Learning to play a musical instrument is already tough on its own, but playing a wrong-sized musical instrument will make things a lot tougher. When learning the guitar, picking the right-sized guitar will go a long way in helping reduce fatigue, injuries, and some possible bad habits. In fact, the perfect size guitar will make the entire guitar learning process a lot more fun and a lot less stressful. Choosing the musical instrument of the right size is just as important as any other step in the learning process.
In this article, I will present to you five wide-neck electric guitars for folks with fat fingers. From personal experience, I can tell you that these electric guitars are just the right guitars for players and aspiring players with big hands. The size of your hands shouldn’t hinder you from achieving your dream of playing the guitar.
quick summary
 | 1. Editor’s Choice of The widest neck electric guitar: Ibanez RGA42FM It comes with an astonishing 15.7 inches fretboard radius on its Wizard III neck. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 2. Best budget Wide fretboard electric guitar: Epiphone SG Special The SlimTaper D neck and 12 inches fretboard radius make it very comfortable for fat fingers. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 3. Best professional wide neck electric guitar: PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22 Over 22-fret extra-wide fret spacing. Excellent sound quality due to high quality pickups and tone-wood. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 4. Best semi-hollow body wide neck electric guitar: Gretsch G2622T The vintage semi-hollow design, it is a great guitar for blues, country, and jazz | Buy on Amazon |
 | 5. Best jumbo frets electric guitar: Ibanez GIO Series GRG121DX Electric It has solid wood build while at a very affordable price. | Buy on Amazon |
Best Wide Neck Electric Guitars Reviewed
Editor’s choice of the widest neck electric guitar: Ibanez RGA42FM
In the guitar world, the name Ibanez will always ring a bell. Ibanez is always the guitar of choice for both world-class and even beginner players. The RGA42FM is what I would call an ultra-wide guitar as it boasts a width of 1.692-inches. Although being quite a big guitar, playability, ergonomics, and fretboard navigation are highly commendable on this big guitar. I would say if you are looking for the widest guitar for gigantic hands, then you should probably put the Ibanez RGA42FM on the top of your wishlist.
Although with an ultra-wide fretboard of 15.7 inches, this guitar is still flat and slim. They built the Ibanez RGA42FM in such a way that it will give you a tremendous amount of reach around the neck. This is one wide-neck electric guitar that I would recommend for players with really big hands. Despite its enormous size, you can still access the fretboard easily because of its sharp double cutaways. To make sure that you hit nothing but the right note regardless of playing speed, it comes with 24 frets spaced over a gigantic 25.5 inches fretboard. This undoubtedly is a good wide-neck electric guitar for fat fingers.
It comes with a wizard III maple neck, flamed maple top, mahogany body, and a beautiful rosewood fretboard. Also, it has off-set white dot inlays and extra-large frets. There is also a black hard case sold differently. Lastly, the Ibanez RGA42FM is such a good fit for metal, rock, punk, and blues.
Pros
- It comes with an astonishing 15.7 inches fretboard radius on its Wizard III neck.
- The neck width of the Ibanez RGA42FM exceeds average while maintaining ultra-playability.
- Comes with dual Quantum humbuckers for roaring sound.
Cons
- Not ideal for all styles of music; used mostly in metal, rock, punk, and blues.
- To some players, it might feel too big at first encounter.
Best budget Wide fretboard electric guitar: Epiphone SG Special
With a very long history in rock-and-roll, the Epiphone SG most times needs no or brief introduction. The SG is quite a popular brand. The Beatles are known to have used the Epiphone SG in many of their songs. The look and finish of the Epiphone SG are not just iconic, but attractive. What seals the deal on this iconic guitar brand is its affordability. While other popular brands like Gibson might be somewhat unaffordable for quite a lot of players, Epiphone steps in as a savior. This is one guitar I will always comfortably recommend to both players with gigantic hands and normal players. Apart from being an iconic brand synonymous with rock-and-roll and a lot of guitar legends, Epiphone still lives up to its long reputation of being an amazing guitar.
Although some upgrades and probably more attention to details might still be a good idea, it is still very hard and almost impossible to find a guitar of this quality in this price range. Although the Epiphone SG has a nut width of 1.68 inches, it still feels a lot wider than other guitars with the same nut width. Because of its wide frets, hitting just the right notes without playing off is quite easy on the Epiphone SG. The playability and overall feel of the SG are top-notch. As for the tone, I would say there is a reason this brand is a favorite of most guitar legends.
