How much does nut width matter?

[jco5055]

My question is more specifically about 42 vs 43mm nut widths (and likewise the r2 vs r3 or 4 floyd nuts). I think purely from a technicality/being ultra picky I like 43 more (and maybe even 45mm) just from a general comfort thing, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker.

However, once when just basically hitting shuffle on spotify and/or picking out random songs/bits of songs in order to work on ear training by figuring it out without tabs/sheet music etc - I learned the intro to Roundabout by Yes. I think at some point I then was at Guitar Center or maybe Chicago Music Exchange (I live in Chicago) and was playing that on guitars I was trying out, as I'm sure you all do, and realized with r2 nuts/42mm it's extremely hard for me to pull off the little hammer on/pull off part right before the other instruments come in. I can do it, but I'd have to practice positioning my hand EXACTLY to not have my ring finger mute the high E string as my pinkie hammers/pulls off to my middle finger. It requires extreme arching to do so.

I've noticed that a lot of the current IT brands, or at least those that make either ergonomics or general forward thinking or have the reputation as some of the absolute best built stuff part of their MO (examples off the top of my head include Strandberg, Aristides, Vigier, ESP Japan, Carillion, Caparison) do 42mm as their default if not only option, and even Anderson's choice of 1 11/16th or 1 5/8" has the R2 nut for both.

Even when looking at similar guitars that are 43mm by default (Ibanez, Jackson) it just seems like neck profile/ thickness, scale length, and even radius are much more often discussed, while nut width almost never is to the point it seems like maybe for most people they pretty much mix/match between 42 and 43 pretty much interchangeably.

So what say you guys? How important is nut width to you? Do you think I should just accept the added potential practice for maybe certain more chordal stuff as a necessary evil instead of a dealbreaker (Caparison, Vigier, ESP Japan are 3 examples of guitars I LOVE)? Do any of you guys have other methods you use for testing guitars like idk as long as you can do an open A chord with 3 fingers you're fine, or vice versa you need to be able to use your thumb easily to do Hendrix or EVH chordal stuff or the nut is too wide?

Thanks!

 

[Blix]

I've found that the neck profile itself can really influence how wide a neck feels. I have three Ibanez guitars, all 43mm wide at the nut. One is a 1988 540P with the super thin Wizard that doesn't have much shoulders, the other has a bit thicker D profile with more pronounced shoulders and it feels wider. The third has quite a Fender-ish medium C type of profile which also makes it feel narrower than the second.

 

[jco5055]

I've found that the neck profile itself can really influence how wide a neck feels. I have three Ibanez guitars, all 43mm wide at the nut. One is a 1988 540P with the super thin Wizard that doesn't have much shoulders, the other has a bit thicker D profile with more pronounced shoulders and it feels wider. The third has quite a Fender-ish medium C type of profile which also makes it feel narrower than the second.

definitely makes sense, and I think that's why I practice the Roundabout part since that kinda objectively shows how wide the string spacing is as opposed to feel

 

[bucephalus]

My left nut is 2mm wider than my right nut. Doesn't matter to me.

 

[Jarick]

So long as they are in the average range, I'm not to picky about nut width (42-43mm), radius (9-12"), or scale length (24.5-25.5"). I do prefer bigger frets and a little chunkier neck though.

 

[Shask]

I have small hands, so I find 42mm to be much more comfortable for me. I find I have to work extra stretching on 43mm, so it is just harder to play. The 42mm guitars just put everything in a place where I can play much easier. Some guitars, like Jackson, I cant even play. 43mm nuts with wide thin necks. I feel like I need finger extensions to reach the top string.

I even have a few guitars with a 41.3mm nut that I enjoy a lot.

 

[jco5055]

I have small hands, so I find 42mm to be much more comfortable for me. I find I have to work extra stretching on 43mm, so it is just harder to play. The 42mm guitars just put everything in a place where I can play much easier. Some guitars, like Jackson, I cant even play. 43mm nuts with wide thin necks. I feel like I need finger extensions to reach the top string.

I even have a few guitars with a 41.3mm nut that I enjoy a lot.

Makes sense, I have large hands so I could see how what I prefer is different than the average person so stock guitars might be different than my preferences, but I feel like a lot of guitarist have larger hands than average.

Then again at the Hollywood guitar center that had a ton of famous hands in cement Steve vai was the only one with bigger sooooo lol (though I like thick necks and Steve is the poster boy for thin)

 

[TSJMajesty]

I've never thought about nut width. If I can't get notes to ring clean, that's my cue I need more practice. And there's a few DT songs that I had trouble with at first, but practicing them was all it took to clean it up.

Honestly, I can't see 1mm out of 43mm making a perceptible difference. When taking that distance divided into the 5 spaces between the strings, that like a teeny-tiny amount. But hey, if someone thinks they can tell, who am I to argue.

 

[volkan]

I've never thought about nut width. If I can't get notes to ring clean, that's my cue I need more practice. And there's a few DT songs that I had trouble with at first, but practicing them was all it took to clean it up.

Honestly, I can't see 1mm out of 43mm making a perceptible difference. When taking that distance divided into the 5 spaces between the strings, that like a teeny-tiny amount. But hey, if someone thinks they can tell, who am I to argue.

For guitar neck 1 mm makes huge difference for me the best neck i have ever played evh wolfgang series 41 mm width and i want to mention that the most comfortable neck for the ibanez i have tried was satriani signature series js1200 and also i want to say that ibanez john petrucci signature jpm series also has 42 mm nut width. Satriani still uses 42 mm nut width on latest ibanez signature series.
For my hands i will always prefer 42 mm nut instead 43mm , i have got guitars with different nut widths.

 

[Blix]

I have small hands, so I find 42mm to be much more comfortable for me. I find I have to work extra stretching on 43mm, so it is just harder to play. The 42mm guitars just put everything in a place where I can play much easier. Some guitars, like Jackson, I cant even play. 43mm nuts with wide thin necks. I feel like I need finger extensions to reach the top string.

I even have a few guitars with a 41.3mm nut that I enjoy a lot.

My old Kramer Pacer has a 40.5mm nut width. The Ibanez Andy Timmons (the non AZ one) also is 40.5mm as Andys fave guitar prior to it was a Pacer :)

 

[Sascha Franck]

As wide as possible please. Yes, I've got fat fingers and still like playing chords.

 

[newholland]

matters to me a lot more on acoustic where i prefer 1 3/4". i have a 1 7/8" nut on a dreadnaught and i love the fretboard space, just hate dreadnaughts. i do know i was glad to get rid of 1 5/8" on my tele when i swapped the neck. narrow spacing isnt my favorite.