Help with neck width.

[jstottlemyre]

I have read through the forums a little and realize that there are a lot of people that get on and ask for suggestions on what is the best guitar for the best price. Personally, after playing just about every brand guitar in my price range, and hours of research on the net, I feel that for around $1000 just about any one I purchase would be a good, maybe not great, but a good guitar. It boils down to my preference on sound and feel.

 

The sound I can handle, though my ear isn't as finally tuned as many of you here. I only started playing a year ago, but I have played enough guitars that I know which ones sound good to me.

 

The feel is where I would like a little advice. I keep hearing people talk about the neck width, and how it can make a guitar feel comfortable, more playable, etc.. But I really don't know what I am supposed to be feeling for when I am trying out a guitar. Like I said I have played many different brands in my search for "the one", but couldn't tell you which one "felt" better. Is there a certian cord or rift that would expose the difference so I could make a more informed decision? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

BTW, the guitars that I am looking at are the Guild GAD-40CE, Breedlove AD25/SR Plus, Takamine EAN10. I was leaning toward the Breedlove until I played the Guild just this afternoon, and now I may be leaning toward the Guild. I could possibly step up to a Taylor or Martin, but find it hard to justify $1500+ when all I do is just play around the house and the other guitars I have listed all sound great to me. Comments?

 

Thanks

[DonK]

Feel is an elusive thing, and people are apt to give pat answers such as, "make sure you get a 1.75" nut width if you're going to fingerpick" and so on, even though it's not that simple.

The playability of a guitar for a particular person is going to depend on a number of factors. Several have to do with the person, several with the guitar. Let's start with the person. But first, let me state: there are exceptions to EVERY general rule I'm about to mention. Ultimately, only you can decide what feels best to you.

What style of music are you going to play? If you plan to do a lot of fingerpicking, it usually means you'd want to look for more space between the strings, especially if you have stubby fingers. That suggests a nut width of 1.75" (or wider; Seagull uses 1.8", and some makers offer 1 13/16" or even 1 7/8") rather than the 1 11/16th width that's more common. Will you be playing complex jazz chords that require long finger stretches? If so, you might want to think about something with narrower string spacing, a neck on the thinner side, and maybe even a shorter scale-length, all to make it easier to span more frets in forming a single complex chord. This could be especially true if you have smaller hands/shorter fingers. Are you going to be playing a lot of barre chords? For some people, these are easier on a thicker neck, so you don't have to squeeze the neck between your thumb and fingers as hard as if the neck is really thin. A lot of variables already, and we haven't even talked about fretboard radius, i.e., flat (16" to 20") or more curved (12"), or fret size/height.

Then there's the guitar. I feel you can't really look at just any one of the factors I mentioned above. A comfortable neck depends on all of them, along with the players style and preference. For example, a thin but wider neck, say 1.75" or even 1.8" at the nut might feel easier to play than a narrower neck (1 11/16th") with a really thick profile.

My advice is to think about the type of music you're going to play. Then, do a little experimentation with the different guitars. Try the same tests on them side by side if you can. Try making some chords that require you to stretch and see which guitars feel easiest. Play a song using just barre chords - keep it going for several minutes - and see if you feel fatigue more on one guitar or another. Try a fingerpicking exercise on each guitar and see which one is most comfortable. Play some lead up and down the fretboard, and so on. Before you start, make sure the guitars you're comparing are tuned to concert pitch. A common problem is music stores is that one guitar will be tuned down a half-step while another will be a half-step sharp, making the latter feel harder to play when it might not be. Anyway, that's how I'd approach it.

Good luck.

[Freeman Keller]

The only thing I can add to what Don says is that it is pretty easy to adjust to the neck of any guitar unless it just simply hurts your hand. I have 1-11/16, 1-3/4, 1-7/8 and 2 inch fingerboards, long and short scale, 12 and 14 fret, and I can play equally poorly on each. I prefer the 1-3/4 but I sure wouldn't let that be the deciding factor on what to buy.

 

Almost more important to me is the shape of the neck - I wrap my thumb around the top (even on the classical) and I find some of the vintage neck Martins uncomfortable when I do this. Ironically my reso has one of the thinnest neck profile, but is 1-7/8 wide and pretty flat - features I like for slide.

 

When you play things in a store try going back and forth between different makers, then when you get close to choosing, try playing it for a long period of time to see if it gets uncomfortable. Good luck

[knockwood]

What Don and FK said.

Also, within your preferred price range of $1,000 or less, there is a truly terrific array of guitars available, including models from Martin and Taylor: specifically, Martin's 1 series (recently discontinued), 15 and 16 series, and the custom 15's with spruce tops offered by MF: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Acoustic?sku=515888
And there are Taylors up to/through the 300 series... (For Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, figure the actual retail price at approx. 40% under list)... And you should definitely look into the Larrivee 03 series, which offers arguably the best bang-for-buck in the under-$1k ballpark.

You might also want to consider forgetting about electronics initially and concentrating your investment more in the quality of the guitar itself. Selecting aftermarket electronics will also give you a wider variety to choose from.

[jstottlemyre]

Thanks for the advice all,

Here are a few follup anwsers to you reply. I don't have a problem with stubby fingers. I plan to do some strumming and fingerpicking, and possibly some blues type stuff, which if I am not mistaken utilizes a little of both of those styles of play.

Thanks again

[JasmineTea]

Width, size, string gauge, set-up, scale length. These all factor into "feel".

Play a few guitars and see what feels good in your hand.

Look into models that have the body size/sound you prefer, then see which of those have the neck dimensions you prefer.

When you find one you like, you can make adjustmets to personal preferances once you get it home. Have it set up by a reputable tech.