Is this a wise choice for gluing nut

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by handers

Guitar nuts and saddles do not need to be glued. This isn't necessary and only serves to complicate matters when you want to adjust the height or change nuts.

Through saddles on Martins are glued as a matter of course, and many, probably most, guitar techs would recommend that all drop in saddles would benefit from being glued in .. with hide glue, of course, not superglue.

As far as nuts are concerned, it is accepted throughout the luthiery fraternity that the correct approach is a drop of glue on the front of the nut. White glue or superglue ...it doesn't matter.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by handers

... NEVER use superglue on any part of the guitar.....

That's completely wrong and really bad advice to be giving.

CA (super/crazy) glue is a preferred adhesive for crack repairs and drop filling minor dings.

Some will use a tiny drop to hold the nut - I prefer no glue or elmers white glue only.

[jpbat]

Originally Posted by handers

I hope this was meant in sarcasm. NEVER use superglue on any part of the guitar.
hans

I was dead serious, but you're free to think otherwise.

Superglue or similar are used on guitars in a lot of situations, specially finish repair.
I personally prefer CA type glue for a nut because it cures faster than white or carpenter glue, and the nut will be removed easily when needed. As already said, a *small* drop is the thing.
And (I repeat...) actually when making a new nut for a guitar, I don't even pull out the superglue, the strings are keeping the nut in place just fine.

[Neil K Walk]

While CA glue is certainly not a good choice for installing nuts and saddles it does have its uses for sealing cracks making repairs to the finish.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Through saddles on Martins are glued as a matter of course,

A nonsensical practice that often requires Luthier's and repair people unnecessary effort to replace or adjust.

and many, probably most, guitar techs would recommend that all drop in saddles would benefit from being glued in .. with hide glue, of course, not superglue

.

I've yet to meet any competent luthier or repair person who recommends a drop in saddle be glued.

[Neil K Walk]

Things might be different in Europe but I tend to agree with Charles on this one. Gluing a saddle into the slot would make getting part of a basic setup rather difficult. From what I'm told, a single drop of glue should be sufficient to hold a nut in place and a saddle should fit so that it's snug in the slot and dressed so that there is complete contact with the base of the slot.

[handers]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Through saddles on Martins are glued as a matter of course, and many, probably most, guitar techs would recommend that all drop in saddles would benefit from being glued in .. with hide glue, of course, not superglue.

As far as nuts are concerned, it is accepted throughout the luthiery fraternity that the correct approach is a drop of glue on the front of the nut. White glue or superglue ...it doesn't matter.

I am happy to be corrected by those with much more experience than I have about finish repairs. Thanks for the informative posts. I think we can all agree that it would not be recmommended to superglue a nut with any amount of cyanoacrylate which risks binding to the wood of the nut slot and could take wood up with the nut when removing the nut.

And this may be a trivial point ultimately, but why does a nut need to be glued in place other than for convenience. I am happy to adjust the position of nut or saddle when changing strings before I bring the strings up to pitch. I guess if one is a frequent performer and is pressed for time between sets or whatever....

The downside to gluing nuts./saddles in place are that when you knock them out for replacement, they will take some of the wood with them necessitating a nontrivial repair. I don't believe the violin family bridges are ever glued, I don't know about the nut. It just seems unnecessary and has potential damaging consequences.

hans

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I've yet to meet any competent luthier or repair person who recommends a drop in saddle be glued.

I've only encountered it a couple times and it aggravated me to no end. Saddle replacement is so common when setting up intonation for new string gauge, adjusting tone, diagnosing buzzing and other issues. No one should be putting glue in there. It makes a proper fitting saddle very hard to remove.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by fazool

Nuts only "need" glue so they don't pop off while changing strings. If you must use glue, a drop of elmers white glue is more than enough. Personally I never use glue on a nut

Most of my acoustics don't even have the nut glued in place.

[Tony Burns]

You don't really need to glue in the nut -I wouldn't

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I've yet to meet any competent luthier or repair person who recommends a drop in saddle be glued.

