Note: Here I have listed some of the best guitars for large hands out there to pick from after testing them out myself. The reviews contain detailed information along with relevant pros and cons. If you think you have hands that are too big for playing the guitar there are some great options personalised to your needs.
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Have you ever thought to yourself – “Man, my life would be so much better if my hands were just a little smaller”. This is a super common question that guitar players ask me all the time so I decided to make a buyer’s guide, once and for all, to address the question for my fellow music enthusiasts with big hands.
Things to know
Why go for a Broad Neck Guitar?
Every type of hand has a guitar made for them that gives you an advantage over the others for optimal playability. In this article, I’ve compiled broad neck guitar manufactured to give your large hands a comfortable grip and feel while playing.
Tips for buying
If you have large hands but short fingers, you can go with a narrow neck guitar with sufficient string spacing but if you have large hands and thin/long fingers, you need to go for a wider neck guitar.
I’ve gone through some of the most impressive and influential guitars, excellent for those with bigger hands trying to learn the guitar. Above, I’ve noticed several guitars varying from acoustic to electric to classic. Of course, the guitar you prefer will likely depend on the technique that you intend to play.
So, tested 11 guitars and decided that this Cordoba C4-CE is the best guitar for large hands for most uses.
So without further ado, let’s find your perfect match!
Related Blog: 11 Best Wide Neck Electric Guitars For Fat Fingers | 1.68+ Inches
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Here are the Best guitars for large hands
Value for Money
Traditional guitars are known for having a lot more extensive fretboards when all is said and done. This guitar will offer you an extraordinary style of music. Be that as it may, the tone of an old-style guitar is excellent and can be an incredible ally for fingerstyle acoustic.
How does it sound?
The soundboard is responsive and permits you to have a decent tone and volume when performing unplugged. You also have the option to plug it in and perform for a crowd.
It uses a customary old-style work with fan propping, highlighting a tidy top with mahogany back and sides. Feel, for example, a conventional rosette and dark ABS restricting are likewise joined.
How does it feel?
A Pau Ferro bridge grapples the nylon strings to the body. This Cordoba is worked from regular wood and highlights a solid mahogany top on this beautiful edge burst cutaway guitar. It feels like a stable and sturdy guitar.
Pros
- More extensive fretboard than typical acoustic or electric
- Brilliant tone and sensible support
- Amazing price for what you’re getting
- Great volume
Cons
- Old style guitar – may not suit some genres
Related blog: The Best Guitars With Low Action | Ultimate Guide
Premium Choice
This wonderful Seagull acoustic is worked with a wild cherry body, rosewood fretboard and a maple neck. It has a nice solid that is neither too warm nor excessively bright, with generally excellent resonance.
How does it sound?
The guitar offers a rich sound with a wide power range. But, the genuine reason this guitar is on the outline is that it flaunts a broad fretboard. As I referenced over, this element is incredibly valuable to those with large hands, since it gives you more space to play with on the fretboard.
This reasonably valued instrument is exceptionally regarded for its tone, support, and capacity to hold its tuning, settling on it is a perfect decision for you.
How does it feel?
Styled with semi-gloss finish, the Seagull Guitars S6 Original is a full-sized man of war acoustic guitar made with a select string cedar top, Canadian wild cherry back and sides and an exceptionally cleaned finish.
All things considered, it’s appropriate for solo entertainers or instrumentalists who play with a full band. The S6 Original highlights a set-in neck that uses a 1.8″ nut width, just as a tightened headstock for straight string pull, and a twofold capacity bracket framework, which twists in the two bearings and permits the neck to be balanced precisely, regardless of whether it is under-bowed or over-bowed.
Pros
- Rich sound with wide power range
- Top craftsmanship
- Holds the tuning for longer times
Cons
- Cedar top could scratch easily
An advanced baritone that will unquestionably overwhelm you. The ABT60 is an individual from the Alvarez Artist ’60 Series.
How does it sound?
The tone of the instrument possibly improves altogether when the entire guitar is fabricated effectively to truly discharge the vitality a strong soundboard can produce. The Artist Series is worked to do specifically this.
The sound is warm, clear, and incredible, and both the treble and bass registers are present and adjusted according to one another. These guitars feel right and are energizing to play and responsive.
How does it feel?
The entirety of the parts is made of natural materials. Baritone acoustics is something of an innovation. Utilising changed bracing and dimensions, you can achieve a very surprising acoustic cover. Somewhere close to a conventional acoustic and a low pitch guitar as far as pitch and tuning, Baritone acoustics give a profound yet smooth tone that is hypnotising.
Give this guitar a play, pluck, or twang and you’ll be shipped to a different universe of sound. In case you’re searching for something unique, this may very well be it.
Pros
- Broad and wide Rosewood fingerboard
- Premium, shiny completion Dovetail neck joint
- Quality mahogany back and sides
Cons
- Requires volume when unplugged
Yamaha’s F335 gives you that great gunboat shape and sound at a value point that won’t break your bank. Gold pass on cast tuners gives smooth and exact tuning while a tortoiseshell pick guard gives more style.
How does it sound?
