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Post by LTB on Jun 26, 2023 17:33:19 GMT -5
I think the number one suggestion (or warning) have plenty of patience. Take it slow and careful. I have found it very easy to cut too deep. 😒 I’ve had to resort to CA and nut powder a time or two. It’s not a very forgiving process. Or so it has seemed to me. Thank you Larry, yes that is my number one fear. I will be taking it very slowly |
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Nut Files
Jun 27, 2023 15:19:10 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by LTB on Jun 27, 2023 15:19:10 GMT -5
I think the number one suggestion (or warning) have plenty of patience. Take it slow and careful. I have found it very easy to cut too deep. 😒 I’ve had to resort to CA and nut powder a time or two. It’s not a very forgiving process. Or so it has seemed to me. Thank you Larry, yes that is my number one fear. I will be taking it very slowly I bought this and some CA Glue from stewmac. I know I could just use baking powder but i have a couple guitars/Basses woth black nuts also. www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/materials/nuts-and-saddles/nut-rescue-powder/ |
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Post by Larry Madsen on Jun 27, 2023 16:06:39 GMT -5
I bought this and some CA Glue from stewmac. I've seen that powder before. I think on an Erlewine video. Most of mine are black and I have simply sanded down some material to drop into the problem places. On that yellow First Act Pawn Shop project I posted a while back I actually cannibalized the very nut I was fixing. Edited to add: In my defense, this one was cut too deep when I got it. Might have been due to my Warmoth neck swap and the fret board possibly being thicker on the new Warmoth neck. I reused the original nut from the warped First Act neck.  IMG_4699 by Larry Madsen, on Flickr |
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DrKev
Wholenote
It's just a guitar, it's not rocket science.
Posts: 418
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Post by DrKev on Jun 28, 2023 6:58:50 GMT -5
I prefer to shim the nut underneath rather than do a glue'n'powder fix. I soak thin paper strips in super glue and apply to the base of the nut. (The paper from Ernie Ball string wrappers is great). It'll dry rock hard then trim and sand to size. Color with sharpie if you have a black nut. You might see the layers under the nut if you look right at it with your spectacles on, but who ever does that?
The advantage here is you retain the original nut material in every slot. Some people say the superglue and powder trick will still wear faster than the nut itself and is only temporary. Now, I don't know if that's true but shimming underneath means I never need to find out. Yes, if the other slots are all nicely done and finished and you mess up the last one you have spend time recutting every slot. But I don't mind that on my own instruments.
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Post by LTB on Jun 28, 2023 18:00:22 GMT -5
Thanks DrKey, good suggestions.
Ok, I used the new set of Nomad files to correct the pinging and catching of the G string, pinging of the A and B. I found it much easier to work with the the file out of the plastic for what I needed to do (working on where the string exits the nut and on G on the sides of the slot-for the top portion I didn’t need it to be out of the plastic holder handle but was already out).
Anyway Cal-Woody this set easily removes material without roughing up the cut. After checking it out up to tune and seeing it now works very nicely and tuning is right on from 1st fret thru the 12th as intonation is spot on using a Peterson Strobo-Stomp virtual tuner. I now removed the strings, oiled the fretboard and polished the guitar and putting new strings on it (my favorite Elixer Nanoweb Phospher Bronze).
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Post by LTB on Jun 29, 2023 17:18:12 GMT -5
The above post was on my Yamaha Acoustic Electric. This afternoon I pulled my Sire Larry Carlton H7 (ES-335 style) guitar down from the wall and worked on the nut. It was the reason I originally bought the nut files for but found the Yamaha was actually catching the G string then pinging when it would let go so I did it first. I did a couple others as previously mentioned too. Anyway these files make quick work of it so I was very slow and careful. This guitar is good to go. I have the high E on the Yamaha still has some ping so I will get back to it shortly. Also, the nut is tall enough on the H7 that I did not have to remove the file from the plastic handle. These are great files. I only had to use the included brush to clean up and it was smooth enough without sandpaper some mention they use. When I completed it, I tuned up and checked to see if intonation at each fret up to 12th was off and they were fine. Better than the Yamaha even. The Yamaha is one of the few Acoustics I have had where intonation was near perfect. Most of my other Acoustics were kind of cheapish and some were hard to tune.
