Guitarists with small or large hands are underserved because “standard” instruments (often featuring a 25.5″ scale length and 1.687″ nut width) force these players to fight the instrument’s geometry instead of focusing entirely on their technique and musicality. I have played professionally for 50 years and heard all the complaints from players that guitars are too heavy to… I need a smaller neck, and/or wider neck. At the Haywire Custom Guitars custom shop try and cover each and every problem guitarists encounter. For example: there are classical guitarists wanting to switch to electric guitars with the same feel of the wide guitar they’re used to. We can help with that.
Traditional guitars aren’t built for everyone. With standard 25.5″ scales and 1.687″ nuts, players with smaller or larger hands spend more time fighting their instrument’s size than mastering their music. We believe your guitar should work with your hands, not against them. We perform custom guitar mods and expert guitar repairs.
As far as the Wide neck guitars we’re building, the area of our immediate work is the 25-1/2″ scale. However we are modifying some 24-3/4″ scale models such as: Gibsons, Epiphones and those styles with wider replacements.
Off-the-shelf guitars ignore players with small or large hands. The standard 25.5″ scale and 1.687″ nut force these guitarists to battle awkward dimensions instead of focusing on their music and technique.
- Physical Pain & Fatigue: Long chord stretches, such as wide-interval chords or traditional barre chords, place excessive strain on tendons and joints of small handed players.
- Muting Adjacent Strings: Thinner, smaller fingers often inadvertently touch and deaden neighboring strings when trying to properly arch the fingers over the neck.
- The “Standard” Default: Almost all mass-produced guitars are built to a universal standard, making finding short-scale instruments (e.g., 24″ or 24.75″ scale), thin neck profiles, and compact bodies more difficult. Therefore we shave guitar necks for all players needing it.
- Cramped Spacing: Basic open chords are highly difficult because larger fingers cannot fit inside the narrow, tight fret spacing, causing players to accidentally mute adjacent strings.
- Intricate Techniques: The lack of precision and cramped fret board real estate make intricate fingerstyle playing or complex jazz voicings feel awkward.
- Fewer Options: The industry predominantly caters to average hand sizes, meaning players with large hands struggle to find wider nut widths (e.g., 1.75″ to 1.875″) and chunkier neck profiles (like the “U” or “Nocaster” shape) in beginner-to-intermediate tiers.
At Haywire Custom Shop in South Carolina, we build wide neck guitars for large handed players as well as shave necks for smaller handed players. It’s Not A “One Size Fits All” World. Guitarists with small or large hands are two underserved groups that need more attention. It is always a pleasure for us at Haywire Custom Guitars to assist players . We’re musicians with for musicians.
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