Necks and string spacing

[Desperado]

Can anyone tell me if the different necks have different string spacing? Also how would they compare to a MiM standard tele?

I have a tele as my main guitar right now and like the fact my fat fingers seem to do pretty well with it. I have a worry that I might struggle with a different guitar having played my current one for so long.

Thanks!

 

[bluefade]

Can anyone tell me if the different necks have different string spacing? Also how would they compare to a MiM standard tele?

I have a tele as my main guitar right now and like the fact my fat fingers seem to do pretty well with it. I have a worry that I might struggle with a different guitar having played my current one for so long.

Thanks!

A little struggle will make you a better guitar player...More versatile

 

[Sage]

String spacing at the bridge on all PRS guitars is identical to the MIM Fenders. In fact, most guitars have the same string spacing at the bridge. The Fender American vintage style tremolo is the anomaly: it has a wider string spacing, which I find uncomfortable, so I totally get where you're coming from.

HOWEVER, string spacing at the nut will differ due to nut width. With the exception of the Pattern Regular neck shape, most PRS necks will be wider at the nut. If you have large fingers, this will probably be a good thing, especially since the shorter scale length of a PRS means that the frets are closer together than on your Tele. I grew up playing Squiers and Japanese Fender Strats and my personal experience is that the wider nut width and shorter scale length of my PRS cancel each other out.

 

[Desperado]

Thanks for the replies.

Blue fade - I totally get your point, but unfortunately my fingers are sausages and I really struggle with Gibson guitars for example as their spacing feels terribly tight.

Sage - Thanks for a concise reply, I appreciate it. I have a SE singlecut on its way so I will soon be able to feel for myself. I am however feeling a lot more positive after reading your post.

I think the SE I'm getting has a wide fat neck so I was hoping for it to be similar to my Tele.

 

[Sage]

Well, if Gibsons give you a hard time, then the good news is that the SE Singlecut should be a little easier for you to handle. The bad news is that it will still be closer to a Gibson than a Tele.

Most Gibsons have the same nut width as the wide-fat neck you'll be getting. Your SE Singlecut has a 25" scale length as opposed to the 24.75" scale length of most modern Gibsons and the 25.5" scale length of your Tele. So the frets won't be quite as close together as they are on a Gibson. Hopefully that will be enough room to be comfortable.

I'll be interested to hear what you think once you've played it. My fingers aren't especially fat but I have similar frustrations with Gibsons, so this is a subject that I've put a lot of research and thought into.

 

[garrett]

Nut width: MIM Std Tele = PRS Wide Fat = Gibson. Each is 1 11/16" wide. The PRS Regular neck is slightly narrower, but not as narrow as vintage Fender.

Saddle spacing: MIM Std Tele is 2 1/8" vs 2 1/16" used by PRS and Gibson. Vintage Strat style is 2 7/32".

The SE Singlecut will have a tiny bit less room, but probably not a big deal. FWIW, I switch from modern Tele necks to PRS W/F necks regularly with no issues.

 

[Sage]

Nut width: MIM Std Tele = PRS Wide Fat = Gibson. Each is 1 11/16" wide. The PRS Regular neck is slightly narrower, but not as narrow as vintage Fender.

Saddle spacing: MIM Std Tele is 2 1/8" vs 2 1/16" used by PRS and Gibson. Vintage Strat style is 2 7/32".

The SE Singlecut will have a tiny bit less room, but probably not a big deal. FWIW, I switch from modern Tele necks to PRS W/F necks regularly with no issues.

This is incorrect. The MIM Std Tele has a 1.650" nut width and 2 1/16" saddle spacing. The SE Singlecut will be the same at the bridge and wider (1.6875") at the nut. As I said, you may find the wider nut width compensates for the reduced scale length. That has been my experience.

It's the American Standard guitars that have a 1 11/16" nut width.

2 1/8" saddle spacing is very rare, and usually is the result of poor measurement (measuring a 2 1/16" bridge to a 1/8" tolerance).

 

[Desperado]

Well, if Gibsons give you a hard time, then the good news is that the SE Singlecut should be a little easier for you to handle. The bad news is that it will still be closer to a Gibson than a Tele.

