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Old 01-16-2019, 10:00 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruby50 View Post
You will get more answers, and, as usual, ask 10 luthiers a question and you will get 11 answers, but here is my take.

From Lmii : "The boards are slotted with a nut slot offset to correct for fret saw blade kerf for compensation purposes so that the bridge edge of the slot is at true zero. "

For the fret slots at, say .022" wide, the center of the slot is the point where the string touches the top of the fret, so the edges of the slot are each .011" from that point. At the nut, the cut is moved a bit long so that the center of the old slot is now the edge of the new slot where the nut starts.
Another way of stating it is as follows. The saw cuts are placed at the centre of the fret positions. If the same is done for the end of the fingerboard, centering the saw cut on the zero position, the fingerboard will be shortened by 1/2 the saw cut, .011". LMII has moved the saw cut for the nut so that the edge, rather than the centre, of the saw cut is at zero.

Many makers, large and small, do not do that. Instead using that .011" shortening of the distance from nut to first fret as a small amount of nut compensation. That is my preference. Some makers shorten that distance by as much as .030" or so to provide greater compensation at the nut. Some will compensate each string at the nut as each string dictates, rather than a uniform amount. That produces a stepped compensated nut.
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