Nut Widths

[tobiewharton]

I am not too keen on jazz-width nuts, despite having relatively small hands.  I learnt to play using precisions and this obviously informed my bias.  With that in mind, I've noticed that most four-string production models, besides precisions, have nut widths of 38-40mm.  The assumption made by manufacturers seems to be, 'the skinnier, the better'.  Is this reflective of players' preferences in general?

Cheers,

Tobie

[SamPlaysBass]

Generally speaking, it is believed that a skinnier neck is faster (or at least, it sounds like a reasonable answer). However, I’ve found that there are so many different variables in necks that rarely is this true. 

Going back to to the point, I played a Cort Jeff Berlin signature and found the neck too slim. Felt like a matchstick and I had trouble finding the strings! I played a jazz bass for years but still found the JB neck too slim.

Conversely, I’ve just ‘acquired’ a G&L L2000 tribute which has a FAT neck, but it’s not a hindrance. 

I think technique comes in as well. If you play with your thumb over the fretboard (g**tarist style) where the neck fills your palm, then you may find fatter necks a problem. If you play with your thumb behind the fretboard, I don’t think there’s a great difference in neck widths. I’ve found string spacing up the neck to be more of an issue than nut width. 

[T-Bay]

I know it’s only a few mms but Precision necks just feel plain wrong to me. I am presently looking for a deluxe with the jazz width this neck because of this.

[tobiewharton]

25 minutes ago, Williams4S said:

Generally speaking, it is believed that a skinnier neck is faster (or at least, it sounds like a reasonable answer). However, I’ve found that there are so many different variables in necks that rarely is this true. 

Going back to to the point, I played a Cort Jeff Berlin signature and found the neck too slim. Felt like a matchstick and I had trouble finding the strings! I played a jazz bass for years but still found the JB neck too slim.

Conversely, I’ve just ‘acquired’ a G&L L2000 tribute which has a FAT neck, but it’s not a hindrance. 

I think technique comes in as well. If you play with your thumb over the fretboard (g**tarist style) where the neck fills your palm, then you may find fatter necks a problem. If you play with your thumb behind the fretboard, I don’t think there’s a great difference in neck widths. I’ve found string spacing up the neck to be more of an issue than nut width. 

Some good points here.  I certainly agree that the thinner is 'faster' assumption is flawed.  As a thumb behind the fretboard guy, I'm still irritated by a diddy width, but it's not a deal-breaker (as perhaps a chunky neck may be for the thumb-over fellows).  String-spacing at the bridge is a different question, but possibly of greater concern to many.

 

[tobiewharton]

2 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

I know it’s only a few mms but Precision necks just feel plain wrong to me. I am presently looking for a deluxe with the jazz width this neck because of this.

There are multiple options available on that front...

[SamPlaysBass]

3 hours ago, tobiewharton said:

  I certainly agree that the thinner is 'faster' assumption is flawed.

Definitely. I had an Ibanez SR600 with this in mind a few years back. The neck was well made and fretwork good, but I didn’t feel any benefit. I now play a MM StingRay and alternate a MiM Jazz as a backup. I don’t feel the extra 3-4mm on the nut. I appreciate the satin finish on the MM and the profile on the jazz, but not the nut width! 

[bazzbass]

its 2mm

 

blindfolded you couldn't tell a jazz neck from a precision

Edited March 5, 2018 by bazzbass

[Skybone]

Blindfolded, I bet you could.

Over the years, I've owned & played many a bass, from cheap to expensive, J bass width nuts to P bass width nuts, and a few in between. For me, a wider nut feels far more comfortable. Even though I've owned J & J style basses in the past, I sold my last J because it just didn't feel comfortable to play.

[tobiewharton]

24 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

its 2mm

 

blindfolded you couldn't tell a jazz neck from a precision

Some P basses are up to 45mm, so the difference can be significant and certainly noticeable .  Appreciate not everyone's bothered by this, but interested as to the consensus.

[tobiewharton]

1 minute ago, Skybone said:

Blindfolded, I bet you could.

Over the years, I've owned & played many a bass, from cheap to expensive, J bass width nuts to P bass width nuts, and a few in between. For me, a wider nut feels far more comfortable. Even though I've owned J & J style basses in the past, I sold my last J because it just didn't feel comfortable to play.

This

 

[SamPlaysBass]

5 hours ago, tobiewharton said:

Some P basses are up to 45mm, so the difference can be significant and certainly noticeable .  Appreciate not everyone's bothered by this, but interested as to the consensus.

P bass nuts tend to have more variety than jazz necks. You can feel the difference, but it’s not negative, just different. It’s like putting a different pair of shoes on; you stop noticing the difference pretty quickly when you do some walkin’. 

[tobiewharton]

47 minutes ago, Williams4S said:

P bass nuts tend to have more variety than jazz necks. You can feel the difference, but it’s not negative, just different. It’s like putting a different pair of shoes on; you stop noticing the difference pretty quickly when you do some walkin’. 

True

[BreadBin]

I don't like 38mm and could definitely tell the difference blindfolded. I am selling one of mine for this exact reason. 

