enlarging a too narrow neck

[Stefano Damonte]

I' ve an old Martin M38 with a really good sound but with a problem : the nut is to narrow for my hand : 1 11/16 : I've yet put a new nut with larger strings spacings but sometimes strings slip away.
I was thinking if it is possible to enlarge the fretboard changeing it or enlarging the whole neck or to change the neck putting a larger one (maybe with a different profile than Martin low profile).
But the easy way is, imho, to change the fretboard with a larger one.
What do you think about such a thing??
Stefano

[Tim Mace]

Get another guitar before you decide to destroy what sounds like a good instrument.The ones I saw cost 4000 and above.Swap it?!

[John Yungbluth]

Stefano, how old is old? I agree with Tim though, it may be advisable to find another guitar that meets your requirements for neck size. The modifications you're thinking about I believe could only be done with a complete neck/fretboard replacement. If you go down that path, retain the old neck and fretboard. Have you ever looked into having a guitar built to your own spec's? Think over all options before you jump into this. Good luck

[Stefano Damonte]

I have more guitars than this Martin ( 00018GE, 00028 Norman Blake, Gibson J45, Fylde Goodfellow, Lakewood M32 Ragtime, and a Lowden O35 C/W) that is some 20 years old, but I've read on the George Lowden site that years ago he enlarged the neck of Pierre Bensusan's guitar so I was asking in wich way could be done and if could be done on this guitar.

[Howard Klepper]

Easiest way is to sell it and find a guitar with a neck you like.

[Ron Frazier]

live with it!!

Ron

[Stefano Damonte]

So if someone guitar need a new fretboard he has to sell the guitar or let it be? And what if the guitar need a neck reset?

[Bob Webster]

I think the responses you're hearing are the luthiers' equivalent of the physicians' credo, "First and foremost, do no harm.". What you're asking to have done is perfectly feasible but rather extensive and damned costly and, in the end, will reduce the value of the guitar.

Ideally, the neck needs to be removed, then the fingerboard comes off. The sides of the neck are cut back toward the center and a pair of thicker pieces of wood are grafted onto it. A new fingerboard is made and glued to the neck and then the whole piece is reshaped to a reasonable contour. Throw in a new nut, of course, and then finish it (taking care, of course to match the color of the rest of the neck) and glue it back onto body. All that to gain 3/116 of an inch in width.

Bob

[Frank Ford]

Martin can do the job for you - they're currently soliciting repair work. Bear in mind that a wider neck is typically paired with wider spacing at the bridge so it would be best to switch both.

Give their service guys a call and they can tell you the cost: 800-345-3103

Or take the advice of the others on this thread - find the guitar that works for you and sell this one.

[Ed Taublieb]

I agree with Frnk and the others as to not modifying the neck width. I believe Martin changed the nut width from 1 11/16" to 1 3/4 at some point a number of years ago. So I suggest you look for a more recent one with the 1 3/4" nut/ If that is stll too narrow then be prepared to spend lot of $$$ to have new neck and bridge made by Martin. I do agree with Frank on his reccomandation that Martin do the job. That way even though it is a modified guitar its still 100% Martin.
((As an aside but relevant: My personal guitar is one of the original OM-28's. I reworked the bar frets on two different occasions but the guitar was still very hard to play, especially sliding. Also, the neck was just that little bit too wide for me. So, ultimately the neck was replaced with a new Martin neck with a 1 11/16" nut and a bridge with spacing to match. That was done in the late 1960s and I have loved playing the guitar ever since.)
Ed Taublieb