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  #16  
Old 12-04-2017, 08:30 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd Yates View Post
Not me. I disagree, but I'm not going to argue.

Seriously though, I suspect the way you setup a nut is so close to the way I would do it that there is little or no practical difference. If we both end up slightly above fret height, say 0.002"-0.003", the guitar will play far better than nearly any factory setup. I've seen those pretty commonly at 0.010" above fret height and many even more.
Todd, yes, these are the specs near which I setup nut slots.

And, another little "secret" to add that I never noticed when I first worked on guitars...

Often, (but depending upon truss rod installation design), the truss does not reach to the nut. And hence, the area near the 1st fret and nut takes on a natural and non-adjustable bow that will be more than the adjusted bow of active truss area.

This results in, once string tension is pulled in, a first fret that is higher than the rest of the fret plane, even when considering the ideal neck bow.

So, on necks like this, nuts can often be set perfectly flush. OR, creative custom fretwork to lower the 1st fret the ideal amount to preserve the ideal bow across the first fret to nut, then setting up the nut in standard manner.

This concept (and in addition, the fact that the truss rod is effective only on a portion of the neck), is why using a REALLY long and flat fret levelling device will necessarily NOT get the fret surface to ideal bow and ideal playing setup across the full length of the frets. To get it perfectly ideal, one should blend in the static portions of the fingerboard with the truss-affected portions of the fingerboard. Truth is, it is hard (near impossible) to get it truly perfect, but one can get it close to the ideal if one understands this concept of static/non-static fret plane, and how to blend the sections together.
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  #17  
Old 12-04-2017, 08:34 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Originally Posted by murrmac123 View Post
I'm not going to argue with Ned either ...but I would point out that if the player is concerned about the excess length behind the nut causing the open string to ring brighter, then a simple solution is to interweave a strip of damping material ...thick rubber ...cardboard ...whatever .... between the strings behind the nut.
Thanks for not arguing... I won't either.

Regarding the less inhibited vibration of open strings... When noticeable (and it takes a super sensitive ear to notice), the difference translates mostly as a tad twitch teeny bit extra brightness in the open strings - an extra mini bit of brightness that makes chords more "shimmery" and harmonics a bit stronger. I've never noticed a difference big enough to cause distress.

Quote:
Originally Posted by murrmac123 View Post
My view is that every possible step should be taken to make the action at the nut as low as effectively possible in order to facilitate barre chords at the lower frets.
100% AGREED!!!
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  #18  
Old 12-06-2017, 04:15 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Thanks to all. I'm still actively monitoring this thread. I need to get out my feeler gauges and calipers and do some careful measuring. A nasty cold has kept me from pursuing this much this past week, but I have been playing the guitar most days.

The factory set up is good enough that I can comfortably play for 50-60 minutes at a time without any hand pain or distress. I just want to tweak the sixth, fifth and maybe the fourth courses to improve barre chords and thumb-over cleanness. There has been much helpful information posted here already, and I am grateful.
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