Did my own guitar nut repair tonight. Pheww

[Dominus]

My Gibson Songwriter had high action since I bought it and I've been living with it for a month now. I couldn't scare up a tech I felt comfortable enough with around here to do it or I would have. I'll get back to that in a minute.

I'm trying to get this guitar more chord friendly. I'm tired of mashing down a mile high mass of strings to make barre chords. I have to keep too much bow in the truss rod to avoid string buzzing on open notes on the G string (and the D string to a lesser extent). So to keep open strings from buzzing it has high action down past the first position frets.

The manufacturer (i'm assuming since I bought it new) cut the D and G slots too low. The saddle has to be set too high and truss rod has to be dialed out of normal specs to compensate. I had a Bob Colosi saddle I sanded down to the spec I wanted to use but couldn't because of string buzz.

So tonight I got brave after my wrist start sending spikes of pain up my arm. I took off the strings and put baking soda into the nut slot and a drop of super glue went over that. I filed it down where I wanted it, at an angle parallel with the headstock angle using a set of nut files I've had for ages and strung it back up. I put in the new saddle and tightened the strings up and now the action is lovely, and no buzzing. I'll do the D string later, it only needs a slight adjustment. Now I have to figure out if the intonation was affected. It sounds right in different chord positions so I think it's OK. It's a different feeling guitar now. Small adjustments really DO make a BIG difference.

Anyway I consider what I've done temporary so I can play comfortably until I can get it professionally done. I want to get this nut replaced soon with one cut and slotted correctly as well as have an expert double check the intonation. Is there a database of luthiers I can find someone out of? Or barring that does anyone have any suggestions of someone I can trust in the San Francisco/San Jose area? Nothing further south than that though or it will be too much of a drive.

[Davis Webb]

Very cool story man. I love those MacGuyver moments where you just do something and you set your mind to it and it works. Good on you.

Reminds me of the time my motorcycle started to fall apart at 80 mph in Washington State, I used a Marlboro cardboard ciggarette pack to repair it so I could hobble back to Canada.

Did u have a truss rod key? I wold have suggested you give it a small turn first.

[jpmist]

I have horror stories with the only two luthiers I've done business with so I've learned to work on my guitars as well. Also I just like to tinker.

This may alarm the purists, but I thought I'd mention the option of shims for the nut and saddle in case you go too low with them. At least for experimentation anyway. The aluminum trays you find in grocery stores is a handy thickness to cut and shape easily, two or three shims will make enough difference to be worth the effort.

[mr. beaumont]

Have the baking soda/super glue fix on one of my guitars that's lasted 10 years and no trobles, binding or buzzes. It works...good job.

[JeffaOM1]

Originally Posted by Dominus

Anyway I consider what I've done temporary so I can play comfortably until I can get it professionally done. I want to get this nut replaced soon with one cut and slotted correctly as well as have an expert double check the intonation. Is there a database of luthiers I can find someone out of? Or barring that does anyone have any suggestions of someone I can trust in the San Francisco/San Jose area? Nothing further south than that though or it will be too much of a drive.

I'd suggest Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto. Awhile ago, Frank showed me around their repair department. They seem to have enough tooling to build their own guitars.

[blue]

Good for you for even tackling it! Nuts are the "undiscovered country" of home setup work. It is intimidating, and you've broken that barrier! The string height over first fret is a huge deal when it comes to as you said "chord friendly" playing.

Again congrats. Now it truly is YOUR guitar.

[Glennwillow]

I remember Tommy Emmanuel telling the story of his dad making a new nut for him from an old tooth brush handle. Finding innovative ways to fix things can be inspiring.

Cool story. A properly cut nut really makes a big difference.

- Glenn

[Dominus]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

Very cool story man. I love those MacGuyver moments where you just do something and you set your mind to it and it works. Good on you.

Reminds me of the time my motorcycle started to fall apart at 80 mph in Washington State, I used a Marlboro cardboard ciggarette pack to repair it so I could hobble back to Canada.

Did u have a truss rod key? I wold have suggested you give it a small turn first.

I adjusted the truss rod before touching anything or even removing the strings. Then I put in the saddle I sanded down from last week, restrung and found where the buzzing was occurring, which pointed to two nut slots, one badly, the other only slightly.

[Dominus]

Originally Posted by blue

Good for you for even tackling it! Nuts are the "undiscovered country" of home setup work. It is intimidating, and you've broken that barrier! The string height over first fret is a huge deal when it comes to as you said "chord friendly" playing.

Again congrats. Now it truly is YOUR guitar.

Having the nut files was of key importance. I matched the file to the string and after about 5 runs over the nut the slot was perfect. I'll do the d string tonite. The sound on the g string I did was not affected, sounds the same, so this baking soda/super glue fix really seems good.

Gibson didn't keep the radius of the nut consistent with the fingerboard so I think that is why the two middle strings were too low. The results are so good I am having second thoughts about taking it to a luthier now. I just have to learn how to check the intonation accurately to complete this job.

[Fred]

Frank Ford at Gryphon in Palo Alto is as good as it gets. He'll be able to tell you what ALL the problems are...and fix them. Check out his website at Frets.com to see the quality of his work and his deep experience. You're fortunate to be so close!

[Dominus]

Originally Posted by Fred

Frank Ford at Gryphon in Palo Alto is as good as it gets. He'll be able to tell you what ALL the problems are...and fix them. Check out his website at Frets.com to see the quality of his work and his deep experience. You're fortunate to be so close!

Thanks, you are the second to recommend Gryphon. They are fairly close so this is a good recommendation in that regard too.

[Matt Mustapick]

I'm glad it went well.

Just a note of caution to any DIY'ers who may be emboldened by this happy outcome...

It's generally not a good idea to put superglue and lacuqer anywhere remotely close to each other. The tiniest little flick of superglue will *instantly* and *totally* melt a lacquer finish. If I were going to do this I'd be sure to remove the nut before working on it.

Glad it worked out...way to go!

[Dominus]

Originally Posted by Matt Mustapick

I'm glad it went well.

Just a note of caution to any DIY'ers who may be emboldened by this happy outcome...

It's generally not a good idea to put superglue and lacuqer anywhere remotely close to each other. The tiniest little flick of superglue will *instantly* and *totally* melt a lacquer finish. If I were going to do this I'd be sure to remove the nut before working on it.

Glad it worked out...way to go!

AH, very good point. I forgot to mention that I put painters tape and scotch tape around the work area, basically covering the entire headstock and upper fretboard, and left just the slightest little slit open right over the nut slot. In fact I dropped a bit of super glue on my little soda holding table and indeed, there's missing finish where I rubbed off the bit of super glue.