Wide Neck Guitars For Fat Fingers
Wide neck guitars are made for guitar players with big hands! There is nothing worse than playing an instrument that you physically can’t wrap your fingers around.
If you struggle to make notes and chords sound clear, a wider neck guitar is for you.
Whether acoustic or electric, a wider neck guitar gives a musician more space for finger placement, making it comfier to play. In turn, this will speed up a guitar players progression in no time.
This blog covers the ultimate choice when it comes to choosing a wide neck guitar. So whether you are looking for an electric or an acoustic guitar, we have you covered.
There is a wide neck guitar for every budget too. We have divided the categories into Best Overall, Best Budget, Best Runner Up and the Best Wide Neck Guitar for Under $600.
In addition, we have thrown in a few curveball alternatives that you might not have thought of. After all, variety is the spice of life!
Guitar neck width comparison, do guitar necks come in different widths?
How a guitar neck should be measured sparks debate around the globe. Some say it should be calculated at the nut, some at the 12th fret and some mad people say the 14th fret.
We believe the width is determined at the nut of the guitar. It can be found at the top of the neck towards the head of the guitar and is easy to identify; look for a piece of plastic or bone where the strings pass to the instrument’s head.
What is guitar nut width?
The nut width can also be calculated as the neck width as the nut sits flush with the neck. The width is determined as the measurement of the entire width of the neck.
How wide should a guitar neck be?
For acoustic guitars, a wide neck would be considered a nut width range of between 41mm (1.61″) and 51mm (2″).
Nylon-strung classical guitars have a wider neck and, therefore, a wider nut. A classical guitar nut is typically between 47mm and 51mm.
Electric Guitars, on the other hand, have a nut width between 42mm and 47mm.
The best guitar neck for big hands!
Wide Neck Guitar Acoustic
With its solid Sitka spruce top, gorgeous wild cherry back and sides, and superb Godin QIT electronics, the S6 Original offers a ton of bang for your buck.
Godin QIT EQ
The Godin EPM Quantum IT acoustic guitar system is simple in design and outstanding in performance.
In combination with the transducer, the EQ control range and frequency content have been specifically contoured to provide a vibrant and full sound reproduction resulting in performance seen only in far more complex systems.
Features volume, treble and bass controls as well as a built-in tuner with auto shut-off.
Neck Pitch
In order to enjoy all of the advantages of a well-crafted neck, a great deal of care must be given when joining it to the guitar body. The angle of a guitar’s neck attachment — often called ‘neck pitch’ — plays a crucial role in the instrument’s tone.
Simply put, if the neck is too far back, the guitar will lose its bass and sound tinny. If the neck angle is too far forward, the guitar will lose its high-frequency response and sound muddy.
The Seagull neck attachment system ensures consistent neck pitch. It also produces a superior neck/body energy transfer advantage because the neck is attached to the body with a clean wood-to-wood connection.
There is no glue to impede the vibration between the neck’s heel and the guitar’s body.
Select Pressure Tested Solid Tops
A guitar produces sound as a result of the vibration of its strings. What’s not so obvious is the role that the guitar top plays in amplifying these vibrations.
The vibration of the top is one of the most critical factors in a guitar’s sound. Therefore, solid top guitars offer richer sound and a wider dynamic range. All Seagull guitars are made with select pressure tested solid tops. Each solid top is pressure tested to ensure its highest level of rigidity and stiffness along with maximum harmonic vibration.
This benefits the overall tone, projection, and resonance, which helps the player increase the guitar’s lifespan. In addition, the tight, straight grain in this wood produces a unique combination of strength and flexibility. The top is strong enough in the direction of the grain to withstand the pull of the strings, while at the same time, it’s flexible enough across the grain to vibrate freely.
Adirondack Spruce Bracing
The bracing for the new Seagull guitars is quarter-sawn Adirondack spruce, scalloped and carved to conform exactly to the curvature of the tops.
