Here is a short reference about the most typical neck widths in inches and millimeters as measured at nut.
| Inches, fraction | Inches, decimal | Mm | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 51 | Classical nylon string guitars |
| 1-7/8 (or 1-14/16) |
1.88 | 47 | - Some steel string guitars, mainly for fingerstyle - Nylon string crossover guitars - Many Gypsy jazz guitars also have 1-7/8” neck |
| 1-13/16 | 1.81 | 45 | Some steel string guitars |
| 1-3/4 (or 1-12/16) |
1.75 | 44 | Most typical for steel string guitars – either for strumming or fingerstyle |
| 1-11/16 | 1.69 | 43 | Some steel string guitars |
Here is how it looks on the picture. Use it for comparison only – the real size of the nut on your screen might differ due to the scaling:
In my understanding, there is no such thing as “standard neck width”, probably except for the classical guitar (51mm/2”) .
A lot of custom guitars and many “build to order” (BTO) guitars might have a neck that is narrower or wider than one on the corresponding non-custom models.
I play a classical Takamine TC-132SC guitar with the standard 2” (51 mm) neck, and a ‘fingerstyle’ steel string Takamine TF-740FS with 1 7/8” (47mm) neck. Both of them have a neck connected to the body at 12th fret and I like them.
However, from time to time I am thinking about switching to a longer-scale steel string guitar having neck connected to a body at 14th fret. Many of such guitars have a 1 3/4”-wide neck. I played many of them and some were comfortable to play fingerstyle, while others were not. I’ve got the impression that it depends not only on the neck width, but also on the other factors such as the wood used for a neck, its shape, scale length and even guitar’s body shape. The guitar with 1 3/4” neck I especially liked was Taylor 414CE LTD 2010 Walnut – it sounded very well and fit my hands just right. Probably I’ll buy it in the some future 