Questions on cutting string slots on the nut.
 

I'm getting ready to do my first lowering of the strings at the nut.
My old guitar tech passed away a few year ago.

I've been reading and watching videos but they all seem to leave me with the same questions. They may both be silly questions but here we go.:)

#1
When filing down the nut slot I have been reading about the string breaking over the nut right at the fretboard side. Also about ramping down the peg side so it is parallel to the peg board.

My question is, how wide should I leave this break point before it starts to ramp down?

#2
When filing the ramp part, do I leave it to where the string lies on this ramp or should there be some clearance?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Scott

Don't take my advice as I am no expert. Look at the peg head angle. File at that angle. This will make the highest point on the fret board side. File once, one swipe, and reevaluate. It may file down super fast. At least in my experience it did. The break point is an edge not a ledge. Good luck.

For my nuts, I usually tilt the file to be parallel with the face of the peghead, and just file down the slot until it's low enough. Then maybe a couple swipes parallel with the fretboard to round the slots over so the string have a gentle curve from the peghead to the fretboard.

There's a video I watched from Robbie O'Brien on the subject, I suggest you look it up. I think it's something about guitar set up, or maybe intonation. (No affiliation/interest)

Also not an expert, but I've done it same way as above on several guitars and it's always worked for me. I use Hiroshima files.

Take it easy because some nut materials cut away fast. You'll get the feel for it, not that hard. But definitely measure OFTEN.

Here's a trio of articles I posted when I first started FRETS.COM around 22 years ago - they may give you some guidance:

How to Check Nut Action

A Closer Look at Nuts

Setting Nut Action

Those were early days of digital photography (for me, at least), so please excuse the comparatively low-res images. . .

However you choose to file your slots you will leave a rough surface in the slot, this will snag your strings, especially the G.

If you can get a hold of a tiny drill set like this then you can smooth off the slots.

This will make tuning your new setup a delight.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMALL-TIN...MAAOSw4RZa~u0w

Thanks a ton for those articles Frank, they answered my questions.

The 3/16 number was the main thing I was looking for. I watched numerous videos and read numerous articles on filing slots. None of them gave any number for how wide that area should be.
I figured it needed to be as narrow as possible without being so narrow as to wear down way too quickly.

Looking at your pictures I take it that the ramped part of the nut should slope or fall away from the string.
Am I correct in that assumption?

I think for us amateurs, a sacrificial cheap set of feeler gauges (placed on the fretboard up against the nut to set the height of the slot) is a good idea.

I happen to use Frank Fords method just about exactly, although I developed it on my own just through making a few nuts. I happen to find nut making to be one of the hardest things to do on a new guitar, from finessing the string spacing to shaping the nut to getting the slots correct. I don't rush it, and I'm happy to start over with a new blank if I get the spacing wrong. I split the angle between fretboard and headstock (my headstocks are typically 12 degrees) and I like to have a fairly thick nut, around 1/4 inch.

I've had this very thing happen to me on the G string, after filing slots.

How do you use the drill bit to correct this? Do you lay the correct size drill bit into the slot and spin it with your fingers while slightly forcing the side of the drill into the slot? Or, do you just rub the side of the drill against the bottom of the nut slot? Both?

My G string hiroshima file is 0.027", and my G string is usually either 0.026"or 0.024"... What size drill works best for a slot cut with a 0.027" file?

If you use wound strings, simply pull the appropriate string through the slot a few times - that will burnish the finish and help with the roundness of the fit.

This advice is not right. A nut slot cut straight and parallel to the headstock will have a binding and wear point at both ends of the slot, and inadequate pressure in the middle. This will not be cured by a final swipe parallel to the fretboard--that leaves a the binding and wear points, and may cause fuzzy contact at the fretboard side, and as described above it will make the slot too low (doing it after the slot is low enough). The slot actually should be more of a ledge than an edge at the fretboard side--a ledge with a very gentle slope down from the fretboard side of the nut-- and then rounded down more to an exit at the headstock side that is more angled than the headstock, so the nut loses contact with the string at its headstock side.

You will find good advice here, from the late Paul Hostetter. I differ from Paul in that I aim the slots as seen from above from the fretboard edge of the nut to the tuner post; I think that makes a neater looking slot.
www.lutherie.net/nuts.html

^ I love the graphics on that site. I like to point the slots to the tuner posts too. If anything it looks cool. The horn shaped slot is a good idea in either case. I just might have to start doing that now.

I had that idea the other night when I re strung my guitar.
Saved the old set just for that purpose.

Thanks for that article. I've gone over it once and plan on reading it again.

Thank you for this clever tip! I had a couple treble B and E strings pinging but was hesitant to clean them up with the nut files for fear of making them deeper. I already had a few of these mini bits and was able to clean up the problem B and E nut slots without making them any deeper using a #76 for E and #72 for B. Just pulled them thru lightly and then worked in a little tri-flow lub with them. Problem solved!

The $10 technofret nut rocker works like a charm for easily setting a good slot height. I’ve used it on all my guitars and the improvement is noticeable.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/172866841055

Thanks for the endorsement, Mike, it is indeed a very useful and foolproof tool, and supersedes all the "hold down the string at the second fret and peer at the gap" stuff.

I can't believe that that is still being advocated as a method of assessing the nut height , but there you go...

