BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 I had a new nut made with slightly wider spacing made for the 1 11/16" nut 1993 Lowden LSE1. I had read on various threads and forums how increasing 'the space between the space' can help fingerpickers get a cleaner sound. I played the tune in question (Cocaine ala Davis) to my luthier and he made a rough one with wider space for me to try for a few weeks... This can ONLY be done if you neck is spacious, this one is - or the strings will slide off the fretboard. I could, so I did! It works to a degree, I think. Main offender to compare would be the C chord ala Gary Davis with fingerpicking and the pinky is added to various notes on the second/third string and the main C chord with the pinky on the 3rd fret/1st string....hard to do clean on an 1 11/16' nut, easier on 1 3/4" nut....better on 1 7/8"....but I think Davis only had the old 1 11/16" nut SJ200... Here it is with the old one to compare: BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Perfect. Just the right amount of extra fingertip clearance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 Perfect. Just the right amount of extra fingertip clearance. I can go with it, just played some C fingerpicking stuff for an hour, but it needs a whisker more.....though it is better than it was. (My 1993 Lowden LSE1 is a 'Limited Stage Edition' guitar with 1 11/16' nut, pickup and thinner body to help the soundman get a 'tighter' live sound. I knew the space wasn't ideal when I bought it, but the sound of this thing...had to be mine! Mahogany with sitka and perfect for country blues - very unusual for a Lowden.) BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwalker201 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Perfect. Just the right amount of extra fingertip clearance. It is if you don't have gorilla size hands and fingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 It is if you don't have gorilla size hands and fingers Usually the gorrilla fingers are drummers......yuk, yuk, fell for that! Oh, I forgot to say I traced the various nut spacings of some wider nut guitars on to a sheet of paper with pencil..... by overlaying this on the existing nut, I could get an idea of what might work. The Martin 1 3/4" nut would obviously not even fit, but the Gibson J45 1.72 would! And I see now that my Gibson nut must have been a bit uneven....surprise, surprise, never noticed the space between the deep E and A is wider than other strings! And now I have that on my Lowden! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwalker201 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 BK your pretty good playing now. You'll be shredding with that much wider spacing lol. Pretty keep a spray bottle of water near at all times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 BK your pretty good playing now. You'll be shredding with that much wider spacing lol. Pretty keep a spray bottle of water near at all times. Thanks KW, I need a spray bottle of water - my mother use to swear a quick squirt at the dog would stop it digging holes and other misdemeanors and let me tell you, my beast has dug a hole next to my window where I am computerising right now, I mean it is not a hole, it is a foxhole and it to hide the toys we bought here to stop digging holes!: Now back to nuts... In the interests of science, I played exactly the same tunes on a wider 1 3/4" nut guitar (Lowden S35) and it was way easier to play clean. I then played the 'nut width donor' guitar - my 2010 J45 Standard and it is NOT the same as the new nut guitar - a whisker wider than the new nut that was supposed to be a copy of this, and I am not kidding, easy to play the 'C' stuff I am talking about. So I suppose my measurements went narrower a bit in the process of making the nut. The necks are ALL very different - the Lowden LSE1 is large C, wide and flat; the Lowden S35 is large C but wide and more radiused; the J45 neck is about half the size, radiused with rounded edges (cheeks?) And I have confused my head and fingers now.... :mellow: As you can see above, I kept the original nut to put back on if I want..... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwalker201 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Have you renamed him to cujo lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwalker201 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 Have you renamed him to cujo lol The real estate salesman would agree! (I saw him stagger a bit as he hurried off after 'the bark' at the front door! ) And the guy next door didn't want to chat as we went hurtling to the park.... Why is everyone avoiding me? <_< The angel dog sleeps now. Phew, that's when the guitar gets played lately. Now the dog's home called her Bonnie and we were umming and arrhing about it, but I was talking to a friend on the phone and he informed me that is named after one of the Pointer Sisters, hence .....Bonnie Pointer.... (dog is a Pointer x). It just has to stay now.. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 I had a luthier make a new nut with wider spacing for my 1972 SJ about 15 years ago. I traced the wider spacing from a different guitar's wider spacing that I liked. The luthier did just what you did. Worked great and the slightly wider spacing works great on it. It's still on my SJ. Enjoy! QM aka Jazzman Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 I had a luthier make a new nut with wider spacing for my 1972 SJ about 15 years ago. I traced the wider spacing from a different guitar's wider spacing that I liked. The luthier did just what you did. Worked great and the slightly wider spacing works great on it. It's still on my SJ. Enjoy! QM aka Jazzman Jeff Cool! Do you have a close up photo like mine - to show the strings compared to the edge of the neck/fretboard? Just wondering how close you can get to the edge without the strings slipping off when playing. