Does your guitar fit your hands?

I feel like I’m sitting in the living room talking to an old friend. Thank you.

Thank you! As a luthier, I am very often approached by musicians who want to commission a build, but have no concrete idea of what they want. Often, the best I can do is find out what music they play, whom they play for, and what is their favorite guitar to play. Thank you for getting musicians to think about things like scale length, nut width, and neck profiles. This makes my job a lot easier.

Your Colliings 12 fret is BEAUTIFUL.

Well done summary. You really have to play them in the shop to really know how they will feel at home. It is as you point out, very important. Often your playing style will evolve from how your guitar feels in your hands. Really good presentation!

Well said and beautiful guitars! I suffered from hand fatigue until I found the right nut width, profile and string spacing for my hands. All 3 make a significant difference on the feel of the guitar.

This is wonderfully executed and exceedingly informative. Brilliant job, as always!

Wise words (as ever). I suspect we all go on a bit of a journey. From buying our first guitar . . ."ooh that looks nice" to something more akin to what you've just talked us through once we've been wrestled into submission by a few. Knowing this stuff earlier would save us a lot of pain and probably cash. The other variables I'd mention are string type (steel - nylon) and of course there are those things called electric guitars too I've heard.

Excellent information. Thank you so much. Please keep the video's coming.

Thankyou so much this is exactly what i was looking for !!!! I was so used to my guitar until i bought a new one and i struggled especially on my 4 finger g chord. Now i know why thankyou so much kind sir for you knowledge have a lovely day thankyou x

I think you make some excelent points there Andy. Over the past two or three years I have found myself moving away from dreadnoughts and towards smaller bodied guitars. In fact, the only bigger guitar I have touched in the past couple of years is my jumbo 12-string. Lovely though it is, I am looking to replace it with a OOO 12-string when I can find one I like. As it happens, it was your video from about 3 years ago, in which you mentioned you shoulder problem, which first made me investigate the smaller-bodied guitars. I have to agree with nyou on the string spacing issue too. Wider certainly seems to be better for finger-picking or flat-picking. Keep up the good work.

This video is really recommendable. You are giving a lot of useful information that they don't give you in the shops. I also have a few guitars with different nut sizes and neck profiles. You need some time to find out what really suits you. I have the feeling that with growing experience I get along better also with smaller nut sizes. May I suggest another 2 attributes to look at: scale length and body size. I like the lower string tension on shorter scale necks. And a smaller body can be more convenient when playing at home. So, my current favourite in my small collection is a Guild M20, everything just fits for me: small body, short scale length, decent 1 3/4" nut size but with slender neck.

I couldn’t agree more but also scale length and body size play a big part including 14 and 12 fret joins to the body. I’ve learnt by trial and error starting to learn guitar over the last year what fits me. I now own four guitars but it took this journey to find the right fit. Now when I pick up my Fender PM-2, my last purchase, I find that it just fits 😊 The nut is 1-3/4” the scale is prefect for me with a 12th fret joint and the neck profile feels great, the parlour body size fits nicely under my arm too 😊

Spot on. "Does it fit your hands?" is the most important question. When I started playing again after a 20 year hiatus, I bought and quickly sold 3 acoustic guitars, because the neck simply did not fit my hands. Two of them had too thin of a neck width, the other one had a V-neck shape. I had played all of them in the shop, and in the hour or so I tried them, I didn't really feel the issues. It was only at home, when playing them every day for hours, that I felt how my hands got cramps. I count myself lucky that the neck width and shape of the "reimagined" Martin standard line is almost perfect for me (the "performing artist" neck shape you don't like). I could do with a little wider width than 1 3/4", but I absolutley love the flat back of the neck. I can get along with the c-shaped neck in my Gibson, because it is not too deep, but it is impossible for me to play any sort of v-neck, even if it is "modified". In general I prefer more of a d-shape. That's because I originally learned classical guitar and I have medium sized hands, but short fingers. Because of my classical roots I never wrap my thumb around to play the E-string. I think this is why I like relatively wide necks with a flat back. This point might be one element of one's personal playing style, which is a pretty good indication for which necks one likes.

