  a little more than new guild at the moment, since I have some classical/fingerstyle favorites. 

 

Don't want, nor can I afford multiple acoustic guitars. Gotta make work with what I have, but would like to finger pick more I think. I'm affraid to go all out on the guild because I read that at least a 1-3/4 nut is needed for finger picking, and I don't want to create any bad habits that will need breaking with my limited time. I have a 1-11/16 nut, which I thought should be average to fine for all purpose, as I still do a lot of flat-pick.

 

The guild is now sweated up, natural finish already getting shiny spots. Basically it is mine now, no returning for another model. I'm I one tool with multiple many purposes guy and this new guitar is it for a long awhile.

 

Is there any reason I can't excell enough to play some fingerstyle really well on the new guild? Longer fingerstyle practice would be on classical, but any campfire performance would be on the 1-11/16 nut guild. I couldn't imagine doing the campfires or holiday visits with multiple guitars just to pick off a few tunes for casual entertainment.

 

Do I need to get yet another guitar for performance based finger picking? From what I read, most fingerstyle guitarists go for that "a tool for every purpose". I suppose that is fine if you never throw a guitar in the trunk and jam a bit somewhere, but in reality having a seperate guitar for subdivided styles isn't very realistic for me. 1-11/16 nut is not ideal; my right hand does cramp, but I just tell myself to toughen up. Would it still cramp at 1-3/4? Plus, I only have my classical to compare to, which isn't even in the same realm.

 

Buying anything is a real drag. I always seem to learn something detrimental to the purchase after the deal is done.

 

... and this is the condensed version!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

Guild's are just fine for use on fingerpicking tunes.

[DeepEnd]

First, there's nothing wrong with an older Yamaha. Many folks love 'em. Second, your friend sounds like a jerk. Third, as others have previously noted, you don't necessarily need a specific nut size to play fingerstyle, although a wider neck and string spacing might help. Finally, congratulations and Happy New Guitar Day. FWIW, I can't fingerpick worth a darn but I rest the heel of my hand on the end of the bridge and I don't get hand cramps. Probably extremely poor technique but that's how I do it. YMMV.