those who have went with a wider nut width-your experience please

[clobflute]

I feel more comfortable on 1 3/16 than a 1/8 or smaller.

I noticed that I play both as badly as one another, so it probably makes no difference

[fatt-dad]

I've always had a wide-nut paddle head Gibson A3. I've had many early Kentucky, Ibanez, Alvarez, etc. mandolins and played them just fine. I loved my Flatiron A5-1 and played it for 10 years. When I got my Cohen at 1-3/16ths I just really loved the extra width. I really love the tone too! I doubt I'd buy a regular nut width mandolin again.

I did just buy a snakehead A, which is narrower than my A3, so we'll see how that goes. Just waiting on the refret.

f-d

[Jeff Hildreth]

I cannot play on a nut width less than 1 3/16ths... I prefer that or slightly wider.

Anything else to me is unplayable and the reason I sold both my original Givens and others.

As much as I have enjoyed the tone of some other instruments to include the Eastmans.. their ridiculously narrow nuts (and lack of full fretting) causes me to look elsewhere.

I had two classical mandolins made for me by Seiffert (RIP) both with 30 mm nut widths.. fantastic playability.

[Bernie Daniel]

Similar experience to Jeff. I traded my 2002 Fern (1 1/16" nut) for a 2001 Sam Bush (1 3/16" nut) to get more room on the fret board -- I prefer that wider nut and most of my mandolins are wider than 1 1/8" at the nut -- works best for me.

[mandobassman]

Both of my Breedloves have a 1 3/16" nut and I love it.

I played a Breedlove for several years and it was also one of the most comfortable mandolins I have ever played. But the Breedlove was not only wider at the nut, but was also at least, if not more than, 1/8" wider at the bridge, between the outer G and E strings. That's where I found the biggest difference.
However, both my previous Breedlove and my J Bovier A5 have a 1-3/16" nut and both are super comfortable to play.

[pelone]

I "have went" to a wider neck on my builds and folks seem to really enjoy the width--especially those who are taking up the mando after first playing guitar.

[Lawrence J]

Hello. I just read your post and had a question. I am getting ready to buy a breedlove premier ff or fo and have medium size hands. Any negatives with the nut width. I used to play guitar and find some of the mandolin necks , like the Eastman and Kentucky too narrow . Your thoughts. Thank you in advance.
Larry

[Nick Gellie]

My experience is that 13/16" works well with my Black A2Z mandolin with its neck joined at the 12th fret. The longer fretboard that my Arches FT-O works well with at 11/8" when joined at the 15th fret.

[The Mandolin Store]

I have found that my hands cramp less with the wider nut mandolins so I much prefer them to a narrower nut.

[darylcrisp]

a 3 month update since I was the OP of the thread.
I had Dennis at TheMandolinStore to keep me posted on any nice used Webers he received in on trade with a wider nut width. Shortly after he had two such mandolins come thru his shop. I acquired one, #7 of 10 of the original(I think) Black Ice models and it had the 1 3/16" nut width.

The mandolin has been wonderful, just better day by day. The slight increase in nut width helped me tremendously and makes playing more fun and less tension in my left hand.

An excellent suggestion from Dennis and I highly appreciate his help/advice.

d

[jmagill]

My Holst F4 has a 1 3/16" nut which I specified to match the nut width of a 1920 Gibson A-model. My Northfield Big Mon F5 has a 1 3/32" nut. The 3/32" difference between the two instruments is certainly something you can feel immediately, but I hardly notice it because the string spacing is identical.

In this regard I tend to agree with Oldsausage; it's the string spacing (between each pair as well as between the strings of each pair) that matters more than nut width. I'm pretty particular about it, so I made my own nuts for both my mandolins to get them exactly the way I wanted them. It's not that hard, and tremendously satisfying when you get your setup just... perfect.

If you're inclined to try it, I'd suggest Robert Meldrum's excellent free guide, How To Set Up A Mandolin. He shows you how to make cheap nut slot files using a feeler gauge and some needle files. Add a flat file and one of those four-sided emery boards you can get for a few bucks at any drugstore, and you have most of the tools you'll need (a vise is handy, too) for under $25.

Contact Rob at rob.meldrum@gmail.com and ask for the downloadable .pdf file.

[pheffernan]

Hello. I just read your post and had a question. I am getting ready to buy a breedlove premier ff or fo and have medium size hands. Any negatives with the nut width.

I'm just speculating here, but I'd imagine that a wider nut and greater string spacing might make the stretch of a four finger chop chord a bit more challenging on medium sized hands.

[yankees1]

Probably what you get use to. I prefer the 1 1/8 " nut because this is what I have always played on. I tried the wider nut but didn't care for it.

[bart mcneil]

When I purchased my first mandolin I was concerned with the narrowness of the neck,. and it does seem quite narrow to the beginner. The salesperson who was much larger than me said "You don't need a wide neck." He was correct. It took me a few days to get used to the narrow neck but after that I never thought about it again. Certainly it feels crimped compared to a guitar, but the guitar is played quite differently than a mandolin. I think if one is unusually large it might be a tad more convenient but large people have been playing mandolin with standard necks for many many years with no problem.

[DeamhanFola]

My custom Weber has a 1 1/4" nut. I like it a lot for the genre I play (Irish traditional). The wider spacing allows me to more easily let strings ring out for a drone effect.

That said, now that I play fiddle more than mandolin I would be comfortable with a smaller nut, though I reckon 1 3/16" would still be pretty optimal.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I have 1", 1 1/16", 1 1/8", 1 3/16"
1 1/4" 10-string, 1 1/4" Mandola, 1 1/2" OM, 1 3/4" MC, 2" Cittern...
It only takes a minute's playing to adjust...

[JGWoods]

I play cleaner on 1 3/16" nut width mandolins and 1 23/32 nut guitars. I find 1 1/4" mandolin nut width to be too wide- plays clean but I lose speed with my clumsy fingers. Same on 1 3/4 guitars.

[flagstaffcharlie]

Being mostly a guitarist, I thought I'd prefer a wider nut. But the mandolin is just a different instrument altogether. I didn't like the wider neck on he instrument had, and eventually I sold it.

[tkdboyd]

I have multiple mandolins with different nut widths, flat and radiused-short and long scale, biggest difference to me is the type of music I am trying to play. There is a couple of pieces I play with pick, middle finger, and ring (hybrid picking) . Lot more difficult to do that on narrow nut, short scale mandolin. I use different chord shapes and can get different chord tone/colors with a wide nut than what I can do on a standard narrow nut.

Let MAS take over and plan to get one of everything!

[acousticphd]

anyone who has went from 1 1/8" to 1 3/16" or wider, did it work well for you, what did you like or dislike about the wider width.

did any of you go back to the less wide width?

thanks
d

I have one mandolin (A5) I play regularly that is 1-1/8", and that is comfortable. All the other mandolins (vintage Gibson oval, older Kalamazoos, Sawchyn mandola, Mann A7) are 1-3/16" or a little wider. 1-1/8" would be the minimum width I could comfortably play, but 1-3/16" is ideal for me and I prefer everything about it. I have avoided or ruled out certain mandolins for years (eg, Eastman or a newer Gibson) because the FB feels too tight. However, other factors definitely play in, such as string spacing and neck profile.