Looking for an ez fix to a nut slot that's cut too low.

[Monsoon1]

I recently filed down the nut slots on my acoustic, and unfortunately I went a few thousandths too deep on the D string.
Is there any simple fix I could try to lift the string up a bit?
And btw the neck is straight as an arrow, and the neck action is superb. So it won't likely be a truss rod adjustment situation.

[John Arnold]

Drop some CA (super glue) in the slot and let it dry. Recut the slot.

So it won't likely be a truss rod adjustment situation.

Right. A nut slot that is too low results in excess buzzing on the open string only. If you try to fix that with the truss rod or saddle, it will make the guitar unnecessarily harder to play.

[Monsoon1]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Drop some CA (super glue) in the slot and let it dry. Recut the slot.

Right. A nut slot that is too low results in excess buzzing on the open string only. If you try to fix that with the truss rod or saddle, it will make the guitar unnecessarily harder to play.

Huh. I thought about superglue, but I didn't realize it could add any mass/height in particular.
I'll try that, thanks!

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Monsoon1

Huh. I thought about superglue, but I didn't realize it could add any mass/height in particular.
I'll try that, thanks!

You could always add a pinch of baking soda into the slot and drip the thin superglue in. That will give you a little more mass, and material to file.

[Monsoon1]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

You could always add a pinch of baking soda into the slot and drip the thin superglue in. That will give you a little more mass, and material to file.

I didn't have any baking soda laying around. And I also didn't have any super glue. (doh!)
But what I did have was a block of lignum vitae and some JB Weld.
So I took a file and made some wood dust from the lignum block.
Then I mixed up a small amount of JB Weld, and mixed it together, then added the wood dust.
I had the neck taped off like the video shows, and I filed a much bigger groove into the string slot, so I could put a healthy amount of JB Weld in there.
It wound up working perfectly. I was concerned that the JB Weld by itself could have been too hard to file with my nut file set, but the lignum made it a perfect consistency. Plenty hard, but easy to file.
All done and no string buzz!

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Monsoon1

what I did have was a block of lignum vitae and some JB Weld.

Many ways to repair, good to see some thinking outside the square.

Steve

[JackB1]

I also have just 1 string that buzzes when played open. Is there an easier fix than mixing up some baking soda and crazy glue? It seems like it might be messy and easy to use too much. Also I don't have any nut files.

thanks

[JonWint]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Is there an easier fix than mixing up some baking soda and crazy glue?

piece of paper under string

[redir]

Good ole JB weld LOL.

The baking soda trick works well. IIRC it was a trick in Cumpiano and Natleson's book that I was skeptical about. A lot of other people were too so I tried it on one of my personal guitars and it's going on 15 years now. I still prefer to use bone dust and CA glue, or just shim and recut, but still it works a charm.

[Rogerblair]

I save the sanding dust that results from making/sanding bone saddles. I use that in a mixture with superglue. Works exceptionally well.

Rb

[JackB1]

I wish someone would post a video on how to do this.
Also don't you need to file it afterwards?

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

I save the sanding dust that results from making/sanding bone saddles. I use that in a mixture with superglue. Works exceptionally well.

Rb

[redir]

Originally Posted by JackB1

I wish someone would post a video on how to do this.
Also don't you need to file it afterwards?

Yes you will need to file it. Whether you use bone dust or Baking soda what you do is simple. Just pack the dust into the nut slot and press it in with your finger. Hold your finger over the nut slot, packing the dust in, and blow away any excess dust. That will leave behind the nut slot nicely packed with dust. THen using thin CA and a whip tip, or you can drip some CA using a tooth pick, carefully place one drop on the dust and let it sit for a while and harden. You might have to add a second drop but one usually takes care of it.

Make sure you mask off the area real good with tape. Thin CA is like water thin and will go everywhere if you are not careful.

If you choose to use bone then don't use sand paper to make the dust. Instead use a file, that way you get pure bone dust and not any sand that might come off the paper and other contaminates. You can just file the dust over a piece of paper and use that as a funnel to pack the nut slot in.

Give it an hour to dry just in case then file the slot to the proper height and clean up the nut as needed.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by redir

Give it an hour to dry just in case then file the slot to the proper height and clean up the nut as needed.

I use an accelerant that hardens the glue "instantly", eliminating the waiting time.


One person's "ez" is another person's difficult. To optimize the setup for ease of playing, each slot needs to be cut and/or filed to produce the correct string height.

Under the heading of "easy", one option is to put one or more thicknesses of paper under the nut. That involves removing the nut to stack paper underneath it. (If the sides of the nut have finish applied to them, the finish needs to be scored prior to removing the nut, else you risk damaging the finish surrounding the nut.) That also involves, usually, raising the string height of all six strings by an equal amount, rather than targeting a single string that is too low. That doesn't provide an optimal setup, unless all of the strings are equally low, but can be used as an "easy" fix for one string that is buzzing because its nut slot is too low.

Filling a nut slot and recutting/filing the slot is easy if one has the skills and tools. If not, it should be left to someone who does.