[discreet]

3 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

I don't like 38mm and could definitely tell the difference blindfolded. I am selling one of mine for this exact reason. 

This. I've become more used to 38mm and can play them, but still prefer P-width nuts, particuarly 1.75" with a 7.25" radius board. You can certainly tell if you're playing one of those or not, with or without a blindfold.

Been swapping between a Jazz and a P recently and once more - as is always the case - prefer the P Bass.  I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that a Jazz doesn't sound like a P - not necessarily because of the pickups and/or their placement and/or whether they're single-coil or not - but because in general P necks simply have more wood in 'em! A chunky wood neck makes for a chunky wood sound... [Insert 'wood in the hand' joke here]

[NJE]

I have always had a slight struggle with Jazz width necks but I have no doubt that I would get used to it. I do wish there were a few more 4 string options with fatter necks and I wish just once Fender would make a Jazz with a Precision neck rather than it always being the other way around.

One of the most comfortable necks I have played was a 44mm 50s precision, such a lovely shape. I was used to playing 5 strings though so it didn’t feel that big at the time.

[Paul S]

My new Jake has a 45mm nut width - absolutely perfect for me, and what kind of string spacing I prefer.  Oh, and yes -  it is a five string....

[tobiewharton]

8 minutes ago, NJE said:

I have always had a slight struggle with Jazz width necks but I have no doubt that I would get used to it. I do wish there were a few more 4 string options with fatter necks and I wish just once Fender would make a Jazz with a Precision neck rather than it always being the other way around.

One of the most comfortable necks I have played was a 44mm 50s precision, such a lovely shape. I was used to playing 5 strings though so it didn’t feel that big at the time.

My sentiments exactly - I've got a 50s P incoming for this very reason.

[discreet]

10 minutes ago, NJE said:

...I wish just once Fender would make a Jazz with a Precision neck rather than it always being the other way around.

I think that's going to be my next project.

I love my bitsa Jazz, but... as usual, the neck is just too flimsy and 38mm is just too narrow! I always feel I could snap a J neck if I dug in a bit too deep...

[NJE]

35 minutes ago, discreet said:

I think that's going to be my next project.

I love my bitsa Jazz, but... as usual, the neck is just too flimsy and 38mm is just too narrow! I always feel I could snap a J neck if I dug in a bit too deep...

I have a sunburst Harley Benton Fretless Jazz that I want a maple Precision neck for, coincidentally a bit like Jaco used to do with his jazz.

 

[tobiewharton]

43 minutes ago, discreet said:

I think that's going to be my next project.

I love my bitsa Jazz, but... as usual, the neck is just too flimsy and 38mm is just too narrow! I always feel I could snap a J neck if I dug in a bit too deep...

Love a Jazz for the bark and bite of the bridge pup and the rounded thump of the neck pup, just hate the necks themselves.

[Paul S]

The Squier Silver Series Jazz basses of the early 90s were exceedingly good with necks that were 40mm wide at the nut (which is actually one of the things I wasn't so keen on)

[discreet]

23 minutes ago, NJE said:

I have a sunburst Harley Benton Fretless Jazz that I want a maple Precision neck for, coincidentally a bit like Jaco used to do with his jazz.

That's a good affordable option - buy an HB P and an HB J, swap necks and sell on the P bodied J neck... there's always a market for a P with a J neck...

[Lozz196]

I find a Jazz neck slightly easier to play, but just not keen on the sound a Jazz makes when I play it. Re this I think that the dimensions of the Precision neck influence the way I play, which may account for my style being a confirmed Precision player, and account for why I then don`t like the sound I make on a Jazz that much. Plus a lot of Jazzes are too thin, depth-wise. I prefer a chunky deep neck.

[Misdee]

To echo what others have already said, there really can be no right or wrong when it comes to nut widths, just personal preference. And that preference can be as much a result of an individual's physique as any technical or musical considerations. I can't play a 1.75in traditional P Bass width very well because i've got little hands. 

Another consideration is that different nut widths/neck profiles make you play differently. When I pick up my Fender Precision with  a1.625 nut width it puts me in a different frame of mind from when I play my USA Lakland 44-64 P with a very slim Jazz profile neck and skinny nut width. A wide nut tends to make people play a P Bass in a more traditional manner, if you follow my drift (and yes,I know that is a sweeping generalisation and you can find plenty of exceptions to that rule).

[discreet]

22 minutes ago, Misdee said:

Another consideration is that different nut widths/neck profiles make you play differently. When I pick up my Fender Precision with  a1.625 nut width it puts me in a different frame of mind from when I play my USA Lakland 44-64 P with a very slim Jazz profile neck and skinny nut width. A wide nut tends to make people play a P Bass in a more traditional manner, if you follow my drift (and yes,I know that is a sweeping generalisation and you can find plenty of exceptions to that rule).

Plenty of exceptions! I can play a P as fast as I can play a J, but the point is I don't particularly want to play either fast. However, a J makes it easier to play fast. And I'm far less likely to make tasteful note choices when it's easy just to play all of 'em!

Edited March 5, 2018 by discreet