The strength and lightweight qualities of Adirondack Spruce make for the ideal bracing material. It provides the strength needed to resist string tension without weighing down the top, making it more responsive and vibrating freely.
Ageing
A solid top vibrates much more freely than a laminated top. This results in a richer tone, better dynamic range and a better balance of tone. Not only does a solid top sound better initially, over time, the vibrations from playing the guitar result in the top vibrating more and more freely.
This phenomenon is called ‘ageing’, which means that the more the guitar is played, the better the guitar will sound. It is essential to remember for a guitar to age, it must be played. A guitar left in its case for five years will get older, but it will not ‘age’.
The Seagull Integrated Set Neck
Comfort, sound, and stability are the three key ingredients that we want in a guitar neck. The Integrated Set Neck system allows for more consistent and stable action while significantly reducing warping and twisting of the neck, largely attributed to changes in climate.
Compensated Seagull Saddle
Seagull guitars feature Tusq nuts and saddles by Graphtech. The fully compensated saddle helps Seagull guitars to play beautifully in-tune all over the neck.
Reverse Headstock
Each Seagull neck starts out as a single piece of Mahogany or Silver Leaf Maple. Next, the wood is cut at a 45-degree angle, after which the top piece – the headstock – is glued back on with the grain reversed. This is an essential step in the Seagull process for creating incredibly stable necks.
Tapered Headstock – Tuning Made Easy
The tapered headstock on Seagull guitars provides straight string pull, which minimizes the neck twisting effect. This ensures that it will be easier to get your guitar in tune and keep it that way. This is particularly advantageous for the growing ranks of players who use open tunings.
Seagull S6 Original QIT Specifications
Body Depth: 4.9″
Body Length: 19.8″
Lower Bout: 15.87″
Nut Width: 1.8″
Scale: 25.5″
Upper Bout: 11.38″
Waist: 10.54″
Best Runner Up Wide Neck Electric Guitar
The RG652AHM is the perfect Ibanez wide neck electric guitar for fat fingers. An ash body keeps your highs sparkly and your lows rumbling, while DiMarzio Air Norton and Tone Zone pickups help your soaring solos cut through the mix.
The RG652AHM features an ash body for sparkling highs and beefy lows with a generous heaping of sustain.
The ultra-fast, 5-piece maple/walnut Super Wizard High-Performance neck has a stunning birdseye maple fingerboard for a snappier sound.
Electronics include a pair of DiMarzio Air Norton and The Tone Zone pickups for the perfect mix of power and tone and a 5-way selector switch for maximum tonal versatility.
The masterpiece Edge bridge offers exceptional tuning stability, precise intonation adjustment, and playing comfort.
Ibanez RG652AHM Prestige Specification
Neck: 5 piece Maple/ Walnut Super Wizard High Performance
Body: Ash
Fingerboard: Bound Birdseye Maple
Inlay: Black dot
Frets: Jumbo with Prestige fret edge treatment
Neck Pickup: DiMarzio Air Norton (H)
Bridge Pickup: DiMarzio The Tone Zone (H)
Bridge: Edge
Hardware: Cosmo Black
Wide Neck Acoustic Guitar
The AD30CE offers classic dreadnought tone, onboard electronics, and more at a budget-friendly price.
The Alvarez AD30CE is where you enter the Artist Series. This is a really well made piece delivering class-leading value.
Alvarez’s classic Dreadnought tone is enhanced with advanced scalloped bracing and other premium components such as bone saddles and nuts and a bi-level rosewood bridge.
This acoustic-electric model comes with the SYS250 EQ with built in tuner.