I like your videos. I am an older guy with hand and shoulder injuries and an oversized mustache as well. For me, I actually like the Martin Performance Artist neck profile. I play fingerstyle, but unless I am reaching over the top for the sixth string, I keep the pad of my thumb behind the neck, (toward the bass side, but short of the binding). I also have a 1917 Eugene Howard parlor guitar with a “V” neck profile, but with the pad of my thumb just above the point of the “V”, it is quite comfortable. It is just what works for me. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Excellent topic and presentation. It took me many years to accumulate the knowledge of what worked for me and what didn't and why, I wish someone had told me all this 50 years ago .. I'd have saved time money and trouble and probably would be a better player today. That said I have Martin building me a 0000 12 fret, 1 13/16 nut, long scale length with 2 5/16 spacing at the bridge ... can't wait.

I’m an older musician, but new to guitar. It’s been an epic year. I’ve become a Schecter fan boy as I’ve grown to love their necks. It’s been crazy in the local guitar superchain how much they don’t seem to care or notice? Not sure. But as an electric jazz guitarist, if you know electrics, Schecter is NOT on the front of the list. Now, I’m hoping to change that maybe Because it’s the one that fits me. Thank you for explaining where to measure and how to measure the different parts, it was an excellent and thoughtful demonstration and it felt like we were just sitting over coffee having fun talking guitars. Yours are beautiful. I’m still too timid to try acoustic, but with jazz, it’s only a matter of time

I bought my Takemine back in June 2013. I knew nothing about buying a guitar, other than I wanted comfort while I played it as well as a nice sounding tone. I tried several brands and styles in the hour and a half - 2 hours I was trying each guitar in the music store. I did have the knowledge about the string action and how close they should be to the fret board. I tried about 25 -30 different guitars and walked out very pleased with my Takemine. It's very comfortable in my hands and it's weight to stand and play it for a couple of hours is also comfortable. The tone of it is great and no string buzz in the action. I am still thrilled with my purchase of my Takemine guitar and play it a few hours a week. Other than my pinky finger locking up when I play a song in "C", when I get to the "F" in the song, I end up having to literally unfold my left pinky off the string. So, I usually will play songs in "C" with the capo on the 5th fret and play in "G". It's playing the "F" when my pinky locks up. I do my best to avoid the F chord, by using my capo. Great knowledge you've passed on for first time guitar purchasers, Andy. You've certainly played enough style and brands of guitars to know what's important when purchasing one. Thank you for sharing your helpful wisdom.

Hi Andy, As a fellow UMGF member, I hear all of the time about guitarists who can't get used to a particular neck and so they sell it on to someone else. I urge everyone to close your eyes and feel the neck first. If you don't like how it feels, put it back on the wall, chances are you won't like it in the long run. I have three Martin's, two have the new MLO/PT (Medium Length Oval/Performing Artist Taper) neck and one has the Modified V neck. Both styles are very comfortable to me, but not everyone feels that way. For some folks it takes years to discover what style of neck, body size, and wood preference that you absolutely love to play. Great video!

Thank you, Sir, for your thoughts. I thought I might the only one. I've been thinking about these things for months. I have bought many guitars over the years and had the mindset that I would one day buy my last PERFECT guitar. But as an aging guitar player (57 now), I have come to the same conclusions. Nut width and neck shape have become more important to me as I get older, and my fingers struggle with joint degeneration and so forth. When I was younger, I could adapt to many sizes and shapes and therefore the bling, brand, and popularity had its influence. But these days, I care more for playability with attention to tone. I've played everything from classical guitars to parlor guitars in differing price ranges and quality over the years. I have recently found that currently my hands work best with a Fender style Acoustasonic Tele neck with its C neck shape and nut width which I don't off hand know the spec. Another consideration is string gauge and set up. But of course, these things change like everything else in life.

The older we get the more comfort becomes an issue . Im finding myself gravitating more towards small size 0 guitars with a 12 fret wider neck as the 43mm neck I’m currently playing feels to cramped for my old sausage fingers. Of course things are harder as I’m severely disabled and can’t get out to try guitars but thanks to good people like yourself i can find out with some degree of accuracy how a guitar is going to sound before i buy it.