Guitar Nut Seat Slot is out of Square and tilted

[MVeena]

Hello Friends,

I am new in this forum and this is my first post. I have an Epiphone EJ 200 CE Acoustic Guitar and was trying to change its plastic nut with a Bone Nut and develop the problem.

While trying to get square nut slot , I have sanded a substantial amount of wood from frat board and bottom ( about 1.5mm ). I have Pics , but dont know , how to attach with post

I could not found any solid solution for this issue on any website.

I have developed a trouble on my guitar and here no luthier is available , no nut square file etc. please help me.

Thanks and Regards

[mirwa]

Not an uncommon problem.

To many people go gung ho.... without stopping and checking there work as there filing, ideally you need to rebuild the ledge and go from there.

Here is a photo of one we had to repair not that long ago, when the owner did it, it got away from him, the customer had gone a good 5-6mm on both sides, so his filing action was a bit more like a rolling motion

Pic 1 - The insert we had to make into the hole, our biggest concern was matching some of the grain, so when painted it would not be noticeable
Pic 2 - the insert levelled out and flat with base of fretboard
Pic 3 - make sure nut and shelf are flat to each other
Pic 4 - Bone shaped into a new nut, string lines cut and strings fitted,

we also repainted the side to hide the repair

Steve

[MVeena]

Thanks Steve for reply,

I could not found any such case of repair, so wants to show the process for the benefit of others also. Please clear some of my doubts:


1. Insert is of same wood or any other will be ok ? in my case , mapple bottom and Rose wood fret board wall ( both sides ) have been sanded and requires 1-1.5 mm inserts.

2.Bottom depth can be managed by a oversize nut ( Have 11 mm bone blank Nut), but width of slot has been increased due to sanding of fret wall.

3.If finger board may shorten by 1-1.5 mm while making square , is it OK ?

4. Here, Teak wood and Rose wood inserts are easily available , can I use it?

5. How to post pics in this post ?

Thanks

[mirwa]

So you have issues with

Slot depth
Fretboard start point

Slot depth of 1-2mm below fretboard is not a big deal, leave it and fit nut, if you want to repair then ideally wood of the same species, but you would likely only need a laminate strip, not that critical if you don't have the same wood, as your not imparting strength, simply re-establishing a shelf for the nut

Fretboard start point, you have a few options,
- you can square it off and then make a ledge on the fretboard side of your nut to compensate for the missing board,
- you can glue a small strip of rosewood in to re-establish fretboard length
- you can use the missing board section to your advantage and actually make a compensated nut

To post pictures you need to upload to somewhere like photobucket, and then it will give you a page reference, copy and paste that page reference using te image tab in the reply section (advanced)

Steve

[MVeena]

[mirwa]

Next time you cut a nut, consider either using an expanded ruler to lay the string lines out for cutting

or IMO better

Consider keeping an even gap between the strings, it gives a more comfortable playing action.

I note on the one you post that there is a little bit of unevenness of gaps between the strings.

That has a tendency to cramp your fingers up whilst playing

Steve

[MVeena]

So I made a 2mm shim from Rose Wood and glue it with end ( CA Glue ).

But Observed that , guitar has good sound , but sound was more better with shorter length.

Also the repair is visible , so again I am thinking to make a shelf nut as suggested by Mirwa and place the better one on my guitar.

Pl suggest.