Most Gibsons have the same nut width as the wide-fat neck you'll be getting. Your SE Singlecut has a 25" scale length as opposed to the 24.75" scale length of most modern Gibsons and the 25.5" scale length of your Tele. So the frets won't be quite as close together as they are on a Gibson. Hopefully that will be enough room to be comfortable.

I'll be interested to hear what you think once you've played it. My fingers aren't especially fat but I have similar frustrations with Gibsons, so this is a subject that I've put a lot of research and thought into.

The scale length isn't something I've given much thought to until you mentioned it. I realised of course that it would be slightly shorter, but didn't equate that to less room between the frets...though clearly it's obvious when pointed out. Shouldn't be an issue. Will let you know how it goes. Delivery should be tomorrow so will update here once I've had some time to play a bit.

 

[Desperado]

Just wanted to update this for those interested...

I received my SE Singlecut today and have had a number of hours playing it. I really do like the neck. It's a good width and feels very comfortable in my hands.

In terms of the string spacing I needn't have worried. It definitely feels slightly tighter than my Tele, but actually I haven't had a problem in this respect.

Surprisingly the thing I've found the trickiest is finding the sweet spot for palm muting at the bridge. The nature of the Tele bridge seemed to give me more control over muting and gave me a nice spot to rest my hand.

Still it's early days. Enjoying the guitar a great deal so far. Thanks again to those that replied.

 

[Fkuashum]

Hello everyone!
I am about to order a PRS guitar. I am from Russia and do not have a lot of opportunities to touch a PRS before ordering. Can anyone tell (preferrably after measuring) the exact string spacing at the nut on a 1 11/16 neck PRS guitar? A measurement with a trammel from outer sides will do. Thank you very much in advance!
Alexey

 

[stevo323244]

A little struggle will make you a better guitar player...More versatile

This is the kind of arrogant response no one ever wants.

 

[bodia]

This is the kind of arrogant response no one ever wants.

It was 10 years ago. Pretty sure he got over it

 

[shinksma]

Lol, another back-from-the-dead thread.

String spacing isn't something to "overcome" sometimes, it can physically affect your ability to finger the chords. I don't have skinny Elven-like fingers, I have fat short sausages.

PRS for the longest time used almost exactly 7mm center-to-center (at the nut) string spacing for their 6 string guitars, or 35mm from E to e (center to center). I just measured almost my entire collection. No matter the neck profile, that was the typical measurement, even the old Regular neck profile.

Some other models I have have are 36mm E-e. Specifically, the ME V, SC & DC 594s, (which are all relatively new) plus my P245SH and SCHB II (which aren't recent at all). The 509 is the older 35mm spacing, even though it would be "newer" than the P245SH & SCHBII. So maybe SCs generally 36mm, and the 594DC because "same neck"? Not sure why the ME V.

Some early SEs I have are 34mm.

The 7 string SE guitars are even narrower - about 32 or 33mm E-e.

My Core Angelus (Steve Fischer) is 37mm E-e, but that's expected, it has a wider neck than the electrics and SE acoustics.

I have found recently that I am very sensitive to string spacing (vs neck profile), discovered due to a 8-string guitar I have that has narrower string spacing for the ADGBe strings to help make the neck not seem so wide - it affects my ability to play "cowboy chords" in the first position (regular Am, C, D chords, etc). It measures 31.5mm (or so) E-e at the "nut" (measured straight across because of multi-scale slanted nut).

A 7 string I got recently from Strandberg uses 7mm string spacing, like most of my PRSi, so it feels much more comfortable (and familiar) to me for playing those chords. I am now very interested in trying one of their 8 stringers to compare to the Legator I have.

 

[helmi]

It was 10 years ago. Pretty sure he got over it

Nah, i’m guessing it drove him to totally give up the guitar amd become a monk!

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Lol, another back-from-the-dead thread.

String spacing isn't something to "overcome" sometimes, it can physically affect your ability to finger the chords. I don't have skinny Elven-like fingers, I have fat short sausages.