Review:
“This guitar plays unbelievably well for the $300 price tag. Years ago I had a much more expensive, higher end Alvarez that I absolutely loved and I can barely tell a difference between the two. Lets not leave out the electronics, the built in chromatic tuner is great and not your typical cheap built in tuner with 3 little lightbulbs on it. It’s very accurate and has a very bright and visible screen. The solid top provides a very rich tone and the action is great straight out of the box. Any beginner, intermediate, expert, hobby, and professional guitar player will appreciate this guitars bang for its buck. 10/10 would recommend to anybody in need of an acoustic guitar but does not have $800+ to fork over for one right now.” – Justin Taylor in Oberlin, OH
Alvarez AD30CE Specs
– Top: Solid Sitka Spruce Top
– Back & Sides: Mahogany
– Fingerboard: Rosewood
– Machine heads: Die Cast Chrome
– Bridge: Bi-Level Rosewood Bridge
– Strings: D’Addario EXP’s
Wide Neck Electric Guitar
Feel like a rock star with an Epiphone Les Paul Custom! This axe is a show-stopper, fitted with multi-ply binding, a custom headstock, and big block inlays. This is an ideal wide neck electric guitar for fat fingers.
The new Les Paul Custom is part of Epiphone’s Inspired by Gibson Collection and honours the 1950s classic designed by Mr Les Paul in 1954 as the “tuxedo” version of his groundbreaking solid body masterpiece.
Featuring a traditional Custom-style Mahogany body and Ebony fingerboard, gold hardware, critically acclaimed ProBucker humbuckers with CTS electronics, Grover machine heads, and Custom style inlay.
Epiphone Les Paul Custom Specifications
Shape: Les Paul
Material: Mahogany
Binding: Body Top – 5 ply (White/Black) Body Black – 1ply, Fingerboard – 1ply (White) Headstock – 5 ply (White/Black)
Neck: Mahogany
Prole: SlimTaper
Nut width: 1.693″ / 43mm
Fingerboard: Ebony
Scale length: 24.75″ / 628.65mm
Number of frets: 22
Nut: Graph Tech
Inlay: Pearloid Block
Bridge: LockTone ABR
Tailpiece: Stopbar
Knobs: Black Speed Knobs
Tuners: Grover Rotomatic 18:1
Plating: Gold
Neck pickup: ProBucker-2
Bridge pickup: ProBucker-3
Controls: 1 – Neck Volume, 1 – Bridge Volume, 1 – Neck Tone, 1 – Bridge Tone, 1 – Three Way Pickup Selector
Best Budget
Ibanez Wide Neck Acoustic Guitar
Beginners and advanced players alike will appreciate the tone produced from the all-mahogany construction of the AC340, as well as the attractive price.
The Artwood series embodies what might be called the Ibanez “modern approach to tradition.” Cutting edge woodworking technology enables the guitar maker’s luthiers to reproduce the sophisticated bracing techniques of one-of-a-kind instruments of yesteryear.
While tradition is the hallmark of the Artwood series, the company’s decades-long search for the ultimate in acoustic tone has contributed to design alterations that give Artwood a voice all its own.
The grand concert body shape of the AC340, solid Mahogany top and shorter scale delivers a wide dynamic sound when strumming, quick response when fingerpicking, thanks to the lightweight Open Pore Natural finish. In addition, mahogany top/back/sides body construction creates rich, bright and balanced tonal character.
“Thermo Aged” tone wood, made by a unique drying process, is used for bridge and bridge plates for amazing response. The bone nut and saddle were chosen for its ability to transfer string vibration naturally. In addition, Ibanez Chrome die-cast tuners ensure smooth and stable tuning.
Ibanez Artwood AC340 Specification
Neck: Mahogany
Top: Solid Mahogany
Body: Grand Concert
Scale: 634mm/25″
Back and Sides: Mahogany
Fretboard: Ovangkol
Tuners: Chrome Die-Cast tuners w/Ivory knobs
Bridge: Ovangkol
Bridge Plate: Thermo Aged Maple
Bridge Pins: Ibanez Advantage
Nut and Saddle: Bone nut & saddle
PRS Wide Fat Neck Electric
The SE Custom 24 continues the PRS legacy with a flamed maple top on a mahogany body, classic bird fret inlays, and a pair of full-sounding humbuckers.
The Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 24 pays homage to PRS’s Maryland-made Custom 24. Paul Smith took the guitar to his first tradeshow in 1985, the Custom 24, the original PRS guitar.
