Nut Width Preference and why

**Pittsburgh Bill** · Mar-25-2022, 2:29pm

Curious to hear people's thoughts on nut width. Size of your fingers, what you are used to, or other reasons that influence your preference?
My last mandolin purchase has a 1 1/16" nut. I didn't like it at first but now may prefer it. I find it shines for picking melodies, tremolo, double stops and two finger chords and chop chords (which I typically don't play).
When I desire a clear clean sound across the strings for three or four finger chords my preference is for a 1 1/8" nut.
I have no thoughts about anything wider than a 1 1/8" nut as having never played one, I lack a frame of reference.
Just a question that occasionally crosses my mind, having never seen it addressed in this way in the forum, and wonder if my preference is similar to others.

Bill

**webber** · Mar-25-2022, 2:53pm

I thought I wanted a wide nut for comfort, as I played bass and other instruments before I picked up the mandolin. I was initially frustrated at my inability to voice three and four note chords clearly on standard width instruments, although I found most of that discomfort came from my classical guitar training (fingers must be perpendicular to the fretboard!). Once I learned to angle my fingers as people do on mandolin and fiddle, I came to prefer the speed and agility that comes with a narrow neck. As you said, it also makes it easier to tremolo pick double stops, which I've enjoyed incorporating into my sound.

**Jill McAuley** · Mar-26-2022, 6:34am

I prefer a 1 1/8" nut width - the wide nut on the MT-O I had didn't suit me, I always felt I was fighting against it a wee bit - initially I put that down to having recently picked up the mandolin again after a 4-5 year hiatus but when I got the chance to play a mandolin with a 1 1/8" nut again it was so effortless and comfortable that I realised that it was the wide nut that wasn't agreeing with me and I hadn't lost as much technique and playing ability as I thought I had.

**Steve Finlay** · Mar-27-2022, 12:08am

I'm aiming for flexibility. I have an old bowlback mandola with a 1 1/8 nut and an APC mandocello with a 1 3/4 nut, and I'm waiting for delivery of a Sawchyn Beavertail OM, which ought to be somewhere in between.

**ColdBeerGoCubs** · Mar-27-2022, 9:38am

I have a 1/16, a 1/8 and (2) 3/16. The only one I can tell I’m playing is the 1/16th (‘24 AJr). I get hand fatigue quicker with that one, but it’s not terrible. One of the 3/16th is a Collings MTO and for the music I play on that, it’s perfect. The neck is chunky like an old teens Gibson, but I find it comforting. I just like the extra space of the 3/16 and the flexibility to move string pairs as needed. I can set them up as a 1/8, but move the string pairs down, leaving the extra 1/16th at the top. I can have them spaced out more, lots of flexibility.

But really, it comes down to the neck shape. My Hamlett is a 3/16, but has a flat C neck and you’d never know it’s a wide nut. Plays like a dream.

**jmagill** · Mar-27-2022, 11:09am

I notice that when folks discuss how nut width affects their playing, a lot of the time what they really seem to be describing is not nut width but the string spacing at the nut. The nut width is what matters to your hand, but the spacing is what matters to your fingers. My hand is an imprecise measuring tool and it isn’t bothered by nut widths that vary by 1/16” or even 1/8”, but 1/64” difference in spacing matters a lot to my fingers.

In general, I like each string of the A & E pairs a little closer to each other, and I like the space between the A & E pairs a little wider, so this is a custom spacing not using equidistant pairs, and the adjustments we're talking about are very small – 1/64" or smaller.

This means that to get the spacing like I want it, it's just easier for me to make my own nuts. This requires a few luthier’s tools and some patience, but it's not that hard, and when I get it right, it’s really RIGHT and well worth the effort.

**Pittsburgh Bill** · Mar-27-2022, 1:02pm

Originally Posted by jmagill

I notice that when folks discuss how nut width affects their playing, a lot of the time what they really seem to be describing is not nut width but the string spacing at the nut. The nut width is what matters to your hand, but the spacing is what matters to your fingers. My hand is an imprecise measuring tool and it isn’t bothered by nut widths that vary by 1/16” or even 1/8”, but 1/64” difference in spacing matters a lot to my fingers.

In general, I like each string of the A & E pairs a little closer to each other, and I like the space between the A & E pairs a little wider, so this is a custom spacing not using equidistant pairs, and the distances we're talking about are very small.

This means that to get the spacing like I want it, it's just easier for me to make my own nuts. This requires a few luthier’s tools and some patience, but it's not that hard, and when I get it right, it’s really RIGHT and well worth the effort.

Good to know! Never thought of it that way.

**Eric Platt** · Mar-27-2022, 4:04pm

Mine are all in the ballpark of 1 1/8" to 1 3/16" with slightly wider string spacing. Can switch between all my present instruments without a problem and that's all the counts. Have not played many 1 1/16" or below to have an opinion.

Neck shape makes more a difference to my left hand. Am unable to tolerate the sharp V of a mid to late 30's Gibson without pain. Need more shoulder under the fingerboard.

**Billy Packard** · Mar-27-2022, 4:52pm

When I first began playing the mandolin in 1985 I had a teen's Gibson A and I was in fact clueless to all of the Mando-Geek info I now cherish.

In 1992 when Dexter Johnson showed me a Gilchrist A3 I decided to order one. He asked me if I wanted a flat or radius FB. Figgering all my guitars had a radius board I chose that, almost on a whim and certainly without any other feedback.

From there I became a mandolin devotee with ALL kinds of opinions including I only wanted a 1+1/8" radius FB.

BUT! Nowadays with several lovely mandolins with everything from a 1+1/8" radius to 1+1/4" flat I find that once I start playing I forget all that and I adjust to what I'm playing.

I can take any of them out an a gig and I just don't think about it.

Billy

**Randi Gormley** · Mar-27-2022, 4:56pm

My easiest to play instrument has a one-inch nut; the next easiest is whatever comes standard on my Eastman -- but both are relatively narrow nuts (and necks) -- for a long time I played an old strad-o-lin with a relatively wide nut/neck but I found that it aggravated my wrist and hand so badly I developed carpal tunnel problems. They've disappeared since I moved to a narrower neck.