Unfortunately the Technofret nut rocker is no longer available .... I ceased production of all the tools some time ago, and have turned my attention to projects which are actually profitable.

I laughed when I saw the "horn's bell" shape of the nut slots he prefers:

http://www.lutherie.net/picard.horn....jpg

For the first two-plus decades, I used a "tear drop" shaped needle file for shaping of slots. If one angles the slots towards the tuning machines, as one should, the shape of the needle file naturally cuts a wider shape the deeper it cuts. Used for nut slot shaping, it naturally produced the "horn's bell" shape without having to do anything special. That was true regardless of the slots being perpendicular to the nut or individually angled towards the tuning machines.

These days, with straight, gauged nut files, you just get a straight slot. I haven't found any practical, functional difference between straight slots and a horn's bell shape.

Some of the most experienced builders and repair persons out there today still use the string as a straight edge and by eye adjust the nut height at the saddle by fretting the 2nd fret. So it's really not that unusual. I'm not saying that I am in the same league as my esteemed collegues but I've been doing it like that for almost 30 years now.

Only last year I got myself an actual set of nut files and honestly every time I use them I wonder why I don't go back to my needle files. They snag, get stuck and on a few occasions blew out the edge of the low E string.

I don't know about using wound strings to burnish the slot. It's hard enough sometimes to get good cutting action with a file and I would think that rounding off would occur using some sort of abrasive string.

Charles what would you suggest for a beginner (me), needle files or gauged nut files? I don't have anything yet as I am trying to school myself first before buying anything.

There is no one choice that is right: there are many different methods and tools that can be used to produce a good result. Factors involved in choosing include how often you do this sort of work, how much you want to spend or invest in tools and whether or not you prefer one method over others.

I'll tell you what I currently use, which was adopted over several decades of trying things. What I use is a combination of three tool sets: saws, gauged files and needle files. Which of those I use, depends, in part, on the job in front of me and what I think is best suited to that task. Any one of those tool sets is adequate for the job: I like to have the option to chose between them depending upon the specifics of the job.

For roughing-in all nut slots, I use an X-Acto saw in an X-Acto knife handle, widely available for about $10. I've used the same single blade for decades. It cuts quickly and I find it easier to control than files, allowing me to more easily get the slots in the right place and keep the slots vertical - so they don't "wander" as you cut to full depth. I also use it for making the final slots for first and second strings - I see no need to buy .010 or similar files. I have found no practical difference between flat-bottomed slots and round bottom ones: they don't seem to wear faster or sound different.

About 5 years ago, or so, Stew Mac started selling gauged saws for cutting nut slots. They are available in five sizes: I don't own the .010". I use those for any string diameters for which they are suitable. They cut very fast, which I like. The downside to saws is that they really only produce one slot size equal to their kerf. Unlike files, they can't really be rocked while used to make a range of slot sizes larger than the file.

For the remaining strings, I usually use Stew Mac nut files. (The Japanese Hiroshima files are likely a little less expensive and possible better: http://www.japarts.ca/Uo-Chikyu/Uo-C...s-Featured.asp). I have four or five sizes, adequate for most string diameters. For large diameter bass strings (e.g. 7-string and 10-string guitars) I use my trusty needle files.

I like to use a set of inexpensive feeler gauges. I measure the fret height by placing a short ruler spanning the first and second frets and then stack appropriate thicknesses of feeler gauges. I then use that stack of gauges, usually with an extra few thousandths of an inch placed against the nut parallel to the frets. It acts as a hard stop for filing or sawing nut slots. There is immediate tactile and audible feedback when the file or saw just touches the gauges, telling me that I've reached the desired slot depth. I have found it to be reliable and to eliminate guess work and trial and error. Measure accurately, add to the measurement accordingly, or not, file until I hear and feel the stop: slot done.

The needle file that I use for nut slotting is a tear drop shape, technically the shape is called a "pippin". It doesn't seem to be one of the more common shapes included in a set of needle files, but the $10 set I bought decades ago included two of them, of slightly different shapes.

Tool suppliers have a tool for everything and they want you to buy one of each. Most of the stuff they sell isn't really necessary, and some of it is available at local hardware or automobile parts stores at much lower prices. Specialty items, like gauged saws and nut files aren't as readily available elsewhere. One of the few gimmicky things that Stew Mac sells that I did buy is their string jack allowing tensioned strings to lifted out of the nut slots. I find it helpful in some instances, saving my fingers.

Well that is indeed disappointing to hear. Such a brilliantly simple and valuable tool. I’m even more thankful now to have mine. Hopefully someday we will see it reincarnated.

Well I dug out what was left of my needle file set.
Got these back in the late 70's. They were a 10 piece set, they are now a 6 piece set. Guess I lost a few in over 40 years. :)

Got them out and then placed an order with StewMac.
Good thing I checked my e-mail first as SM had sent me an e-mail for 15% off.
I took that as a sign that it was time to place my order.

Just to be clear, I'm doing a setup on two of my guitars, no new nut from scratch. Not yet anyways.

I'm a tool nerd anyway so I don't mind investing in proper tools.

So I've got a set of gauged nut files on the way along with stuff I needed for another project (my first bridge re-glue).

I'm sure I will most likely have more questions. ;)