The SE Custom 24 features SE HFS and SE Vintage Bass pickups, Volume and Tone Controls with a 3-way toggle, a PRS designed tremolo, bird inlays and a gorgeous PRS wide thin neck.
PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 24 Specification
Top Wood: Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer
Back Wood: Mahogany
Number of Frets: 24
Scale Length: 25 inches
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Fingerboard Wood: Rosewood
Neck Shape: Wide Thin
Fingerboard Inlays: Birds
Bridge: PRS Designed Tremolo
Tuners: PRS Designed Tuners
Truss Rod Cover: PRS
Hardware Type: Nickel
Treble Pickup: SE HFS Treble
Bass Pickup: SE Vintage Bass
Pickup Switching: Volume and Push/Pull Tone Control with 3-Way Blade Pickup Switch
Best Under $600 Wide Fret Guitar – Acoustic
Write your own story! The Guild P-240 Memoir parlor guitar features a small body with a 12-fret-to-body neck, solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides.
Here to help you write your own story—the Guild Memoir P-240. This small-bodied parlor guitar is built with a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides with a sleek, gloss finish and a 12 fret-to-body neck.
Compact but powerful, the P-240’s tone is clear and bright–perfect for finger and flatpicking. The mother of pearl rosette, vintage-inspired Guild Script Logo and slotted headstock pay homage to the classic styling of instruments from the 1920s.
The P-240’s sound is instantly familiar and, despite its small size, full and precise—almost as if its tone has been perfected over years of fireside strumming and family music-making.
Guild P-240 Specification
Series: Westerly Collection – Memoir
Country of Origin: China
Body Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
Neck Material: Mahogany
Nut Height: 9mm
Truss Rod: Dual-Action
Truss Rod Wrench: 4mm Allen Key
Neck Thickness: 9th Fret 23mm
Frets to Body: 14
Frets Total: 19
Tuning Machine Ratio: 18:01
Tuning Machine Buttons: Nickel Butterbean
Neck Joint: Dovetail
Finish: Satin Polyurethane
Ibanez Wide Neck Electric Guitar
Perfect for anything from jazz to rock, the AS73G has tone in its DNA. The linden body adds bite, while the mellow Artcore humbuckers smooth everything out.
This wide nut electric guitar must be considered when choosing a wide neck electric guitar.
When Artcore guitars debuted in summer 2002, they turned the music industry upside down. No longer were full and semi-acoustic guitars, just big expensive jazz boxes for jazz players.
With Artcore guitars, you get an amazingly affordable price plus the quality and tone you expect from Ibanez, the guitar company with over four decades of experience making full and semi-acoustic guitars.
Ibanez AS73G Specifications
Neck: Artcore Set-In
Neck Material: Nyatoh
Body: Linden top/sides/back
Frets: 22/Large
Fingerboard: Bound laurel
Bridge: ART1
Pickups:
ACH1 (H) Neck PU
ACH2 (H) Bridge PU
Inlay: Pearl Blocks
Alternative One – Wide Nut Guitars
Sound great and look stylish on any stage with this 7-string RG. It is a perfect wide neck electric guitar for fat fingers. Featuring a beautiful flamed maple top and a pair of Quantum pickups, this guitar rips.
If Ibanez can claim the title of being the strongest name in Metal guitars, then the RGA is the model this reputation was built on. Every inch of this classic screams speed, fury, and expression.
The Ibanez RGA7420FM Electric Guitar is a double locking 7-string electric with a stunning Flamed Maple top.
Its contoured top not only looks sleek but it also creates a softer, more comfortable edge where the player’s right forearm rests. Other features include a fast, thin Wizard II-7 Maple neck and Jatoba fretboard with jumbo frets for maximum left-hand performance.
This neck and fretboard combination provides a smooth, inviting playing surface and contributes to the RGA7420FM’s warm, well-defined tonality.
