neck tapering

[blackjack]

why does the neck get wider nearer the body?

[truerussian558]

because the string spread at the nut is less then the string spread at the bridge, so if you want to maintain the same distance from the edge of the string to the edge of the fretboard the whole way down the neck, it needs to be tapered, otherwise if the neck was the same width the whole down, it would either be tofar from the edge of the fb to the strigs at the top or the strings would leave the fretboard,

and as a side note, people have a smaller string spread at the nut because imagine trying to fret strings that are 1/2 an inch apart, or trying to pick strings that are way to close together