Tags:
@Tres
Your welcome! It was taught to me by a Luthier in a finetuning-a-guitar course :)
@ Travis
What do you want pic's of? The 1st and 2nd fret thing?
I can make a pic, no problem. If you say what you want pic's of i'l see what i can do for you.
The zero fret gives you enough action to slide on if that's what your aiming for depending on what your fretboard to string height is at 12th fret, normal guitar set-up's are usualy high enough to slide on (with medium string's) and still play good for fretting.
If you incist on having a regular nut your in for a whole lot of delicate work.
You take the nut and file very shallow notches in the places you want according to your string spacing. So shallow the string's bearley hold into place and the action is waaaaaaaay to high.
Than you angle the slot downwards at the headstock side so it leaves an allmost sharpe edge at the fingerboard end of the slot.
Put the string in and tune it a little (not to pitch but two or three steps lower), push down on the second fret and hit the note, than while still pushing down at 2nd you push down on the first fret. If the pitch of the note at 2nd goes up the nut is to high and you need to file deeper untill pushing down on the 1st fret doesnt effect the pitch of the note on the 2nd fret. Then tune the string to pitch and check again if 1st doesnt effect 2nd (should be good) correct any pitch problems like you did before and your good to go.
But do remember to keep the correct angle when filing the slot deeper and that its better to file 5-10 times to get to the correct hight than it is to file twice and go to deep.
Bluesdog, where were you four months ago?!?! I had the exact issue on a std 6 string electric and found that the original nut was way to high -- thus the notes closer to the nut were sharp. What you instruct here fixed my problem to a great degree (I still have some to go but I'm debating having to adjust the truss rod). Also I've been angling the slots back towards the head (tuners) to keep the strings from jumping out. My slots are slightly shallow(er) as I understand its best to try to have the slots ~1/2 the depth of the strings (in as much as possible).
Great info!
-WY
Bluesdog said:If you incist on having a regular nut your in for a whole lot of delicate work.
You take the nut and file very shallow notches in the places you want according to your string spacing. So shallow the string's bearley hold into place and the action is waaaaaaaay to high.
Than you angle the slot downwards at the headstock side so it leaves an allmost sharpe edge at the fingerboard end of the slot.
Put the string in and tune it a little (not to pitch but two or three steps lower), push down on the second fret and hit the note, than while still pushing down at 2nd you push down on the first fret. If the pitch of the note at 2nd goes up the nut is to high and you need to file deeper untill pushing down on the 1st fret doesnt effect the pitch of the note on the 2nd fret. Then tune the string to pitch and check again if 1st doesnt effect 2nd (should be good) correct any pitch problems like you did before and your good to go.
But do remember to keep the correct angle when filing the slot deeper and that its better to file 5-10 times to get to the correct hight than it is to file twice and go to deep.
@ Travis
Yes exactley, the zero fret acts as the new nut and you can take your further mesurements from there. For the 1st fret i suggest going to a musicshop and getting one.
If you raise the fretboard a little higher than the rest you might as wel use a normal nut. Raising 1 part of the fretboard means you have to take the fret out if its to high to make that spot on the fretboard lower. If you go to low the fretboard is ruinned
I'd go and buy one ,they shouldnt cost to much (maybe a dollar or 2?) and its just waaaay easier.
@Wes
Uhm..... here i think :P hehehe
On a regular nut yes, than its best for the string's to be halfway in the nut slot (as long as you dont go to low on the fingerboard end of the slot), just be carefull with the sides of the slot if you file the nut slots to wide the string will have room to move from side to side in the nut causing a horrible buzz.
On the thrussrod part, push down on fret one and fret 12 and view the frets and stringheight from the side. Inthe middle you'l see a slight arch or bend in the fretboard. That arch or bend has to be barely deep enough for the slimmest string (the high e) to pas trough under. If there's more room than that you need to adjust the rod.
Just remember to never apply more pressur on the rod than you can with 2 fingers when turning the rod or its possible you'll break it, and take your time doing this! If it takes 2 or three day's to get where you want so be it, repairing a broken trusrod will take you a whole lot longer.
what are you using to slot your nut. if the nut slot is too wide it will allow the string to vibrate in the slot itself and cause a buzz. a good set of nut files are expensive but will help greatly in this area.
A good tip from Ted Crocker is get a set of welder tip cleaners they cost like 3 bucks they"re perfect for making & fixing string slots
Tim said:what are you using to slot your nut. if the nut slot is too wide it will allow the string to vibrate in the slot itself and cause a buzz. a good set of nut files are expensive but will help greatly in this area.
Cool advice, where can I find something like that?? Local hardware store maybe??
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by David L. 1 hour ago. 3 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods 1 hour ago. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods on Wednesday. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray on Monday. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Joe in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Carl Floyd Feb 29. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Chance in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 22. 12 Replies 1 Like
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies 4 Likes
Started by Brad in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 19. 6 Replies 3 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!