Proprietary Quantum pickups offer an entire palette of thick, distorted tone textures that never sacrifice high-end articulation. In addition, the double-locking tremolo provides stable, dependable tuning and accurate intonation.
When it comes to guitars with wider string spacing, seven-string guitars music be considered.
Ibanez RGA7420FM Specifications
Neck: Wizard II-7 3pc Maple
Body: Flamed Maple top/Meranti
Fretboard: Jatoba fretboard w/White Off-set dot inlay
Frets: Jumbo
Pickups:
— Quantum-7 (H) neck pickup
— Quantum-7 (H) bridge pickup
Bridge: Double Locking tremolo bridge
Hardware: Black
Alternative Two – Wide Nut Acoustic Guitars
Carry on a tradition with the Cordoba C3M. An incredibly affordable nylon-string acoustic, this handcrafted guitar is one of the Iberia Series’ most popular. It is the perfect wide neck classical guitar.
One of the most popular models and a staple in the Iberia Series lineup, the Cordoba C3M is a full-sized, handcrafted classical acoustic guitar.
It is built with the traditional Spanish fan bracing, a solid cedar top and mahogany back and sides.
The C3M also has a hand-inlaid wooden rosette, a rosewood fingerboard, and nickel-plated tuning machines with pearl buttons. The “M” in the title stands for its light matte finish. Wide neck acoustic guitars don’t come much finer!
Cordoba C3M Specifications
Top: Solid Canadian Cedar
Back & Sides: Mahogany
Binding/Bridge: Black ABS Binding / Rosewood bridge
Purfling/Inlay: White and black ABS top
Rosette: All natural wood inlaid
Finish: Satin (Matte)
Neck/Fingerboard: Nato neck, Rosewood fingerboard / Traditional (Classical) Style Neck
Truss Rod: Yes, 4mm
Scale Length: 650mm (25.6 in.)
Nut Width: 52mm (2.04 in.)
Wide Neck Guitars Frequently Asked Questions
Are wide neck guitars easier to play?
If you have large hands, yes, wide neck guitars are much easier to play. The way you can’t fit a football into a golf hole, you can’t fit large fingers into small frets or string spacings.
Which guitars have the widest necks?
Many makers of guitars offer consumers guitars with wider necks. We thoroughly recommend checking out Jackson wide neck guitars, Seagull, Eastwood, Ovation, and Ibanez guitars too.
What guitar neck is best for big hands?
Specifically, the Ovation Josh White, and 12-fret Adamas, both feature 1.75″ nut widths. However, they are pretty tricky to get hold of!
Electric Guitars With 1 7/8 Nut Width
If you are looking for electric guitars with 1 7/8 nut widths, seven-string guitars will offer you more options.
Which guitar has the widest neck?
For electric guitars, there are three leading players with wide necks. Wide neck guitars are deemed to be those over 1.68″.
- PRS: 1.687 inches.
- Gibson: 1.695 inches.
- Ibanez: 1.692.
When it comes to acoustic guitars, Seagull guitars have a wide range of quality wide neck guitars. And don’t forget to check out Zarley wide neck guitars too!
What’s the best wide neck guitar on Amazon?
What’s the best wide neck guitar stand?
Wide Neck Guitar Hanger
With its 200 pound capacity, you can be sure that this heavy-duty wall hanger will hold and protect your wide-neck guitar.
Off The Wall Guitar Hangers are heavy-duty, swivelling instrument hangers featuring a cushioned coating that’s Safe for All Finishes Except Freshly Applied Nitro Lacquer & is STRONGER than ever will hold; up to 200 lbs!
A wide model holds classical & 12 string guitars & 6 string basses. Superior mounting hardware included.
Wrap Up Wide Neck Acoustic Guitars
That’s a wrap! We hope you hope you have enjoyed our ULTIMATE blog on wide neck acoustic guitars.
Whether you have been looking for acoustic or electric wide neck guitars, we hope you have found the perfect match.
Any comments or questions, please leave them below, and we’ll get back to you!
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