The body and neck of the Epiphone are made of mahogany. Also, it has a SlimTaper “D” neck profile and a scale length of 24.75 Inches. It has a fingerboard “dot” inlays and a bolt-on w/tapered heel neck joint with 4-bolt recessed. It also has the following controls: 1 master volume, 1 master-tone with KillPot. The SG is fitted with a LockTone Tune-O-Matic bridge, a 650R humbucker neck pickup. Lastly, it comes with a 700T humbucker bridge pickup.
Pros
- Although known as a classic guitar, it comes at a very affordable price.
- Perfect for players of all levels.
- It comes with a spring-return KillPot for on-board staccato effects.
- The SlimTaper D neck and 12 inches fretboard radius make it very comfortable for fat fingers and wide playing.
Cons
- Some parts may need minor readjustment/repair after purchase, as quality control does not do an excellent job in checking for issues like this.
Best professional Wide neck electric guitar: PRS Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22
Although not the cheapest guitar in the market, the PRS is worth every dollar and cent on its price tag. When it comes to versatility and solid-sounding guitars, the PRS always makes it to the list. It doesn’t matter what genre or style you are playing; the PRS is always a good fit. The PRS is an ultra-slim guitar, and it gradually widens from normal to wide as you keep going higher up the fretboard. It has 22 frets which are spread over a 25-inch scale. The PRS gives you plenty of space between frets and therefore it is such a good fit for people with big hands. With the PRS, you won’t always hit the wrong notes.
It comes with a beveled maple top with a flame maple veneer. It also has mahogany back, with a wide thin maple neck, and rosewood fretboard. Also, it comes with stunning bird inlays, 25 inches of scale length, and 22 frets. It has a PRS patented tremolo bridge, PRS designed tuners and nickel hardware. It also features PRS 85/15 “S” bridge and neck pickups respectively, volume and tone control with a 3-Way toggle pickup switch. Lastly, it includes a PRS Padded Gig Bag. the PRS would do pretty well on genres like rock, metal, jazz, blues, and even pop.
Pros
- Very versatile.
- It has quite an impressive sound because of its high-quality pickups and tone-wood.
- For high-speed players, the wide thin neck is such a good fit.
- Extra-wide fret spacing with over 22 frets.
Cons
- Just a few can afford
- The quality control team might fail to do their jobs sometimes.
Best semi-hollow body wide neck electric guitar: Gretsch G2622T
Not only does this sound great, but it also looks eye-catching. The G2622T Streamliner is a very versatile and sweet-sounding mid-range semi-hollow body guitar. Personally, when it comes to hollow and semi-hollow body guitars, Gretsch remains one of those brands I can always comfortably recommend. Apart from the fact that this is a pretty good guitar for fat fingers, I also love its versatile tonal characteristics. It doesn’t matter if you are playing jazz, blues, rock, soul, gospel, or country, this guitar will most likely get things done for you.
If you are looking for a semi-hollow body guitar that sounds great and also good for fat fingers, then this is the guitar for you. The neck of the G2622T is slightly longer and wider than average. They build the thin neck of the Gretsch in such a way that it will spread your palm to flow just perfectly with the fretboard. Another feature that makes this guitar a good fit for fat fingers is its string spacing. The strings are spaced in such a way that however big your hands are, you will still find this comfortable. Also, fret spacing is quite broad and free. These features make it a good wide-neck electric guitar for fat fingers.
The Gretsch’s body is made of laminated maple. The neck is Nato, thin “U” and the fingerboard is laurel with a length of 12 inches (305 mm). Lastly, the bridge is an anchored Adjusto-Matic while the tailpiece is Bigsby B70.
Pros
- The thin “U” neck shape brings a perfect balance between reach and grip
- Because of the vintage semi-hollow design, it is a great guitar for blues, country, and jazz
- The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and Adjusto-Matic bridge are such amazing features
Cons
- Although a very versatile kind of guitar, it is still not as versatile as its solid-body counterparts.
Best Jumbo frets electric guitar: Ibanez GIO Series GRG121DX
This is a simple but beautiful electric guitar for fat fingers. This Ibanez model comes with 24 jumbo frets. The jumbo frets mean your fingers, however big they are, will have a lot of space to play around. If you are looking for a moderate price electric guitar for fat fingers, then I would recommend this.
One thing that made me include this guitar is the price tag. The price tag on this guitar is unbeatable, it features nice pickups, a solid mahogany body, and a maple neck.
