Narrow necks? Width preferences?

Doc_J

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Do you have a neck width preference?

Anyone prefer wide or narrow necks, as opposed to the more standard 1-3/8" to 1.4" necks?

Just, got surprised by a wonderful new baritone uke. Great tone, superbly build, great set up, perfect finish, fair price. I asked about the scale before I bought it, and it was 20"...just what I wanted. But, I didn't ask about the nut width (Doh!), and surprise: it was 1.25".

I've never had any soprano, concert, tenor, or baritone uke neck width less than 1.38" at the nut. While it's only a 0.13" narrower, it changes the feel. I tried to get used to it, for a couple days. Definitely a bit more cramped when fretting. Fortunately, the seller has a great return policy. And sadly this outstanding uke is going back.

I'm guessing small differences in neck dimensions can be significant to most players.

New rule to live by, "always ask the nut width".
 
I prefer a 1 1/2" nut...…..though I'm ok with 1 3/8". The larger neck width is conducive for fingerpicking and blues notes. 1 1/4" is news to me too Hodge...…..though I wouldn't be surprised on a sub-soprano...……...but a bari?
 
I tend to prefer a narrow nut, but have never found one that narrow! What kind of baritone is that?
 
I prefer a 1 1/2" nut...…..though I'm ok with 1 3/8". The larger neck width is conducive for fingerpicking and blues notes. 1 1/4" is news to me too Hodge...…..though I wouldn't be surprised on a sub-soprano...……...but a bari?

I tend to prefer a narrow nut, but have never found one that narrow! What kind of baritone is that?

Yes, a narrow 1.25” neck on baritone uke was unexpected. It is a custom from Zimnicki, primarily a guitar builder.
Although, I can understand from a guitar maker point of view this might be desirable for a guitar player, used to tighter string spacing. I guess this spacing is similar to a tenor guitar.
 
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Hmm, if my math is correct, this would be 8.5mm string spacing, same as on my Caramelele 5-string, which I'm finding quite comfortable. I'm not sure if it would feel weird if there were only 4 strings but I'm guessing I'd be ok with it. I wouldn't like the "long" scale though. :p
 
I suppose you can number me among the people who don't care. I pick my ukuleles primarily on looks and the width and shape of the neck is just something that makes me shrug; I just accept it as inevitable and play on.
 
Hey Hodge that is very surprising and a neck width I have never heard of either. I am firmly in the 1-3/8" width camp so I always ask before buying. Although my Kamaka 100th anniversary baritone is 1-1/2" but I wanted one of those so I accepted that fact and seem to adjust after a song or two.
 
Dave, I agree with you. The adjustment of going from 1.38” to 1.5” nut widths wasn’t as difficult as going to the narrower nut for me. Although, I’m not sure I currently have any ukes that aren’t around standard 1.38”-1.42” nut widths.
 
All mine are around 1 3/8" with the string spacing slightly varying. To be honest, I even find that to be somewhat uncomfortably wide as far as my left hand fingers are concerned. But I put up with it, realizing that in order to fingerpick comfortably, the strings must be sufficiently widely spaced in the area over the soundhole. Life is full of compromises, and instruments are no exception to that!

bratsche
 
36mm or 1 7/16 is my favorite. Splits the difference between the 35mm and 38mm. 38mm is my second favorite & 35mm is my least favorite, although not really a problem. Neck size & shape is more important to me.
 
I prefer nut widths around 36mm. I do also like 1.5".
As long as it the neck isn't too thin I can play 1 3/8". I just hate it when it's advertised as 1 3/8" and then it's really 34mm.
 
Fortunately, I don't care about neck shape.

That is fortunate... it’s a primary consideration for me. I like ‘em wide from side to side but slim from front to back.
 
That is fortunate... it’s a primary consideration for me. I like ‘em wide from side to side but slim from front to back.

Neck depth and profile are as important or even more important to me then width. I dislike and have sold uukes with a shallow neck and espiecally with a flat spot at the apex of the neck contour. Mya Moe is just like that.........but I have one of their baritones which I love the looks and sound of so I keep it
 
Neck depth and profile are as important or even more important to me then width. I dislike and have sold uukes with a shallow neck and espiecally with a flat spot at the apex of the neck contour. Mya Moe is just like that.........but I have one of their baritones which I love the looks and sound of so I keep it

Many things in the world of ukuleles are a matter of personal preference... but not this.
I am right and you are wrong :D
 
Hey, Hodge -

I have both 1 3/8 and 1 1/2 in ukes. Both are fine. I agree that anything narrower than 1 3/8 on a uke is a no-go. I once tried a tenor guitar, which typically have banjo-width necks and I simply could not deal. Back it went!

With guitars, I am finding I tend to prefer 1 7/8 width necks as 1 3/4 is just a tad too narrow for me.

Despite being a pretty hardcore cyclist and reasonably fit, I was cursed with fat finger pads!!!
 
Neck depth and profile are as important or even more important to me then width. I dislike and have sold uukes with a shallow neck and espiecally with a flat spot at the apex of the neck contour. Mya Moe is just like that.........but I have one of their baritones which I love the looks and sound of so I keep it

Yep. I agree.

The neck depth can make a difference on how a smaller nut width (like 1 3/8") feels for me.
 
For me, wider nut, definitely—or rather, wider string spread, since a wider nut doesn't guarantee a wider string spread; the two have only a weak correlation. On my 1.5" (38mm) nuts, the string spread ranges from 27mm—typical spread on a standard 35mm nut (and less than on some)—up to 31.5mm.

The impact on reach of the typical 2mm spread increase, evaluated objectively, is negligible—you encounter a much larger increase in spread as you move up the neck, but how often does anyone comment on this? Rather, the advantage is that the fingers have a tad more room to arrange themselves in clustered chord shapes, and one can more easily clear adjacent strings when fretting.

A more important but overlooked metric is the string spread at the saddle, which varies much more and dictates how the strings spread as you move up the neck. On my ukes, the saddle spreads vary from 36mm to 48mm, which is up to a 6mm spread difference at the 12th fret (in addition to the minimum 4.5mm spread increase from the nut, if you have the standard 27mm spread). Indeed, a wider nut spread decreases the spread differential as you move up the fretboard, for a more consistent playing experience.

ubu,
This is really interesting. I found this to be completely true during my en-devour to learn to play fiddle.

There is a window of widths for nuts that works for me. 1 3/8" seems to be about right. I have another with a nut width of 1.5", which I am having difficulty making barre chords with.
 
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