PRS for the longest time used almost exactly 7mm center-to-center (at the nut) string spacing for their 6 string guitars, or 35mm from E to e (center to center). I just measured almost my entire collection. No matter the neck profile, that was the typical measurement, even the old Regular neck profile.

Some other models I have have are 36mm E-e. Specifically, the ME V, SC & DC 594s, (which are all relatively new) plus my P245SH and SCHB II (which aren't recent at all). The 509 is the older 35mm spacing, even though it would be "newer" than the P245SH & SCHBII. So maybe SCs generally 36mm, and the 594DC because "same neck"? Not sure why the ME V.

Some early SEs I have are 34mm.

The 7 string SE guitars are even narrower - about 32 or 33mm E-e.

My Core Angelus (Steve Fischer) is 37mm E-e, but that's expected, it has a wider neck than the electrics and SE acoustics.

I have found recently that I am very sensitive to string spacing (vs neck profile), discovered due to a 8-string guitar I have that has narrower string spacing for the ADGBe strings to help make the neck not seem so wide - it affects my ability to play "cowboy chords" in the first position (regular Am, C, D chords, etc). It measures 31.5mm (or so) E-e at the "nut" (measured straight across because of multi-scale slanted nut).

A 7 string I got recently from Strandberg uses 7mm string spacing, like most of my PRSi, so it feels much more comfortable (and familiar) to me for playing those chords. I am now very interested in trying one of their 8 stringers to compare to the Legator I have.

Looking at all these old thread revivals, and who's posting them, I'm guessing the forum is getting infested with bots.

 

[helmi]

Looking at all these old thread revivals, and who's posting them, I'm guessing the forum is getting infested with bots.

This is something I have NEVER understood, no matter what forum it is. people barking about people reviving old threads. If the subject is something your going to inquire about anyway, and If the people who were involved in the old thread are still active, which is easy to see by looking at their profile and seeing the last time they were on the forum, then what’s the big deal, and why do so many people get their knickers in such a twist about it?

 

[SinSir]

Looking at all these old thread revivals, and who's posting them, I'm guessing the forum is getting infested with bots.

I blaming the se sale!

 

[SinSir]

This is something I have NEVER understood, no matter what forum it is. people barking about people reviving old threads. If the subject is something your going to inquire about anyway, and If the people who were involved in the old thread are still active, which is easy to see by looking at their profile and seeing the last time they were on the forum, then what’s the big deal, and why do so many people get their knickers in such a twist about it?

It's totally cool, and I encourage to revive a thread for substance and relevance, but it's another thing when it's like post #11

"This is the kind of arrogant response no one ever wants."

 

[shinksma]

I'm guessing the forum is getting infested with bots.

It's totally cool, and I encourage to revive a thread for substance and relevance, but it's another thing when it's like post #11

Well, that particular poster, while new, has made other posts that seem relevant.

I would just assume they were searching for something, this thread popped up, and not realizing it was so old, decided to offer their 2 cents. Just because they are new here doesn't mean they have developed a jaded and cynical attitude elsewhere for years...



But getting back on topic: I played my .strandberg* Prog 7 and Legator Ghost 8 last night back-to-back a fair bit, and reinforced my conclusion that I am not only sensitive to string spacing and it is physically quite challenging to land my fingertips cleanly, but even if I focus on adjusting the narrow string spacing on the Legator make chording waaay too much work (due to that extra concentration, etc), whereas the .strandberg* was so familiar I had no issue playing my usual stuff without even thinking about whether it was a 6 or 7 stringer. (But I use the bottom/treble side of the neck/fretboard as my "foundation" for how a chord feels - if you start from the top/bass side, then YMMV.)

So now I really want a .strandberg* 8 just to see if it still feels the same.

Also, I get a kick out of typing that silly .*

But PRS, if you make something like that in the Core, S2, or SE lines, with 7mm string spacing, you are guaranteed a sale with me!

 

[JasonE]

When you are a new subscriber to the forum, every post is new to you. If you don't pay attention to the date of the last post, it is really easy to resurrect an old thread. I try to cut new people a break when this happens. I typically just close the thread and move on.