String spacing at the nut

[rnickl]

I picked up a Crafter travel guitar a few days ago and I'm finding stings spaced a bit close at the nut. The nut is 1 11/16" width and the low and high E are set in 1/8" from the sides, most of my other guitar are about 1/16".

 

How close to the edge of the fretboard can I get when I cut a new nut? Is 3/64" pushing it, should I just stick with 1/16"? I have clubs for fingers so the more room I can get the happier I'll be.

 

Thanks...

[redhawks2]

I just did that to my Morgan Monroe. The strings cuts were way too close for the 1-11/16" nut. I put mine at 1/16" from each edge. Most of my guitars strings are at 1/16" from the edge of the fingerboard/nut. Cutting new nuts is not one of my favorite jobs as it takes so much time to get it right.

[Freeman Keller]

1/16 is a pretty common spacing - I measure it from the string to the bevel of the fret - not to the edge of the fingerboard. Factors that come into play here are (1) do you bend strings, and if so, which way (in or out), (2) do you wrap your thumb for the low E string, and (3) it can be slightly affected by string gauge and setup.

 

One thing you might try since you are going to remove the nut to replace it is when you knock it loose try shifting it over both ways and play it - see how far you can go before you push strings off the ends of the frets. Come back a little and make your new nut. Some people even use unequal spacing from one side to the other if they tend to always bend the same direction.