#1
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Nut slot too low
Is there anyway to save a nut when someone lowers it too much? It’s the B string and it’s buzzing on the first fret
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2023 Gibson 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird w/Ultratonic 2021 D'Angelico EXP-1 Throwback archtop 1983 Martin HD-28 w/Ultratonic 1965 Gibson J-45 w/K&K/Ultratonic conversion 1940's??? Harmony Patrician archtop 2002 Taylor Big Baby 1985 Kentucky KM850 mando w/lr baggs radius 1959 Gibson A-5 Mando 2004 Fender Strat (Mexican) Army bugle Old autoharp Indian flute Cowbell |
#2
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The baking soda/super glue trick is very popular.
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#3
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Yes, simple fix that I've done myself. Take the string out of the slot. Clean the slot well. Mask off both the fretboard and headstock where the nut contacts it. Fill the slot with regular baking soda. Drip a couple drops of thin superglue on it. Let it dry overnight. Sand smooth with the top of the nut. File a new slot at the correct depth and angle. Lube with graphite. Put the string in the slot and tune up.
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#4
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Or remove the nut, superglue a strip of paper to the bottom shape it and fit it back in, then cut the other slots that are now too high
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |
#5
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Adhesive backed labels available from the dollar store are excellent for this purpose.
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#6
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A thought
No reason to wait for thin CA to 'dry overnight'. The stuff, when it hits the baking soda, sets just about instantaneously. No drying involved. Done it myself.
I preferred to build up and resolve one slot as compared to shimming the nut and trimming all six. Personal preference. Last edited by phavriluk; 02-12-2021 at 05:02 AM. |
#7
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Baking soda is a 90% permanent fix, IMO, but extremely useful and I've used it. Baking soda is a very useful accelerant for CA glue, you can mix it with water and spray it on, or dust a little and blow it off gently before applying the ultra-thin CA, and it takes the time from 15 seconds to less than a second to set. Great if 15 seconds seems like an eternity to you...
I have noticed, with two guitars lately, that I had put a lot of time into the nut slots and they developed a buzz on one or two strings, that the relief needed adjusting. Too little relief can bend the neck back just that tiny amount that the first fret buzzes out, set in .005" relief and the buzz is gone. Now, whenever I get a nut slot buzz that's usually the fix. I have been running stupid low action, nut and 12th fret, lately to accomodate some nerve damage in my left hand and fingers. They need a lot of tweaking in the wintertime.
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Brian Evans Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia. |
#8
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Quote:
I have the Taylor graphite nut. Will the baking soda show?
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2023 Gibson 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird w/Ultratonic 2021 D'Angelico EXP-1 Throwback archtop 1983 Martin HD-28 w/Ultratonic 1965 Gibson J-45 w/K&K/Ultratonic conversion 1940's??? Harmony Patrician archtop 2002 Taylor Big Baby 1985 Kentucky KM850 mando w/lr baggs radius 1959 Gibson A-5 Mando 2004 Fender Strat (Mexican) Army bugle Old autoharp Indian flute Cowbell |
#9
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I deepen the slot with a saw or file and glue in a sliver of bone with super glue. Then recut the slot.
I have never done it to a graphite nut. In that case, I would probably shim the bottom and deepen the other slots to match. |
#10
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Quote:
Oh I hate to do that. Might as well replace the nut. I’d take it to my repair dude. But like most of us music types, I was looking for the easy way out.
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2023 Gibson 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird w/Ultratonic 2021 D'Angelico EXP-1 Throwback archtop 1983 Martin HD-28 w/Ultratonic 1965 Gibson J-45 w/K&K/Ultratonic conversion 1940's??? Harmony Patrician archtop 2002 Taylor Big Baby 1985 Kentucky KM850 mando w/lr baggs radius 1959 Gibson A-5 Mando 2004 Fender Strat (Mexican) Army bugle Old autoharp Indian flute Cowbell |
#11
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If the nut is white, no, it won't show. Effectively the glue/soda is only coating the bottom of the nut slot.
Replacing a nut is around $50 to $100 depending upon who does it. Shimming and deepening nut slots is half, or less, of that. Filling one slot and recutting is less than that. Effectively there will be no identifiable difference in the end result. What will be different is how much you pay to achieve that same result. It's your money, your guitar: you choose. |
#12
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Is baking soda better than bone dust for this? Would it make a difference if the nut were plastic, tusq, bone, etc?
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#13
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I used all of those combinations and found no practical difference.
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#14
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Just curious gents, has anyone tried a UV cure epoxy? My dentist uses it and I’ve used in an industrial application. My wife uses it while tying flies.
It strikes me as being a possible solution. Again, I’m just curious as there are already proven methods being discussed.
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Guitars: too many or too few...depends who you ask |
#15
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This has become my favorite shim method. The paper turns rock hard when the CA cures and it's hidden well on a white bone nut or even plastic.
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