Which Electric Guitar ??

[davey]

Hi Folks

I'm contemplating the purchase of an electric Guitar but play fingerstyle pretty much exclusively.

Can anyone recommend a Guitar with a slightly wider spacing at both ends to suit a fingerstyle player ?? Hand position's also a consideration as I like something to lean on with my right wrist.

I tried a Tele but it was tricky.

My normal Guitars a Gibson L-1 , 1 3/4 at the nut and 2 3/8 string spacing at the bridge. Lovely !

[SoloBill]

Hi,
The only wide fingerboard electric guitar that I have found is a Brian May. It is 45 mm at the nut and 57 mm at the 24th fret. If you play in a 'classical' position then the body is a bit small. The neck and wide fingerboard are exactly why I have one.

An alternative is to assemble a guitar using one of the wider necks/fingerboards available from the likes of Warmoth (or buy with a view to replacing the neck on one of the 'standard' guitars - Stratocaster for example).

A Stratocaster body is comfortable but I'm not sure about resting your wrist.

Or electrify an accoustic maybe?

[slidenpickit]

Hi,

There a nice freshman FJ2 on eBay. High spec for a good price 46mm nut. 170470780057.

[slidenpickit]

Quality Jazz style guitar from Freshman with stunning flame top, back and sides and 3-tone sunburst finish. The neck is Maple with rosewood fingerboard and split block mother of pearl inlays. The hardware is gold plated with two Freshman designed humbucking pick-ups. The guitar is beautifully set up and is fitted with flat wound strings. Very Gibsonesque but without the high price tag.

[Deleted]

Hi davey,

For little more money (don't know your budget) have a look at Eastman guitars.

Several new on ebay at present from dealers (very rarely see them second hand - I know 2 people who have bought from the Eastman suppliers on ebay with no problems at all).

These are Chinese but are superb instruments. Solid hand carved tops (properly hand carved!), solid back & sides,etc.
The archtops are are getting rave reviews. The thinline series are more like Gibson 335 with solid center blocks but still hand carved tops with solid back & sides + 13/4" bone nut - a Gibson of that spec would cost several thousands more!

try ebay
Item number: 150430839690 or
Item number: 200458117315

Eastman website: www.eastmanguitars.com/

I have had a go on 3 archtops & all are great for finger picking.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Clive

[honeyboy]

Depends how electric you want to go..

1. If you want a solid/semi solidbody:

PRS guitars have the following options for wider necks (mainly on the 22 fret guitars).

# Regular = 1 21/32"
# Wide Fat and Wide Thin = 1 11/16"
# Santana = 1 21/32"
# Custom 22/12 = 1 47/64"
# 513 = 1 43/64"
# Hiland = 1 21/32"
# Grissom and Al D = 1 21/32"

The SE Custom Semi-Hollow 22 fret has the wide fat neck

2. If you want acoustic with electric feel:

I like the sound and playability of the Taylor T5, with a comfortable 1 11/16" nut width. The bridge style might be more familiar feeling than a straight electric, and the 3 pickups (A hidden neck humbucker, a visible bridge humbucker, and a body sensor mounted to the inside surface of the top) give an absolutely brilliant range of sounds.

For absolute neck width there are two further options:

1. Get a Tele/Strat variant and bolt on a Warmoth super wide fat neck - they go up to 1 7/8" (and beyond). (Warning - you need larger than average hands to cope with 1 7/8" and the fat neck carve option)

2. Get an acoustic with a wide neck and put a pickup on it.

[blueshome]

Why not pick up an old Harmony or Hofner archtop and stick a pick-up on it? That'll do the job and cheaply.

[slidenpickit]

The Godin 5th Avenue archtop is also worth considering.

[slidenpickit]

What price range are you interested in?

[davey]

Hi Folks

Thanks for the replies. I'm interested in a solid body electric.

My right shoulder gets sore from time to time due to an old injury, and a slim Guitar would be more comfortable when it's bad.

My fingers have also been abused over a lifetime of renovating houses , so finger-strength varies a bit as well. I thought I'd get used to an electric now in case I have to give up the Acoustics !

I tend to stick to big name Guitars as I swap and change a bit and names sell much more easily. So, up to £1,000 ??

Cheers

[bod]

Hi Davey,

More a report than a recommendation - I can't recommend something I've never handled, seen or heard personally... but for reasons similar to your own (mainly a fingerpicker, dodgey shoulder and big hands to boot) I've looked into this from time to time and so am finding this thread very interesting. Anyhoo, here's the report: one solid body electric guitar type that seems to fit the spec in terms of nut neck width is the Rickerbacker 650 series (Colorado, Sierra, Dakota). .www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=650C Last I knew the were going for around a thousand (new).

However, as I've tried to make clear I know nothing about them beyond this, if I ever come across one I'll check em out, but if I ever really do go down this route myself I suspect I'll go for a custom neck on a tele (as suggested above by Honeyboy)

Cheers

[SoloBill]

Hi Davey,
Probably not what you had in mind but the post by Chris reminded me of the Godin ACS-SA chambered body nylon strung electric guitar (and synth controller) with a nut width of 1+7/8 inches.

[davey]

Has anyone had their hands on a Gibson Les Paul Studio ? There's a nice faded mahogany one on Ebay at present.

Maybe that stop-tail bridge would give me somewhere to rest my wrist. I find I can control my damping better if I anchor it somewhere.

[andys]

Dont be folled by nut width, what you need to check is string spacing.

Many manufacturers dont exploit the width of their necks, Fender being a classic example. I recently bought a nice Mex tele, which had a nut width of 42mm, yet the strings were spaced at 35mm which was a bit cramped.

One new nut later, with a string spacing of 37.5, and this Tele has loads of room to move now.

Most guitars can be made to have a wider string spacing with a new nut.

I put new nuts on all my guitars and widen the spacing.

[gouranga]

Nice one Andy.
Can vouch for that.
Get A Tele, change the nut, Keep the old nut, then change it over again when you decide to flog it on.
I mean guys, Mmmm. What beats a Tele. Ehh!
Take care happy hunting, it's part of the fun and excitement.
But you can't go wrong with a Tele and you can change the necks so easily and get cheap one's all over the place.

Regards

Gouranga