New Nut Day

If you want to do this kind of job, do it well. You'll be disappointed otherwise.

Sanding blocks - she is using thin pieces of wood, and they will not stay flat. Use MDF, and use finished edge pieces that come with a good right angle. I cut mine from a 2.5" kitchen worktop.

If you are trying to sand at right angles, don't use a sanding block so thin it forces you to estimate a right angle. Thick MDF holds the right angle for you
If you are sanding down the bottom of the nut, hold it against a right angle and keep turning it round so you don't over-sand one end.

When you are thinning the nut to fit the slot, don't coarse-sand to final size. Have a bit of patience and use fine sandpaper for the last few thou. It should have just enough grip not to fall out of the slot.

Press the nut into the slot, then hold a torch at the far end and try to see light under the nut. There should be none. If there is, and you have sanded the nut square, the slot needs more work. File the bottom corners off the nut because you won't get perfectly square corners in the slot.

Finally when you glue it in, a couple of small dots of PVA are all you need, and put them on the face that touches the fretboard, not on the underside.
 
DonP said:
If you want to do this kind of job, do it well. You'll be disappointed otherwise.

Sanding blocks - she is using thin pieces of wood, and they will not stay flat. Use MDF, and use finished edge pieces that come with a good right angle. I cut mine from a 2.5" kitchen worktop.

If you are trying to sand at right angles, don't use a sanding block so thin it forces you to estimate a right angle. Thick MDF holds the right angle for you
If you are sanding down the bottom of the nut, hold it against a right angle and keep turning it round so you don't over-sand one end.

When you are thinning the nut to fit the slot, don't coarse-sand to final size. Have a bit of patience and use fine sandpaper for the last few thou. It should have just enough grip not to fall out of the slot.

Press the nut into the slot, then hold a torch at the far end and try to see light under the nut. There should be none. If there is, and you have sanded the nut square, the slot needs more work. File the bottom corners off the nut because you won't get perfectly square corners in the slot.

Finally when you glue it in, a couple of small dots of PVA are all you need, and put them on the face that touches the fretboard, not on the underside.
Click to expand...
Don... Do you have a link to a preferred video of the techniques you have just described?
 
DonP said:
She's sloppy. Her technique for squaring is inaccurate, and those clearance numbers are nonsense. There should be no clearance. The height of the nut should be identical to that of a fret at that location - in other words perfectly aligned with all the other frets.

What she has replicated is the kind of setup you get from the factory, before a decent tech has done a proper setup job for you.
Click to expand...

DonP said:
If you want to do this kind of job, do it well. You'll be disappointed otherwise.

Sanding blocks - she is using thin pieces of wood, and they will not stay flat. Use MDF, and use finished edge pieces that come with a good right angle. I cut mine from a 2.5" kitchen worktop.

If you are trying to sand at right angles, don't use a sanding block so thin it forces you to estimate a right angle. Thick MDF holds the right angle for you
If you are sanding down the bottom of the nut, hold it against a right angle and keep turning it round so you don't over-sand one end.

When you are thinning the nut to fit the slot, don't coarse-sand to final size. Have a bit of patience and use fine sandpaper for the last few thou. It should have just enough grip not to fall out of the slot.

Press the nut into the slot, then hold a torch at the far end and try to see light under the nut. There should be none. If there is, and you have sanded the nut square, the slot needs more work. File the bottom corners off the nut because you won't get perfectly square corners in the slot.

Finally when you glue it in, a couple of small dots of PVA are all you need, and put them on the face that touches the fretboard, not on the underside.
Click to expand...


I agree, Don. I found the video how-to definitely lacking in precision and that it glossed over how proper side to side placement is determined due to her nut fitting exactly. What about the nuts that are wider than the nut slot? Also in regards to your statement on nut string slots/ string height aligned perfectly with all the other frets, doesn't it make sense to set the guitar up with a straight neck, make sure frets are level and then proceed to sand bottom,adjust, trim, cut and file etc the nut string slots? I mean I can see those measurements as maybe a guide or baseline for an unglued nut, then fine tune from there.
 
Yes. Woke up to all the local birdies yelling their heads off in the tree outside my window. Won't get back to sleep with all that going on, so now I'm up and awake.

And 4:15
 
Don,That is what I suspected. That happens to me as well. I was also pretty sure it was 4:15 and UK doesn't do Spring forward like we do in the Md Atlantic etc.
 
OK, keeping you and Ivan straight is not too hard. He is something like 14-16 hours ahead of me, and you are 5.

Just checked Brisbane, and they are 14 ahead. Sydney is 16 i believe
 
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I don't agree with messing with the clocks - it doesn't actually win you anything. I've heard it compared to cutting six inches off one end of a blanket and sewing it back on the other end.
 
DonP said:
I don't agree with messing with the clocks - it doesn't actually win you anything. I've heard it compared to cutting six inches off one end of a blanket and sewing it back on the other end.
Click to expand...

Arizona does not observe time change...
 
LOL Don. Try sleeping with a short woman who sleeps with her head 1/3 the way down the bed and if you want your blankets at shoulder level, it would cover her whole face and restrict breathing.
maybe your shortened blanket trick would work in reverse if 1/2 blanket was chopped shorter n sewn at the bottom. :offtopic: lol we're nuts. now back on topic
 
Now where were we? Oh yeah, NUTZ.

I am serious now, If you have a recommendation on a fool proof method for determining the left to right, dead on proper positioning of a pre-slotted guitar nut, could you post suggestions?
I can figure out installing a virgin unslotted one, but how does one align the ones with precut slots exactly as should be and not off line with the neck and pups etc?

I only did one, and it was for my blind friend on his DOT with the broken off Head. He proceeded to tell me it would not stay in tune so he took to Luthier and had a bone one cut and installed.
 
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