Pros
- Comes with jumbo frets
- The solid wood build makes it quite versatile
- Economical price
- Sharktooth inlays
Cons
- You may need to do some minor adjustments such as restringing, setting the action on arrival.
- It comes with a fixed bridge; this means it is impossible to add a whammy bar..
Wide Neck Electric Guitar for Fat Fingers Buying Guide
How Are Wide Neck Guitars Different From Normal Neck Guitars?
The nut width of most standard guitars will between 1.61 inches and 1.75 inches. The most common ones have a nut width of about 1.73 inches. Wide-neck guitars have a nut width of between 1.8 inches and 1.85 inches.
How to choose wide neck Guitar based on Style Of Music/Play?
When choosing a wide-neck electric guitar for fat fingers, consider how versatile the guitar is. If you are a professional session guitarist that plays a variety of styles, it wouldn’t be such a great idea to choose an electric guitar that fits just a single style. For example, semi-hollow and hollow-body guitars have become synonymous with genres like jazz and blues. The rounded, clean, vintage, and bold tone of these types of guitars makes it a perfect fit for blues and jazz. It is quite rare to see a metal or rock guitarist using a semi-hollow body kind of guitar. So when choosing your wide-neck electric guitar, think about the style of music you play and choose accordingly.
If you play a wide variety of styles and genres, choose a type of guitar that is a little more versatile and not genre-specific. The Epiphone SG Special is a good example of a type of guitar that is good for all genres. Also, the popular Gibson ES335, although a hollow-body guitar, is good for most genres of music. Lastly, also consider if you are going to be the sole player of your guitar. Ask yourself if a friend or maybe your kid will ever need to play your wide-neck guitar too. Even though most wide-neck electric guitars can be played by all, it is still wise to choose that which can really be played by all – if you think there will ever be a need. For instance, I know a few guitar players who find the Ibanez RGA42FM somewhat hard to play.
Which types of pickups suit me better?
Most beginner types of guitars will come with 3 single-coil pickups. Single coil guitar pickups are perfect if you are aiming for very clean sounds like in jazz and blues. However, they are not your best options if you’re going to be playing with some form of distortions like in rock and metal.
On the other hand, if you are going to play around with some distortion, you will need to get a guitar that has a humbucker or double coil pickup on it. A humbucker pickup has 2 pickups side-by-side and having these two pickups side-by-side, reduces noises and hums in the guitar. The hambucker is the best fit for users of heavy distortions.
There are also humbuckers that are covered by a metal plate. Inside of the metal case/cover, there are still 2 pickups side-by-side. With these, you will still get the humbucker noise-canceling effect.
Do You Need A Tremolo for your guitar?
If you are a beginner, I would not really recommend getting a guitar with a tremolo. If you can’t use your tremolo properly, you might end up having a lot of tuning issues with your electric guitar. I have seen a lot of beginner players struggle with this. I struggled with it when I first started out playing the guitar as well. On the contrary, if you are a more seasoned player, you should also consider the type of tremolo that comes with the guitar before buying.
There is a very basic type of tremolo and another which is known as the roller-style or Bigsby-style tremolo. The worst type of tremolo system for beginners and even some seasoned players is the Floyd Rose or double floating style tremolo. With this type of tremolo, if any of the strings go out of tune, the whole guitar will go out of tune. So, always consider the type of tremolo before buying your wide-neck electric guitar.
Conclusion and Winner
After putting factors such as versatility, affordability, the width of the neck, and pickup into consideration, I came out with two winners. The first winner in my opinion beats it all. Budget-wise, it is hard for any other guitar on this list (after considering the features) to beat it. The width of the neck and fretboard spacing is just perfect for any fat fingers. Above all, it is a very versatile type of guitar that you can use in almost every genre and style. The winner is none other but the Epiphone SG Special. Although popular with rock-and-roll, the SG special is still a good fit for other genres and styles ranging from metal to blues. The price is reasonably fair considering the features and reputation. The SG is one electric guitar I will comfortably recommend to folks with fat fingers.
Lastly, the PRS Paul Reed Smith comes second. Although not the cheapest guitar on this list, trust me, it is worth every dollar and cent on its price tag. Again, this is a very versatile kind of guitar with top-quality pickups and tonewoods. With 22 frets, which are spread over a 25-inch scale, the PRS gives you plenty of space between frets, thus making it is such a good fit for people with big hands.
Last update on 2023-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
