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I Was Going "Nuts"....!

...it's ok, i'm not losing my sanity, though one aspect of my builds has been a hard nut to crack - that is, the humble "nut" - the one you glue into the neck/headstock assembly, be it bolt, bone or wood, this little detail can adversely affect the sound of your guitar if you get it wrong, the devil is in the detail they say, and here i will pass on my findings surrounding the apparent mystery of this little gem.

I am not a production line builder, all my projects are one - offs, i don't build for clients, besides they would be horrified at some of the "correction" and "modification" scars all over my models, i build for sound but like to have a little fun with themes, ideas that come up to make them stand out from the crowd - so far i have tackled 10 or 11 or so of these, but the nut thing has never really worked out and has been a constant source of frustration and fiddling...until now!

I have always preferred BONE as the best material for a sturdy and responsive nut, i tried everything else but never been happy with the result, it's easy to shape, sand and cut, but brittle - that is it's "strength", revealing every little nuance between string and neck, the problem was getting the string slots exactly the right width for each string so as to avoid that Sitar-like signature buzzy whine sound that means the string is rattling around in a badly cut slot!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280583824102?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&...

As proper Luthier tools are unbelievably exclusive and expensive i used all sorts of saws to try and cut the slots - all ending up needing bits of paper to stop the buzz and losing some sensitivity in the process, i even tried some "special" files designed for other applications but they were always too thick or floppy. After wasting another afternoon's recording messing about with curing buzzies i later found an interesting item on ebay, namely " Axemasters Guitar Nut Slot File Set Kit" from the U.S.A. - this little kit includes a set of small round rigid files perfectly sized to cut string slots, each to be placed in a mini-fret saw...

This little kit seemed worth investigating, i found they did a set of saw bits seperately so bought this, and finding an ordinary adjustable Jeweller's Fret Saw, much cheaper, to fit them in...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360405443373

I received the saw bits in just over a week, they fitted into the Jeweller's saw perfectly but three of them seemed a little too big for my Super Slinkys, i use 32-24-16-11 for my builds, the three thinnest saw rods seemed the most suitable so i experimented with a spare bit of nut and the results were very encouraging - perfectly round and evenly cut slots!

I brought three of my guitars down for surgery, tapping off the old nut on each and installing the new cut-to-size blanks, i adapted my bench vice with wooden buffers to hold the blanks in position while i cut the slots, lightly scoring with a triangular needle file first. I cut each slot according to string size, trying not to make the slots too deep - i remember some esteemed Luthier writing that low strings should sit "on" the nut and high thin strings should sit "in" the nut.

Anyway i glued the new nut in place using superglue (aaaaggh! ...i almost hear the CBG Cognoscenti cringing..but it works! ), replaced the strings and...Bingo!....perfectly balanced strings with no buzz whatsoever! I finished the other two guitars and after much testing decided this would be the way to "do my nut" in future, after i've adjusted my other builds of course! (-:

The files cost about 10 GBP plus postage, the Jewellers Fret Saw 6.49 GBP.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 29, 2012 at 4:05am

Steve,

This is a great Discussion! You should repost it over in the Special Tools Discussion Group, too.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on April 29, 2012 at 4:14am

yeah i 'spose so, good thinkin' Batman...! (-:

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Permalink Reply by Paul Smith on April 29, 2012 at 4:17am

Thanks for this Steve, as a newbie builder I find this very helpful...

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Permalink Reply by wes carl on April 29, 2012 at 6:51am

never used one Steve but it looks worth the effort thanks for the info

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Permalink Reply by bizzaro guitaro on April 30, 2012 at 5:38am

Nice saw,good way to make slots.Where do you buy the bone blanks? I see them in guitar stores but the prices are nuts!

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on April 30, 2012 at 6:18am

a guy on ebay - i think i left a link up there, he's doing "buy one get one free" atm (-:

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Permalink Reply by bizzaro guitaro on April 30, 2012 at 7:00am

Thank's, I see your link has the info I need. missed it the first time.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on April 30, 2012 at 6:56am

You can just use a clipping off a string under tension, fits perfect.. (obviously)
;)

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on April 30, 2012 at 7:09am

My way sure has hell ain`t the pro way but i just use a nut file to start the slot and the break out my dremel with a diamond wheel cut -off bit to to the actuall slot. Of coarse my bone blanks are still in the rough [ i make my own...have plenty ]. But bone sands easy to shape it and to give it that smooth as glass feel.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on April 30, 2012 at 10:14am

that's a lotta nuts...! when i die i'll donate my body bones to Cigar Box Guitar research...! (-;

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Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on May 2, 2012 at 6:06am

I go by the Jim Frets method of gauging slot depth...lay a dime on the fretboard up against the nut...slot down to the top of the dime. It may not be the pro way of doing it...but for what were building there is no pro way....lol.

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Permalink Reply by Walter Cengia on May 1, 2012 at 9:32am

Hi guys, if I may just ad that a common error of home guitar builders when installing the nut is to file the string slots parallel to the neck which causes the string to buzz in the slot instead of filing it slightly downward toward the head stock.

regards to all

Walt