1 5/8 Nut Width problem

[Steve_Karl]

I just finished my latest build (will get pcis and an audio demo up soon)
this morning and I'm having the same problem but it's minor and can be compensated for by playing tecnique.

The differences in this new neck is the nut is giving the low e more space before hitting the edge than the hi E.
The hi e is too close to the edge compared to 3 other warmoths I have.
The bridge is a Wilk. VS-100 with graphtec saddles.
It also has SS 6100 frets on it and I think, for me, that's the main issue with pulling the hi e off the edge.
Of course it would be nice if it had a bit more distance from the edge, and I might get a new nut on it to correct the bad spacing,
but it's not horrible. I can adapt. It is a 1-11/16" nut width.

My other 3 warmoths all have 6230 on them, are 1-3/4" nut width, and the nut spacing is good,
and I can slop over the hi e with the flat of my fingers, pulling off a really fast chromatic 4 note rif (like C,B,Bb,A) or any where else on the neck and never pull the e off the edge.
One has the same Wilk VS-100 and the other 2 have narrow fender bridges.

I think, for me, it's the fret height.
Haven't played frets this tall for a long long time.

 

[Samhain]

I've had the exact same problem before. Warmoth neck and body. Strat. Vintage Fender hardtail bridge.
What I did that fixed the problem perfectly was got the strat narrow bridge, and drilled the string holes out a little bit according to warmoths specs on the bridge page.
Easy fix.

 

[Strat Avenger]

All my guitars have the 1-5/8" nut width and it's not a problem. The original bridge saddle spacing on Fender guitars was simply too wide for the neck width (2-3/16" @ the heel). I like the American Standard spacing (I think it's 2-1/16") as well as the Floyd Rose spacing. There is no reason the saddles need to be spaced so wide as the original. Leo Fender was not a guitar player. He was a businessman.

 

[stratamania]

Another 1 5/8" user here. Its not the nut end its the bridge, if you put that wider vintage spaced one on as discussed earlier it will draw the strings closer to the edge of the board.

Interestingly the Fender Yngwie model is like that with a wide spaced bridge and narrow nut, and is scalloped etc. I have one and you do need to have a precise technique with it.  I know of others who have replaced the original bridge on the Yngwie model with the Callaham with the narrower spacing for this reason.

But if you are going to make something get the "modern" narrower spacing as it is more functional.

 

[aarontunes]

All my guitars have the 1-5/8" nut width and it's not a problem. The original bridge saddle spacing on Fender guitars was simply too wide for the neck width (2-3/16" @ the heel). I like the American Standard spacing (I think it's 2-1/16") as well as the Floyd Rose spacing. There is no reason the saddles need to be spaced so wide as the original. Leo Fender was not a guitar player. He was a businessman.

Also remember that back in the day, 6230 fret wire was the norm. Nowadays people typically use much taller wire....6105, 6150, or even 6100. Put those frets on necks of the same width, then bevel them back at the same angle, and the taller frets will end up with a slightly narrower playing surface, because math. Pair that with Leo's old-school saddle spacing, which was already pushing the edges with even the smallest frets, and you end up with the problem some are describing here.


Making replacement necks is a tough gig. It ain't like making complete guitars. You have to make each neck without having any idea what body, bridge, tuners, pickups, etc the customer intends to use with it, and without having any idea what all the dimensions of those things might be. We've done a ton of R&D for every one of our offerings, but we will never manage to wrangle every combination of options and parts out there.


Assembling a successful guitar is well within the ability of the average DIY'er, but it's not a Monogram snap-tight model kit. You're dealing with an infinite number of possible parts, and two main components made entirely of organic material than can bend, shift, flex, expand, and shrink. Sometimes getting your chosen combination of parts to work together takes some trial and error, and sometimes you have to change a part to get everything to work right.