Nut change!

[Gillean]

hello everyone!!

need some advice, as usual.

This week my guitar bone nut has been damaged, guess by normal time wear. The D string was buzzing like hell when not fretted.

I made a quick fix with journal paper it worked, real good actually. Bellow follows a foto of my very professional work:

Still, of course I want to do a real fix on it, buy a new nut etc, etc.

What kind of nut would you guys suggest? About the nut change process, any advice? I'm most likely taking the DIY approach.


thanks a lot, gentleman!

 

[JohnnyGoo]

Hell Gillian that was a common fix on my Fathers old 53 Tele lol. You could get one of the Tusq Nuts alot on here use.i got a couple on different guitars.Graphtech makes um. can find um on ebay

 

[donepearce]

Before you get the new nut, try the baking soda and superglue fix. Put baking soda in the slot and a drop of runny superglue on it. An hour later it has set like concrete and you can file a new slot into it.

 

[ninjaking67]

Not trying to dissuade you from donepearce's word of wisdom! Hey i'm sure it works awesome. In my experience a Graphtech Tusq nut is the way to go! They are about $14 here in Canada, not sure about Brazil!

 

[DrBGood]

+1 on the Tusq nut, cheap and easy pro fix.

To take the actual nut off, once the strings are off, tap horizontally with a piece of wood, from the freboard side to the tuners side. It will just pop out. But before you do that, scour a line
with a razor blade at the base of the nut on the tuner side, so you don't pull off some of the headstock top layer with the nut.

To adjust the new nut height, Tusq are usually a tad tall, sand the bottom instead of trying to file down the grooves. Sand paper on a flat surface, nut is dragged accross. Go slow and test often on the guitar.

Glueing back. Wood glue. 2 small drops on the fretboard side of the nut. Either clamp it and wait an hour, or put the strings back on, they will hold it down as it dries.

Have fun.

 

[Bettyboo]

I have a tusq nut, fitted meself, which I'm very happy with; you can't go wrong with a Graphtec, imho. But, I don't see any reason not to give Don's suggestion a try - seems like a good idea; I would...

 

[donepearce]

Not my idea - I claim no credit. This is another of Dan Erlewine's.

 

[DrBGood]

BTW, the Crazy Glue thing. It makes a little pffft when you apply the drop and BAM, it's like concrete right there. No need to wait even for a minute.
You can do the same to repair metal with metal powder. You can actually do it with any fine powder, but it has to be real fine, like baking powder. Haven't tried flour yet, but it might work. For cork sniffers, maybe cocaine works too.

Learned that trick when my mom in law had her IBM Selectric typewriter repaired.
Remember these ?

A teeth at the bottom had broken. The technician reshaped one out of aluminium powder and Crazy Glue. Never broke again.

 

[smitty_p]

Before you get the new nut, try the baking soda and superglue fix. Put baking soda in the slot and a drop of runny superglue on it. An hour later it has set like concrete and you can file a new slot into it.

This DOES work.

I tried it with the plastic nut on my Washburn. I plan on replacing the entire nut soon with a Graphtech, but I did the baking soda/super glue trick a couple of years ago.

Very effective.

 

[Col Mustard]

yes, there is a chemical reaction with the ingredients of the super glue and the baking soda.
That idea does work and allows you to fill in a slot that is too deep. File it with the correct size
luthier's nut-slot file, or DIY with a so called "needle file."

You can also use an old D string of the proper gauge to shape the
slot for the string gauge you intend to use. Pull the string back and forth in the slot after filing.
This can smooth the slot and remove filing burrs. Make sure you keep a clean edge at the fretboard
side of the nut (don't round it off there). We always recommend that you lubricate your nut slots with
graphite or with commercial guitar lube. I use a home made mixture of graphite powder and petroleum
jelly. One tiny dot of this is enough for each slot.

The advantage to doing this method is that you leave the existing nut in the guitar. You don't disturb
the crucial joinery that makes the great Gibson tone. It is a really important part of the guitar. If you
want a new nut, I recommend getting a good luthier to do this job. A really good luthier.

Getting the old nut out of the guitar is sometimes difficult, and the old nut may be destroyed.
On one of my guitars, the luthier had to saw across the old nut and collapse it before it would come out.
I was glad I hired a pro for this. I would have been crying tears of frustration,
and likely damaged my own prized guitar.

The traditional material for making the guitar nut is bone. The man who makes the guitar nut is highly
skilled. Experience is crucial. If you wish to make your own guitar nut out of bone, buy five or six of
the blanks and practice over and over. Then throw them all away and get another one, and try to do it
right. *grins It is not rocket science, but more like an art. A small sculpture, and it can make music.

The art is in making the slots to the correct depth, and to the same radius as the fretboard.
So +1 on the Graph Tech nut made of Tusq. These have most of the artistry pre-done, and require only a
little sanding and filing in order to achieve the correct fit, and the correct slot depth. I have installed these
on three Epiphone guitars, and it was not difficult. Each of the Epi nuts came out easily, after I used a knife
to free the nut from Polyurethane guitar finish.

I used a paint stirring stick and a rubber mallet to tap the old nut out of the Epiphone.

one tap, after scoring the edge to loosen and protect the paint from chipping.

Clean the slot in the guitar VERY CAREFULLY, so not to chip or split the wood, but to remove glue and make
a precise join between the neck, the fretboard and the new nut.
Then sand the new nut just enough to make a snug fit.

not quite right here... sand a little more.

much better.
This nut is one that I bought. It was very close to being correct, and so it saved me from
my clumsy hands, and enabled me to fit my own guitar very precisely. The fit of the nut has
a huge effect on the tone of the guitar, as does the material used. This synthetic is excellent.
And the Epiphone nut was NOT glued in too lavishly. The fact that it popped out easily was a
great relief to me. Good luck with your project. Never forget the luthier's first rule:
PRACTICE ON SCRAP.

 

[DrBGood]

+1 on the Colonel translating to a thousand words and images, what I was trying to say in a few lines.

 

[oldrockfan]

+1 on the baking soda and superglue. I have done it more than once and it for sure works on the original plastic nuts. I have a guitar that was repaired that way about 10 years ago and it is still going strong. Great pics showing removal and installation of a new nut btw

 

[Gillean]

thank you so much guys! I believe I will have to go the DIY method and I will most definitely be following the colonels epic guite to bone replacement.

If I still was in Brazil I would do it with a luthier of my utmost respect and friendship. Thing is, I'm living in Romania now, and I do not know of ANY guitar luthier around. I did some research to no success.

I will post picks when its done!

Wish me luck!