The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #61  
Old 07-29-2014, 05:39 PM
NEGuy NEGuy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Roseville, CA --> Zellwood, FL
Posts: 328
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
FWIW here is the method I use and have been doing so for over 20 years. I have a half pencil, a pencil planed into a semi-circle for it's whole length cutting it right in half so that a pointed end protrudes out dead flat. The pencil is now a straight edge with a point. I install the nut and then mark a line with the pencil by sliding the pencil across the frets as it marks the nut face.
I’m impressed.

Did you devise this method yourself, or possibly read it somewhere?

It seems to be a very innovative way, as you state, to “rough out the slot depths very quickly.”

Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
I'm a NEw England Yankee close on up there to Canada
So you caught that in my username, huh?

I was down at the other (southern) end for about 40 years. Many years at UConn completing a doctoral degree (in philosophy – ugh!).

UConn started becoming great in BB right about the time I was leaving (back in those days, UConn was good only in soccer, it seems – won a national championship one year).

Then 5 years in TX, about 15 here in CA – and now headed back to the east coast later this week for semi-retirement in FL!
.
Reply With Quote
  #62  
Old 08-03-2014, 06:52 PM
NEGuy NEGuy is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Roseville, CA --> Zellwood, FL
Posts: 328
Default

I feel compelled to post a final installment on this thread in order to inform anyone who had been following it how the saga ended.

Until less than a week ago, I lived in Roseville, California – about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Gryphon Stringed Instruments (where one can find Frank :-) ).

I had gotten the action down at the first fret to the desired clearance by sanding the bone nut a bit. It happened the way that it usually does: initially, I was very cautious, so I did not take down nearly enough, and the clearance remained a bit too high.

Then, on a subsequent string change, I become impatient, so I took down too much.

Once again, this is how things like this normally transpire for me. :-)

I was able to rectify the situation by putting on a piece of gorilla tape as a shim, so everything was working fine.

But I didn't like all of that "buffer" material between the nut and the headstock (the wood shim, the gorilla tape), so, alas, I traveled down to Frank's place of employment, and placed the guitar in the hands of the master (or possibly I should write, "in the hands of one of the masters who post on this forum").

I can tell you this: Frank is not only a master of his craft, but he's also a prince of a guy.

He pointed out a string spacing issue on the nut (which I hadn't even noticed), so he dug out the shim (also took off the gorilla tape :-) ) and replaced the nut.

I have a 1 3/4" nut with the string spacing for a 1 11/16" nut, and I like to have more of the "pinched in" clearance on the high E side (lazy fretting hand, I guess).

Frank accommodated all of this perfectly for me.

He also mentioned some scratches near the nut on the headstock.

I confessed: "Yes, that was me – when I was trying to sand down the shim in a not-too-careful manner."

I remember that he said something like, "Maybe I can take care of that for you."

Well, he did a very nice job with that (I no longer have to put a thin piece of black striping tape across the headstock at the top of the nut :-) ).

And he would take no more than their standard charge for replacing a nut ($90) when, in fact, he did so much more than this.

(The person at the counter would not take more than this either -- just wouldn't.)

I would post pictures, but I'm traveling across the country to Florida, working simply with my iPhone.

One further point: I noticed later that day (when playing the guitar) that Frank also repaired another area on my headstock where I had nicked the finish during a string change. (I have been changing strings on a weekly basis for about 6 months.)

Once again, no charge.

I'd love to work in Frank's shop as an intern for about a month or so (for free -- of course!) in order to become reasonably grounded in these skills.

Thanks, Frank!
.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Build and Repair

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=