nuts

[nikpearson]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

The spring force is primarily to return the plunger towards its initial position, taking up slack. It yields when pressed against a string.

I bought one of these a year or so ago thinking it would speed up action measurements as well as providing more accuracy. Instead found that despite the plunger mechanism being light it still had enough mass to deflect the string downwards giving an inaccurate measurement. Returned the garage to LMI; was I missing something?

Have more recently been using a rather nifty tool to cut nut slots more quickly and accurately. It’s a short length of spring steel sandwiched between two pieces of Corian. It bridges the gap between the nut and second fret. As you slide it along and beyond the nut it drops to touch the 1st fret; there’s tactile and audible feedback. You can then make small adjustments to the slot depth until the drop is almost imperceptible. This works very well and saves me a great deal of time by not requiring you to replace the string after each adjustment. If you’re looking for a precise measurement you can measure the gap with a feeler gauge. I’ll aim for between 0.05-0.10mm on all strings. Interestingly, one of my tutors at college uses a different height for each string on his classical instruments and that seems to work well.

One last question, how do you hold the feeler gauges in place when cutting the nut slots?

[Trevor Gore]

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars
That High F# you mention( High E second fret) Has been my number one complaint. Never understood why. Thanks for clarifying this. Especially a problem for myself since I use so many variations of the D chord in combination with E chord and its open High E string.

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament

Look at the table towards the bottom that compares equal temperament and Just tuning. The right-most column gives the discrepancy in 100ths of a semitones (cents). Note, for example, that the equal temperament major third is 15 cents flat compared to the Just tuning we hear as in tune. Practically, that means that if you tune the guitar to equal temperament the F# in the first position D major chord will sound 15 cents flat. A good ear can distinguish between pitches 2 cents apart: 15 cents is way out. Consequently, many will raise the pitch of the high e string until the F# sounds in tune in that D major chord. That makes all of the notes on that string 15 cents sharp. If you then play an E major chord, the high e will sound sharp. We end up chasing the out of tuneless around from one key to the next.

err, Nope. Equal temperament major 3rds are ~14 cents sharp compared to Just 3rds, so if you want that open D chord to sound in tune (to Just) the 1st string needs to be flattened.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Trevor Gore

err, Nope. Equal temperament major 3rds are ~14 cents sharp compared to Just 3rds, so if you want that open D chord to sound in tune (to Just) the 1st string needs to be flattened.

Thanks, Trevor, for the correction. That's what happens when I go from (faulty) memory when just picking up a guitar and tuning it would have shown I was wrong.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Naboz

I would once again like to sound my extreme appreciation for Charles' participation on this forum. He thinks and writes clearly on so many aspects we players never even consider or were not taught--and he sure knows his 'stuff'!

Originally Posted by runamuck

I second that.

Thank you both for your generous comments.

This seems like a good opportunity for me to thank others with even more knowledge and experience for their participation on this forum, including Frank Ford, Alan Carruth, John Arnold, Steve (Mirwa), Howard Klepper and Trevor Gore, to name a few.

[hat]

There really is a lot to proper nut setup. Not only does it affect string height and play-ability, but also string intonation in the first position. But it seems to be one of the most overlooked parts of a good setup. No wonder folks like Zager can exist as they do...