Appropriate for solo execution or playing with a full band, the F335 uses a recently evolved scalloped supporting plan which brings about a ground-breaking and offset acoustic sound with more grounded lows and mids than its predecessor.
How does it sound?
This Yamaha is a full-sized conventional battleship style acoustic guitar made with a strong tidy top, and flamed maple back. The F335 highlights a neck with a smooth matte completion for ease in playing and is furnished with a lot of chrome pass on cast tuners on the headstock.
Pros
- Convenient Gunboat shape
- Great build quality
Cons
- The case is sold separately
Related blog: The Best Guitars For Fingerstyle | Ultimate Guide
The AEG12II from Ibanez is a full-size acoustic/electric guitar produced using mahogany with a characteristic high gloss finish. The thin, single-cutaway body conveys an amazing and adjusted acoustic sound. Unplugged or intensified, the instrument is appropriate for solo performance or performing with a full band.
How does it sound?
The AEG12II is furnished with a Fishman Sonicore pickup, and an Ibanez AEQ-SP1 preamp. It comes set up with D’Addario EXP-16 covered phosphor bronze, light strings which just makes the sound brilliant, right out the box.
How does it feel?
The AEG12II is made of mahogany top, neck, back, and sides. The body has a high gloss finish, while the neck has a smooth glossy silk finish for an agreeable vibe. The fingerboard and extension are both made of rosewood. Other improving highlights incorporate an abalone sound hole rosette and ivory body.
Another fascinating component of this guitar is its slender body and neck. As I referenced above, a neck gives you more space to move around and can be particularly helpful for novice guitar players with huge hands.
Pros
- A slim body is incredible for amateurs
- Built-in tuner
- Acoustic/electric is incredible for any event
- Quality pickups and Ibanez preamps
Cons
Slight buzzing yet can be effectively balanced
Ibanez has gained notoriety for quality guitars at wallet agreeable costs and the AEG arrangement is a great example of an all-rounder guitar with enough profundity of tone and character to speak to experienced players.
How does it sound?
Worked from mahogany with a tidy top this is a quality instrument and it comes furnished with a pickup to precisely and steadfastly catch the tone of your playing in a live, enhanced environment. With a minimised body and simple to-deal with neck shape, the AEG10II has a playability one of a kind to Ibanez. It will, without a doubt, be mesmerising to hear in front of an audience or at home.
How does it feel?
AEG Series’ slim, single-cutaway bodies convey incredible and adjusted acoustic sound, unplugged or through an amp or PA framework. These guitars join simple playability, great strength, and sunburst completions, and mahogany bodies with tidy tops to make a quality, workhorse acoustic guitar that will meet the challenge at hand.
Pros
- Great for both beginner and advanced players
- Amazing quality guitar
Cons
- Battery life may be a problem
This is a ‘Battleship’- body style guitar with a greater body, greater sound and high volume acoustic guitar. The fretboard is overall quite broad for those fat-finger folk.
How does it sound?
With its huge, striking sound the Blueridge BR-180 will genuinely impress any guitarist. That is, of course, what you should expect for the price that you pay for the guitar.
How does it feel?
The Blueridge BR-180 includes a select and uncommon strong Adirondack tidy top with hand-cut. The guitar likewise includes a top-notch strong East Indian rosewood back and sides and abalone pearl on all the body edges and the sound hole rosette.
Blueridge guitars highlight a conventional dovetail neck joint, thin mahogany neck, customisable bracket pole, and Kluson-style tuning machines. This one in particular is a refreshed instrument for a more modern feel.
Pros
- Shiny gloss finish with gently matured top completion
- Great sound range
Cons
- Can be expensive
As the Ibanez guitars will in general provide a more extensive fretboard and bigger frets, this is one more delightful Ibanez to add to your list.
How does it sound?
This guitar is an exceptional semi-empty electric, permitting it an extremely one of a kind sound and great resonance.
This guitar and its Sonicore pickups are extremely adaptable for various styles of music. While the sound can be a piece twangy when the volume is excessively high, you can move back the volume and modify it on the amp to make the sound you need.
How does it feel?
With a Sapele body, mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard, this guitar has a lovely tone and an astounding feel.
Pros
- Good hollow-body for big hands
- Unique design and style
- Versatile tone and pickups
Cons
- No notable cons
A charming acoustic-electric guitar; this model has brilliance, mid-range, and low-end tone. It is all that you could need in a guitar – and sadly, it costs each piece that it’s worth.
How does it sound?
The tone of this guitar is untouched muscle. Takamine doesn’t exactly have the name noticeable quality of Taylor, Martin, or Gibson, yet this guitar can rival anything out there.
How does it feel?
The neck width of this guitar is 1 – 7/8 inches. It’s made of a strong warm tidy top, a strong Sapele body, strong Sapele sides, a mahogany neck, a midnight fingerboard, and it has a gleaming finish. Bottomline – it possesses amazing feel and playability.
This guitar is reasonable for all types of music. If you need something that kicks, consider this one.
