Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd Yates
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.