Charles Tauber .... let me introduce you to Bryan Kimsey.

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

A nonsensical practice that often requires Luthier's and repair people unnecessary effort to replace or adjust.

Far from it. Gluing a through saddle reinforces a bridge which has been weakened by the through slot, and makes the whole entity rigid again.

Through saddles should always be glued (with hide glue, as aforesaid) .

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Charles Tauber .... let me introduce you to Bryan Kimsey.

Do you have an on-line reference to that, or should I write to him for his opinion?

Any other's you know of that endorse the practice of gluing in drop-in saddles?

Far from it. Gluing a through saddle reinforces a bridge which has been weakened by the through slot, and makes the whole entity rigid again.

Through saddles should always be glued (with hide glue, as aforesaid) .

Thank you for that explanation.

When replacement has been necessary, I've been ripping them out and never glued in the replacement. I've yet to have one come back due to splitting of the slot. I guess I've been doing it wrong these many years.

That, then, begs the question: if the saddles must be glued in to maintain structural integrity, it appears to be a bad design from both a structural point of view and maintenance/replacement perspective. The obvious question is then, why would a manufacture do that? Obvious answer: it is easier to manufacture a through slot than a blind one. Reduce manufacturing cost; increase maintenance/replacement cost. Am I missing something, sort of like tapered bridge pins in cylindrical holes?

I don't mean to sound confrontational, but this practice makes little sense to me: I'm trying to understand why someone would do this.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Do you have an on-line reference to that, or should I write to him for his opinion?

You could have a look at this thread

Any other's you know of that endorse the practice of gluing in drop-in saddles?

I can't say I have ever conducted a poll, but any tech who is more concerned with wringing the last drop of tone out of an instrument than with making life easy for himself further down the line will do this. It's the same principle as gluing in frets ...it's beneficial to tone to eliminate all air gaps in critical locations.

When replacement has been necessary, I've been ripping them out and never glued in the replacement. I've yet to have one come back due to splitting of the slot. I guess I've been doing it wrong these many years.

Just to clarify, are all these guitars you worked on vintage Martins ?

That, then, begs the question: if the saddles must be glued in to maintain structural integrity, it appears to be a bad design from both a structural point of view and maintenance/replacement perspective. The obvious question is then, why would a manufacture do that? Obvious answer: it is easier to manufacture a through slot than a blind one. Reduce manufacturing cost; increase maintenance/replacement cost. Am I missing something, sort of like tapered bridge pins in cylindrical holes?

I think you are missing that it actually takes a hell of a lot more time to shape the saddle on a through slot than it does on a drop in . I would have thought that after having replaced the saddles on so many vintage Martins and having shaped the ends to conform exactly with the curved profile of the bridge wings, you would know how much time it takes. Through saddles are most certainly not a time saving operation.

I don't mean to sound confrontational, but this practice makes little sense to me: I'm trying to understand why someone would do this.

Well, if you peruse the thread to which I linked above , it might make things clearer. Main reason , in a through saddle , increased stability ... you must surely have seen through saddles tipping forward in vintage Martins (and also in the various reissues) ... gluing pretty much eliminates the problem. Secondary reason, both in through saddles and drop-in ... tone benefit. And it's not difficult or excessively time consuming to remove a glued in saddle intact if you know how to go about it.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

You could have a look at this thread

Thank you.

In reading that thread, it is clear that some are in favor of gluing through saddles and some are in favour of gluing drop-in saddles. Others in the same thread said they are not. Experts on both sides who have opposing opinions with little "hard" evidence to support either.

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by handers

I hope this was meant in sarcasm. NEVER use superglue on any part of the guitar.

Guitar nuts and saddles do not need to be glued. This isn't necessary and only serves to complicate matters when you want to adjust the height or change nuts.

Don't glue just put in place when you change strings.

hans

Superglue is used by most if not all repair people in my area, often for crack repair, and including a tiny drop to hold a nut. Just one of an arsenal of adhesives for the many jobs that come up.