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Bopper
Wholenote
Motor City USA
Posts: 507
Age: 72
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Post by Bopper on Jun 30, 2023 9:04:50 GMT -5
I used the new set of Nomad files LTB, what exactly did you do? Just a couple passes through the slot (slow and careful) in order to open it up a little? I have a set of StewMac files and I haven't worked up the nerve to use them yet. I have some guitars that really need a little refinement. Thanks. |
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Post by LTB on Jun 30, 2023 14:54:59 GMT -5
Yes on two or three of them but the G and A I put and angle on the back side to allow the string to angle toward the post and slightly downward also. All fine now but the .012 high E string on the Acoustic has a very slight ping so I will have to revisit that one in the next few days. Just work slow, the back side of the nut was not a problem as I was careful not to lower the nut slot on the front half facing the fret board so tuning and intonation were not effected.
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Bopper
Wholenote
Motor City USA
Posts: 507
Age: 72
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Post by Bopper on Jul 1, 2023 9:38:29 GMT -5
Cool - thanks.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 1, 2023 12:54:55 GMT -5
The nut rescue powder is the second best thing I've used. I never feel like I'm handing an inferior piece of work back to a customer. The tuning stability is great, and I've found no downsides to it.
One of the ways to use the powder: if a nut slot seems to be close to where you want it in height but not in shape - wrong width, angled back too far, tuning is weird - build it up slightly with powder, then cut. The final product will have the correct slot and have more original nut material in it than it would if you hit it with the file to try to clean up the slot and then found it to be too low. I had a guitar recently that had a very high nut, but just a little love tap on the slots made the slots too low because the slots were angled back so far and the string was really just dangling on the front edge. Never having to fill a slot is great in theory, but not in practice. The only way around it is to just bid every single job you do with a new bone nut. And even then, sometimes you hit a giant pore in the blank right where the slot needs to be.
The best filler material I've used is a UV cure dental thing I picked up. It is so good, it usually is an upgrade to original nut material, and you could arguably dig too low on every slot and build it up with the stuff and be giving back a superior product. I don't use it too often because it is time consuming, a bit messy, and hard on the files. It is also tricky to use when the top profile of the nut is very low. I mostly use it with angled pegheads, where the strings cinch down on the slots REALLY hard, and it gives great tuning stability/glide. Also sometimes if there is a string that is a particular nuisance and I need to use the best tool available. Most of the time it is just overkill because the nut rescue powder works so well.
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Post by LTB on Jul 2, 2023 15:36:05 GMT -5
The nut rescue powder is the second best thing I've used. I never feel like I'm handing an inferior piece of work back to a customer. The tuning stability is great, and I've found no downsides to it. One of the ways to use the powder: if a nut slot seems to be close to where you want it in height but not in shape - wrong width, angled back too far, tuning is weird - build it up slightly with powder, then cut. The final product will have the correct slot and have more original nut material in it than it would if you hit it with the file to try to clean up the slot and then found it to be too low. I had a guitar recently that had a very high nut, but just a little love tap on the slots made the slots too low because the slots were angled back so far and the string was really just dangling on the front edge. Never having to fill a slot is great in theory, but not in practice. The only way around it is to just bid every single job you do with a new bone nut. And even then, sometimes you hit a giant pore in the blank right where the slot needs to be. The best filler material I've used is a UV cure dental thing I picked up. It is so good, it usually is an upgrade to original nut material, and you could arguably dig too low on every slot and build it up with the stuff and be giving back a superior product. I don't use it too often because it is time consuming, a bit messy, and hard on the files. It is also tricky to use when the top profile of the nut is very low. I mostly use it with angled pegheads, where the strings cinch down on the slots REALLY hard, and it gives great tuning stability/glide. Also sometimes if there is a string that is a particular nuisance and I need to use the best tool available. Most of the time it is just overkill because the nut rescue powder works so well. Thank you for your expertise here. I mainly worked on the back 1/2 of the nut toward the tuning post. |
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Post by LTB on Jul 12, 2023 15:34:53 GMT -5
I got to use the nut files last night. Just something very minor. I took the strings off my Ibanez Artcore AF95 Hollowbody guitar, cleaned, polished and oiled the fretboard. Been over a year and a half with the last 8 months in it’s case. The G string was a little sharp when fretted at the 1st fret so I gently took a little off at a time until it was good then brushed the dust out. All is good now. Who knows, one day I might be able to make my own nut. That diamond impregnated file sure makes quick work of things and didn’t have to take the handle cover off like on the Acoustic with a lower nut on the side of the head.
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