Nut Width for OM

[Spyder]

I am in the planning stages to make myself an OM. Scale length will be 20.60", Body width 14-1/4". As for the width of the nut, is there a standard? Can I use the same width as my Weber Yellowstone mandolin, which is 1-1/8"? If so, would make playing it an easy transition. Thanks!

[colorado_al]

1-1/4" to 1-3/8" is normal for OM

[Spyder]

Is there a reason for it to be wider than a mandolin? A friend in our local session has an OM with a width of 1-3/8". Like me, she has small hands, and told me last week that the nut feels wide to her, she wishes it were smaller. Just curious, this will be my first OM build so I am trying to understand as much as I can about why things are done. Thanks!

[colorado_al]

Is there a reason for it to be wider than a mandolin? A friend in our local session has an OM with a width of 1-3/8". Like me, she has small hands, and told me last week that the nut feels wide to her, she wishes it were smaller. Just curious, this will be my first OM build so I am trying to understand as much as I can about why things are done. Thanks!

Needs more room for thicker strings, and you need more room between strings to keep them from interfering with each other.

Edit- more importantly for small hands, you might consider a shorter scale length of 21.5 inches instead of 23. I think that will make a much bigger difference than the width of the neck

[peter.coombe]

Needs more room for thicker strings, and you need more room between strings to keep them from interfering with each other.

Correct. 20.6 inches is a short scale length for an OM and you will need quite a thick G string, and the G string will sound "thumpy" when fretted. I used a 34mm wide nut and 21 inch scale length on my OM, and 21 inch is still a bit short for an OM for best sound. It is a matter of balance between playability and sound, it is always a compromise. I was going to use 22 inch scale length, but changed my mind in favour of better playability, and accept that the G string will have some "thumpiness". You can't use a mandolin nut width for an OM, there is just not enough room for the thick strings. Longer scale lengths need thinner strings, but the strings move more so you still need a wider spacing than a mandolin or else the stings will slap against each other. 34mm nut width is about as narrow as you can go in an OM.

[Spyder]

Thanks for the explanations, that helps a lot. My first thought was to build the best OM I could, but I have changed my thinking somewhat. My goal for this instrument is to make a gig OM, that I can use in loud rooms. It needs to be something playable, with a built-in pickup. A couple of places I recently played were so loud that the wonderful tones I get from my Weber were lost. At one place I drove the sound man crazy trying to mic the Weber without interference when I changed picks for different songs. So any thoughts along these lines are much appreciated.

BTW, the 20.6" Scale comes from a guitar fret template I used on a guitar I built. it is a 24.50", and if I put the nut at the third fret it seems to be very comfortable for me to make most of the mandolin chord shapes.

[colorado_al]

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but check out the ToneDexter DI/Preamp.
Best natural sounding setup I've ever had for my acoustic instruments that have pickups.

[fox]

You could probably use the 20” scale and and a narrow nut if you use CGDA strings.

[Spyder]

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but check out the ToneDexter DI/Preamp.
Best natural sounding setup I've ever had for my acoustic instruments that have pickups.

Thanks, that's good info.

[Spyder]

Correct. 20.6 inches is a short scale length for an OM and you will need quite a thick G string, and the G string will sound "thumpy" when fretted. I used a 34mm wide nut and 21 inch scale length on my OM, and 21 inch is still a bit short for an OM for best sound. It is a matter of balance between playability and sound, it is always a compromise. I was going to use 22 inch scale length, but changed my mind in favour of better playability, and accept that the G string will have some "thumpiness". You can't use a mandolin nut width for an OM, there is just not enough room for the thick strings. Longer scale lengths need thinner strings, but the strings move more so you still need a wider spacing than a mandolin or else the stings will slap against each other. 34mm nut width is about as narrow as you can go in an OM.

Thanks, this is good info. Looking at the fret template that I have, it is two sided, one for 24.500" and the other for 24.900". Using this template gives me these options:

20.60
20.94
21.83
22.18

Which do you think is best? I plan to use this one for both lead and chord playing, with small hands. Will the 20.94 give enough advantage over the 20.6? I am hoping to use light gauge strings, and rely on the pickup for volume at loud gigs, if that is doable.

[Wrnchbndr]

I've been playing around with converting existing guitars into eight string mandolin instruments for a few years - just letting you and everyone know my perspective. I'm not at all a mandolin player. I just sort of stumbled into this and am having fun with the result. As a result of this fun, I've built a couple electric mandolin style instruments from scratch also. As a player and a builder, there are no rules. There's no way to tell what sort of nut width or neck width is going to feel best. You might consider venturing into doing one or two solid body electric instruments with both-on necks to explore what feels right to you. I've done a few conversions using the Mini Stratocaster (22.75 scale) and one using the Epiphone Mini LP (22"). I find these conversions quite easy. If you make a bolt-on neck instrument, its not a total loss if the neck isn't right for you -- you just make another.

[peter.coombe]

Which do you think is best? I plan to use this one for both lead and chord playing, with small hands. Will the 20.94 give enough advantage over the 20.6? I am hoping to use light gauge strings, and rely on the pickup for volume at loud gigs, if that is doable.

Light gauge strings need a longer scale length. So, longer scale length -> lighter gauge strings, shorter scale length -> heavier gauge strings. The longer scale lengths are harder to play, but do tend to sound richer and the G string will sound better. It is always a compromise, and to a large extent suck it and see what suits you best. There is no "best".