Pros
- Strong Sapele Sides, Mahogany Neck
- Strong Thermal Spruce Top
- Provides great playability
Cons
- No case is included, which is disappointing for the price
As the name suggests, this guitar is a hybrid between a guitar and a ukulele. This guitar is on the list for those who are looking for a smaller-sized guitar that still accommodates large fingers like a champ.
How does it sound?
Do not be discouraged by this guitar’s size. The ukulele and guitar combo offers decent sound for such a small body guitar.
How does it feel?
It has a more extensive session, and somewhat longer neck, and is tuned like a guitar capo-ed at the fifth fret. All of which permit it to deal with the lower bass strings flawlessly. With the nylon strings and shorter fret separating, the fingering is no issue; the additional room between the strings feels significantly less confined than the necks on other hybrids.
Pros
- Super reasonable
- Best Travel guitars for players with big hands
Cons
- Not a regular-sized guitar
- Requires repetitive tuning
- Known to sound flat
The GIO series was created for players who need Ibanez quality at a progressively reasonable price. This charming electric guitar highlights 24 jumbo frets, which means your fingers will have a lot of room to move around.
How does it sound?
In case you’re searching for the best electric guitar for large hands, this is perhaps one of the most ideal choices.
For electronics, this guitar is arranged with a pair of IBZ-6 humbucking neck and bridge pickups, along with a 5-way selector switch, individual volume, and pitch controls. The controls and pickups offer a broad range of colors that strengthen the wood’s rich harmonics and are receptive to the player’s fretting and culling dynamics.
How does it feel?
A guitar doesn’t need to cost a group to sound great – and this guitar is the ideal example for that statement. In addition to the fact that they look and play extremely well, their set-up, and guarantee are equivalent to Ibanez’s progressively costly models.
Moreover, the sticker price on this guitar can’t be beaten! This guitar, in the price range, includes sustainable pickups, with a strong mahogany body, and a maple neck.
Pros
- Sharktooth inlays
- Jumbo frets
- Strong wooden assembly at a reasonable price
- Comes in three unique colors
Cons
- Can’t accommodate a whammy bar
Related blog: The Best Thin Neck Acoustic Guitars For Small Hands
How we Pick & Test our Guitars
For me, regular-sized guitar is just right so I had to take the help of some peers for this test who have larger hands and fingers. A simple search on the internet will give you tonnes of lookalike lists about guitars for large hands, many constructed of cheap & non-durable materials. So, my criteria while creating this list were:
- Guitars with a wider nut width
- Has a good string spacing, a wider fretboard
- Slightly larger body for better playability
- Affordable guitars by popular brands
- Available on renowned marketplaces with a good return policy
During the test, I would ask them to play a song from start to finish and see if they would make a mistake, and ask them the reason for it. I would note down if it was because of the insufficient space between the frets or string.
These 11 guitars felt the most comfortable to them and I ranked them according to their individual pros and cons after extensive research.
Small disclaimer: I can bet my money on these guitars sounding great but I also recommend going down to a local music shop and testing it out yourself because guitars aren’t one-size-fits-all, you might find out a guitar that fits your body type perfectly.
What is a Broad-Neck Guitar?
If you don’t have lumberjack style hands, an ordinary guitar neck may permit you to skim along the strings somewhat easily. However, broad-neck steel-string acoustic guitars are fairly rare. Broad guitar necks are characterised as those whose diameter is around 1 and 7/8″ or 47.6 mm.
Are Broad Neck Guitars Easier to Play for Big Hands?
Relying on how comfortable guitars feel on your hand can be beneficial to you as a guitar player in many ways. if you have big hands as well as fat fingers, at that point indeed, a broader neck can help – particularly with specific chords.
If you have fat fingers and big hands, a more smaller neck can make it harder to play, say a bar chord. Be that as it may, there are reasons why old-style guitars have broader necks, and it assists with that kind of playing.
Playing guitar with Big Hands is not a huge problem
One of the most widely recognised issues that learner guitarists experience is the “fat finger” issue. But the fact is that 95% of the time, this is a genuine issue only for beginners. The video above addresses this issue very well and drops some great tips if you are struggling with this problem. Regardless of whether they have short and fat fingers or long and thin ones, beginners will consistently experience issues with getting used to holding the instrument comfortably. But eventually get it right.
So give yourself a fair amount of time to adjust to playing the guitar and you will most probably make peace with your music partner.
Conclusion
This may seem completely obvious, but if you’re considering buying a guitar for someone else with big hands, avoid getting something cheap, without doing your research – this type of instrument won’t be so good for a player, no matter what size hands they have.
All the guitars given above will help you to choose the best guitar for large hands, as every guitarist needs something explicit and is searching for a perfect guitar that fits their mood and hands.
Did I miss any of your favourite guitars for big hands? Let me know in the comments below!
Cedric Philips
Hey there, I am Cedric and I've been playing guitar professionally for 9+ years. I also work in a music shop so I can get my hands on a lot of different guitars. And so, I like to share my take on these fantastic instruments here. Cheers!
Open chords are a great way to get started for someone with large hands, but they require that you have the most basic knowledge of guitar technique.
Please posting regularly since I truly like your blog site.
Thanks!