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Had the same done to my baby. I usually beg my luthier to widen the nut spacing on all my guitars that come in squeaky clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 My L0 sixth string walks the edge at maybe a sixteenth of an inch and it's OK, though bending can only be done with a pull. There's a little more room on the first string, but I have to push to bend. They'll both slip off if I reverse the direction, but it's habit for me to go that way so I never drag a string off the edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Sounds like you al bought the wrong guitars 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 My L0 sixth string walks the edge at maybe a sixteenth of an inch and it's OK, though bending can only be done with a pull. That is close, but your fret bevels are fairly straight, where my Lowden has fairly severe angled bevels. The 1 and 2 string spacing lookks closer than the others, could be the angle of the photo? Mine is now the same as that! New dog was having a wonderful kicking/running dream, so I played the Lowden for a fair while but played songs instead of watching spacings or whatever and it is really good now! I like! I may have to file and customise the shape of the nut a bit..... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 Sounds like you al bought the wrong guitars Yes and no. It sounds superb and worth the klutzing around. Plus it is a fairly rare Stage Edition , supposed to be designed to record easier with more focussed bass and.....it was there and I played it and..........history. It is great for blues. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 I'm glad you brought this up, BK. Looking at my nuts (yukyuk), I think there's room to move on the old Hoboken Guild F20. At an inch and 5/8 wide it's at my low tolerance point for comfort. The distance between 1 and 6 is inch and 3/8. I think I can spread it out a tad. Looks like another nut job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 I did this with both my 1950s Epiphone FT-79 and Triumph Regent. I only play with my fingers and it did help a bit. One of the advantages of archtops though is it is also easy enough to swap out the bridge and eke out a tad wider string spacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 BK777, can your saddles handle the wider nuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 BK777, can your saddles handle the wider nuts? Well, in all honesty the saddles are designed to keep the cowboys from falling asleep on the job, so there can be discomfort, but better that than having to find a lost herd! Ahh sorry, you meant guitar saddle...so far, so good. Now, on paper, the bridge spacing of the Lowden S35 and the Lowden LSE1 are both 55 mm (standard spacing), necks identical and nut widths the only difference....but reality is that both guitars are hand made from the ground up, so....I should measure the bridge spacing! Looking at my J45 nut, there could be a slight tweak outwards on that as well, if needed. Though mine passes my 'Cocaine' song test mentioned above nicely. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Such slight adjustment wouldn't have any effect down at the saddle end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Well, in all honesty the saddles are designed to keep the cowboys from falling asleep on the job, so there can be discomfort, but better that than having to find a lost herd! Ahh sorry, you meant guitar saddle...so far, so good. Now, on paper, the bridge spacing of the Lowden S35 and the Lowden LSE1 are both 55 mm (standard spacing), necks identical and nut widths the only difference....but reality is that both guitars are hand made from the ground up, so....I should measure the bridge spacing! Looking at my J45 nut, there could be a slight tweak outwards on that as well, if needed. Though mine passes my 'Cocaine' song test mentioned above nicely. BluesKing777. From a cowboy's perspective, the relationship between nuts and saddles can be a sore subject😬 I like a 17, but an 18 works pretty well, too😀 Guitars are lucky to be able to have their nuts replaced if they can be made more comfortable😌 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickthemiller Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 I bought an Eastman E20ss with a 1 11/16" nut that had quite narrow string spacing. I replaced the nut with a 44mm nut and filed a small amount off each end to fit the width of the nut. This gave me an extra 2mm or so in overall string spacing but the difference when playing feels enormous. It makes the guitar so much better to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 What Reacher of Jack Reacher book fame calls the Lizard Brain is confused by changing of something from x to y when it is used to x..... old nut space to new nut space on the same guitar is confusing the brain guitar muscle memory a little bit. Oh, and the Elixir PBs have gone dead while sitting at the luthier's for nut works! So today, I am leaving that guitar in the case and playing others! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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