seven string to 6 string mod?

[Gizmoaudio]

I was wondering if anyone has done this. My fingers are kinda huge, size 13 ring finger. I have a nice taylor acoustic that I love playing. I was wondering about changing a 7 string electric over to 6 string to more nearly match my acoustic. That way I could get a wider neck without paying custom shop prices. This would just require changing the nut and removing part of the bridge. Anyone done this?

[Steve Conner]

Surely you're going to have to get a new bridge? If you just remove one of the saddles, the others won't be evenly spaced any more. If you find the right kind of bridge, you could drill a bunch of new holes in the back to anchor the saddles in the right places.

Nut and pickups should be no problem, but you'd want to try and get 7-string blade pickups. 6-string ones will be too narrow, and regular 7-string ones will have 7 pole pieces.

I have pretty big fingers too. I can't play an ES-335 style guitar because it's too narrow at the nut: I can never fret just one string without buzzing the others. But a Strat suits me fine, they're considerably wider at the nut than a Gibson-style guitar.

You could have great fun making yourself some kind of Franken-axe out of Warmoth parts.

[earthtonesaudio]

I don't have big fingers, but I've always liked wider fretboards. I got started on classical guitar, so that's probably why.


Might be tricky to align the strings between the tuners and nut slots, but then again it might not be an issue.

[Ronsonic]

When you go to convert a 7 you'll find yourself with a bridge with adjustable saddles that will need to be either replaced or completely re-engineered to spread the six strings evenly. The headstock won't align with anything once you cut the nut.

It's an ugly fix.

You should be able to find a bolt-on neck with a 1-3/4" nut width. I'd go from there. Or find or commission a custom build. It won't be more expensive than starting with something wrong.