Advice for lowering action at the nut

[Shaneh]

Hi all,

I got a new Yamaha FG830 for a work guitar and the action is pretty high all around. Locally a setup costs $90 so it is hard to justify it for a $300 guitar. I have lowered a saddle before but never the nut. I am scared to mess it up but I figure I will give it a try finally. I ordered the music nomad nut files for acoustic.

Looking for advice about how best to go about it. I am thinking doing equal strokes on all nut slots to keep in even but other than that what should I be aware of or make sure not to do.

[Mandobart]

Google and youtube, and Dan Erlywine tips from Stew-Mac.

But also, don't psych yourself into not making a budget guitar playable because you don't think its "worth it." That's backwards thinking, like saying "my old beater car isn't worth getting new tires. I'll just make due with these old treadless POS tires this winter."

Your sound and ergonomics are worth it. Look at it like this - you could have spent $500 on a guitar but you only spent $300, so you can spend what you saved on a setup, strings, lessons.....

[phavriluk]

My opinions:

OP can do a simple test to see how much lowering of the nut slots is possible: Capo between the 2nd and 3rd frets. How much of an air gap is there between a string and the first fret? On the treble side, the gap is often described as the thickness of a piece of printer paper; on the bass side, a bit looser. If cutting a nut slot deeper looks like it might help, do one string at a time and don't overdo it. Easy to make a slot deeper, a nuisance to make one shallower.

There's going to be a storm of free advice suggesting spending the rent money on sets of gauged nut files. I suggest buying a set of 3x2 double-sided nut files and seeing how they work out. Cheap enough for a look-see.

[Boozehound]

I bought Stew Mac nut files for about $70, and they have more than paid for themselves, but I tend to buy and sell a lot of guitars. My general philosophy is to buy quality and buy once, versus getting a cheap set and then upgrading later.

If it's just the one guitar you might want to just pay for the setup. I'm not sure I would attempt to file a nut down without specific gauged slotting files, but other folks will disagree.

[srick]

Shane -

I have been going down a similar rabbit hole. I have been working with my brother's 1971 Yamaha FG 140 - a guitar that sat in the attic for well over 35 years.

It was in remarkably good shape, but:

• Long ago, someone had 'leveled' the frets (some almost to the fretboard) and not crowned them - they had to have been taking some bad drugs - the frets were a disaster
• The truss rod was not adjusting well
• It had a really lousy nut
• It borderline needed a neck re-set
• It wasn't playable past the seventh fret
• etc. etc.

At most, this is a $400 guitar - no use in taking it to my favorite luthier. And I have a nice guitar, I didn't need this to be in the rack.

Being recently retired, this became my project guitar where I could pick up a few skills without fear of ruining a guitar with any value. I have put in the same amount in tools what I would have to have this guitar re-fretted and set-up. And, I have now performed my first re-fret and am in the process of replacing the nut. Rather than re-set the neck (which is a place I do not wish to go (this year )), I am doing a little surgery on the bridge. Next, I will be repairing finish defects - many of them due to my carelessness. It's been a great project. I'll work on it for a few hours, let it settle in, and go back with fresh eyes and tweak some more. But to do this, you need the time to play. Same with adjusting a nut. Adjusting a nut takes care and finesse - but it may not be the whole story. It's likely worth the $90 to have it set up to your liking, especially if the goal is to play it. However, If you have the time, and don't mind investing in a bunch of tools, it can be a great learning experience.

If you read up on it, the action on a guitar is due to a whole bunch of elements. Adjusting it requires that each box be checked off. As a starting point, most nuts need better ramping on the peghead side of the slot. And the slots also need to be angled slightly to match the angle of the string as it goes towards the tuning peg. If you work carefully with a good file and a little magnification, you probably won't screw it up too badly. If you do cut the slots too low, Frank Ford has a handy fix of using a white adhesive address label as a shim. (Folks, don't shoot this messenger - if it's good enough for Frank Ford...) Check out his site, frets.com for a lot more info on what you should be looking for.

Try it and have fun with this Shane, but warning, it's addictive!

best,

Rick

PS - I second Boozehound's advice on buying good tools. I got the Stewmac nut files several years ago and would buy another set in an instant if anything ever happened to them. You can use less expensive tools, but the right tool makes everything faster and easier. With many tools you can go the ebay or Harbor Freight route. Gauged nut files are a specialty item that you have to pay for. For now, the Music Nomad files will suffice. They do have their limitations, though.

[Fathand]

If the nut slots are in good condition and follow the fretboard radius well, I will lower by sanding the bottom of the nut. Takes seconds on the belt sander but you can do it on a sanding block too.

[bfisch4]

Check out this video from Driftwood guitars about acoustic setup. It's the best video I've seen regarding the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_4eHPgrpmk&t=152s

StewMac's youtube channel has some great videos about nut adjustment and nut making that will help. So definitely watch some of those before you get started.

I wouldn't take an even number of file strokes across each slot. I think it's better to file each slot one at a time assessing the nut action as you go. If you take the same number of passes on each slot, and one of the slots was already lower than the other from the factory, now you're too low in that one slot and getting open string buzz. So do a few passes on one, and put the string back in the slot and check. If it's still too high, take a couple of more passes, pop the string back in and check, and so on until you're happy with it; repeat for each string.

Also, if you do the filing in place leaving the nut in the guitar while you file, be sure to protect the guitar on each side of the nut from file slippage; it happens, and it sucks when it does when there is nothing protecting the finish and wood. I like to lay down masking tape on at least the first fret and on the other side of the nut on the headstock, then stick on something more dense, like felt or leather to protect this finish from the files should I slip. The masking tape is first since it's low tack and won't ruin your finish, then you can stick on whatever protective material on top of the masking tape. Best of luck!

[srick]

bfisch4 - That was a great video - thanks for posting it.

[Rudy4]

Here's a visual reference for you.

[Shaneh]

Thanks all. My nut slot files should coming today. Based on the videos and advice sounds like working each slot individually is the way to go