Hey y'all, i am a tall man with big hands. not huge, but big enuff. see below foto. i have been playing/practicing every day since buying a guitar in late 2022. never missed a day, and at least an hour/day. i still have trouble keeping from muting strings #1 and #2, especially when i make Am and C chords. this has put on hold my learning fingerpicking. you just can't fingerpick a muted string. my guitar is a taylor academy 10 / baby taylor, both with 1 11/16" wide nuts. when i go to the store and try out guitars (any brand) with a 1 3/4" wide nut, i do not mute the neighboring strings like i do with the nararower nut. SO what should i do? get another guitar with a 3/4" wide nut? i am thinking about an alvarez amp66 parlor. 3/4 nut, which guitar for less than $500? thank you dale
Nut width for big hands
Good day.
There is actually more to this than just nut width. Although yes, wider nut width and string placement allows more clearance.
The neck, it's shape, depth can also play a part in finger placement. So keep that in mind when shopping for guitars. Nothing beats a neck you want to hold in your hand.
But before shopping for a new guitar, maybe try looking at elbow placement. Moving the left elbow out just a little will impact the angle of your fingers on the strings, and from working with others, that has sometimes been all it took to clean up buzzy strings. It doesn't take much.
However, if that doesn't work, go find a guitar that you want to play.
This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!
it seems like moving my left elbow smoothly with my fingers would take a lot of time for a newbie. anyway I will try it before buying a new guitar. Thank you for these tips
Taylor makes a 5 string guitar that would have a very wide string placement. You could get something custom but it wouldn't be $500. If you are happy with 1 3/4" nut then obviously that is the way to go as everything else would be pretty standard.
Here is a link to Jacob Collier playing a 5 string guitar. It may be a cool option for you but not sure they are production guitars. I build guitars as a hobby and could pretty much build anysize, as most any luthier could as well.
Cheers Peter.
It may be wise to take your elbow posture into consideration when purchasing a new guitar. When working with others, that's sometimes all you need to do to clear buzzed strings—moving your left elbow out a little will change the angle of your fingers on the strings.
