You are currently viewing 29 Guitars with Wider String Spacing (Acoustic and Electric)

Last Updated on March 1, 2024 by Teemu Suomala

What do you think of wider string spacing? Does it make fingerpicking easier, give more room for picking, easier to shred? Let everyone know your thoughts in the comments.

I personally enjoy playing guitars with wider string spacing(even though I have tiny hands). Especially when fingerpicking. It’s soo smooth!

In this article, I reveal 20 acoustic- and 10 electric guitars that have wide string spacing. Standard string spacing is right around 2.05 inches(52mm) measured from the bridge (E-e). But these guitars offer you more space.

Why I say that 2.05”(52mm) is the standard? Because most guitars have that kind of a string spacing! Everything that offers more is a guitar with wider string spacing.f

So if you are ready to stop hitting the wrong strings and start enjoying the extra room the wide string spacing gives you… let’s get started!

photo reveals owner of guitaristnextdoor.com

Author: Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I love guitars and have played dozens and dozens of different guitars through different amps and pedals over the years, and also, building a website interested me, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website.

I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have also been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as SongsterrMusicnotesGuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar.

I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog (I guess that went the right way…).


Do the hard thing.

19 Acoustic Guitars With Wider String Spacing

Yamaha FG800 is one of the most affordable acoustic guitars with wide string spacing:

Model String Spacing at Bridge Nut WidthCheck Current Price (affiliate links)
Guild D-240E* (All Guild Dreadnoughts have this same string spacing)2.12” = 54mm1.688” = 42.8mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
Guild M-20*2.24” = 57mm1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
Journey Instruments OF660M2.25” = 57.15mm 1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
Ibanez Artwood AC3402.16” = 55mm1.68” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
Ibanez Artwood AC340CE2.16” = 55mm1.68” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
Ibanez AWFS300CE (25.6″ scale)2.16” = 55mm 1.68” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazon
Martin DJR-10E Streetmaster2.156” = 54.7mm1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwaterAmazon
Martin D-13E – Find More Great Martins Here2.156” = 54.7mm 1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwaterAmazon
Martin CEO-72.313” = 58.7mm1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwater
Martin OM-28E2.25” = 57.15mm1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwater
Seagull S6 Original (all Seagull models have the same saddle and string-spacing)*2.094” = 53.1876,1.8” = 45.7mmSweetwater AmazonThomann
Taylor 210ce* – Find More Great Taylors Here2.188” = 55.57mm 1.75” = 44.5mm Sweetwater AmazonThomann
Taylor 814ce*2.188” = 55.57mm 1.75” = 44.5mmSweetwater AmazonThomann
Taylor BT1 (Baby Taylor)*2.125” = 54mm1.687” = 42.8mm Sweetwater AmazonThomann
Taylor T5z*2.25” = 57.15mm1.687” = 42.8mmSweetwater AmazonThomann
Yamaha FG800 – Find More Great Yamahas Here2.16” = 55mm1.68” = 43mmSweetwater AmazonThomann
Yamaha FGX800C2.16” = 55mm 1.68” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
Yamaha FG8502.16” = 55mm 1.68” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
Yamaha LL16 ARE2.16” = 55mm 1.73” = 44mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann

*I emailed the manufacturer and they provided me with their string-spacing measurements.


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10 Electric Guitars With Wider String Spacing

Ibanez RGA42FM is one of my favorite wide-neck electric guitars. It also has slightly wider string spacing:

ModelString SpacingNut WidthCheck Current Price (affiliate links)
ESP LTD SN-1000 HT*2.078″ = 52.8mm1.653” = 42mmSweetwater Thomann
ESP LTD Alexi Hexed*2.1″ = 53.5mm1.653” = 42mmSweetwater Thomann
Fender Player Telecaster HH* (Fender/Squier string spacings don’t really vary from this)2.07” = 52.5mm1.650” = 42mmSweetwater AmazonThomann
Ibanez RGA42FM2.07” = 52.5mm 1.692” = 43mm Sweetwater AmazonThomann
Ibanez Iron Label RGIB212.125” = 54mm 1.77” = 45mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
Ibanez Genesis Collection RG5502.125” = 54mm1.692” = 43mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
Yamaha PAC611VFM2.125” = 54mm 1.61” = 41mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
Yamaha Pacifica 612VIIX 2.125” = 54mm 1.61” = 41mmSweetwaterAmazonThomann
PRS SE Custom 242.07” = 52.5mm 1.69” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann
PRS SE Custom 24-082.07” = 52.5mm 1.69” = 43mm SweetwaterAmazonThomann

*I emailed the manufacturer and they provided me with their string-spacing measurements.

Benefits of Wider String Spacing

Let’s look at the pros and cons of wide string spacing.

Pros

  • Wrong strings are harder to hit
  • Fingerpicking is easier
  • Playing with a pick is easier too
  • If you have thick fingers, wider string spacing is a great fit

Cons

  • If you have small hands, wider string spacing can make playing harder
  • If you are used to regular string spacing, wider one can feel alien

For some situations choosing a guitar with wider string spacing is a great option.

If you are going to change a nut or bridge to your guitar that has wide string spacing, remember to choose upgrades according to wide string spacing!

Is Guitar With Wide String Spacing A Good Option for You?

If you have really thick fingers or large hands overall and you struggle with hitting the wrong strings all the time…Wide string spacing can help a lot! It gives you more room.

I have really small hands, but I still prefer wider string spacing when fingerpicking. It just makes playing a lot smoother. I have also noticed that practicing new chords is easier with more room between the strings.

If you haven’t played guitar with wider string spacing, do so as soon as possible. Only after that you are going to be ready to decide if wide string spacing is a good fit for you.


Other articles related to the topic:


Conclusion

Wide string spacing can really make playing easier. And some people don’t even want to play guitars with typical narrow string spacing. They just love the extra room so much!

This list will be updated frequently, and I’m going to contact guitar brands to get more info about string spacing.

Hopefully this post helped you out, and if you have any questions, just leave a comment. I wish you all the best and keep rocking!

Teemu Suomala

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I also noticed that most guitar websites don’t do a really good job, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website. I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar. I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog(I guess that went the right way…). Expertise: guitar learning techniques, electric guitars, and guitar amplifiers. You can connect with me on LinkedIn or just email me.
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John

I play a 1⅞” (1.875″) nut width Warmoth “super-wide” electric and a Seagull Peppino artist signature acoustic with 1.9″ nut width.

Stu

Too Jealous of John… I too play a Warmoth Superwide electric, and a Washburn R319SWKK Parlor Acoustic with a 1.89 Nut width–sadly they were discontinued, but if you find one they’re cool

sanjeev

yamaha fs 800 has 10mm string spacing

Manu

Thanks so much for this list!

I’ve been spending hours looking for my next guitar to buy and this list made all the difference!
Also thanks a lot for mentioning the metric values.

I play a ‘Seagull Entourage Rustic QI Electro-acoustic’ (1,712″ = 43.5mm nut width).
Actually very nice sound & playability without breaking the bank although I don’t think they’re still available.

P.S.
The ‘PRS SE Custom 24’ link to the Thomann page doesn’t seem to be working.

Nick Lloyd

Are there any acoustic (or electro/acoustic) cutaways with wide string spacing? That’s what I’m looking for

Thomas B

Is there a reason why “string spacing” cannot be spoken of as string spacing when referring to guitars? The span of the strings would then have to be divided by 5.

Pranshu Nigam

Even I found it unusual earlier, but that’s how guitar nomenclature works. It always made more sense to me to refer to string spacing as the distance between two strings. However, that would lead to inaccuracies due to varying string thickness.