Graph Tech Pre slotted Tusq Nut Too Tall

[thegumbootman]

I have one of these pre-slotted Tusq nuts for my neck (neck has a flat bottom nut slot and a 7.25" radius.):



The nut is sitting too tall. How do I lower it while maintaining the 7.25" radius? I know the bump on the bottom of the nut is there so that it retains the 7.25" radius when you've got a flat nut slot like mine. Would sanding the bump then fuck up the radius?

[timtam]

There is an argument between taking the nut slots down, or sanding the underside of a nut that is too high. Luthiers almost always advocate strongly for the former, but they already have the ~$100 worth of special nut slotting files. A third option is sanding the nut slot, but that is not generally recommended.

If you're going to take the nut down from underneath, Fender nuts are very hard to hold, and the bump adds another PITA. If your nut slot is flat, you leave the bump that makes it flat ... but you would be better off buying a nut with a flat bottom (if your nut slot is radiused, you file off the bump regardless of height).

So if your slot is flat as you say, you just sand the underside of the bump and edges down on a very flat surface covered in sandpaper, which should ideally take off equally from the bump and the edges if you're very careful. Some people like to put a flat piece of something on the surface, and hold the side of the nut up against it as they sand, so that the underside remains perpendicular to the sides.

Before you start, draw a pencil line across the bottom edges of the nut for how much you want to take off (which again is a PITA with the bump). Otherwise it's easy to sand unevenly.

Holding a Fender nut as you sand is hard. Stewmac sells an expensive vise that makes it a tad easier to hold, but then you have to use a file rather than the flat surface and sandpaper.
https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... _Vise.html

Various types of jewellers' clamp may make it easier to hold in your hand while you sand.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jewelle ... p&tbm=isch

But if I were you I would consider finding a lower nut with a flat bottom. Or someone with nut slotting files.

[andy_tchp]

Trying to sand the underside to 'lower' the slots will give you a shit result.

And they still won't be cut properly.

The slots need to be cut to suit the neck it's being installed on as per the design; these are not a 'plug and play' install, the pre-cut slots are only there as a guide for starting the string spacing (and hopefully this spacing suits the width of your neck!)


My nut slotting files were closer to $50 than $100 FWIW, and have paid for themselves many times over, especially considering the usual costs of paying a tech to supply/fit a new nut.

[thegumbootman]

Thanks for the replies!

I think I might just take it to someone who knows what they are doing... I try to DIY where I can, but I don't really have the patience for it at the moment.

[chrisrnps]

The one-size-fits-none “nut blank” or pre-slotted replacement kinda has to be too tall, too wide, and too thick to be viable - frets, fretboards, neck widths, etc. are different - you’re expected to have to sand / file things down, as the nut can’t be filed “up.”

If you know you don’t have the patience for it, listening to yourself is actually pretty empowering - took an amp to an actual shop recently for the same reason, and telling myself “I don’t have time to get sidetracked by this, I should be working on actual music” was pretty cool.

That said, the whole nuts-n-frets world isn’t as scary as it seems, once you jump in.

I highly recommend the cliché Dan Erlewine book if you don’t already have it. Costs about the same as a couple sets of decent strings and will serve you for a lifetime.

Sand the bottom, front to back, and side to side dimensions of the nut until everything is square and fits “pretty” but not forced into the nut slot, file / sand the string slots slightly less “low action” than you think, sand / file / polish the top arc of the nut to complement the new string-slot curve, glue the nut in place, double-check everything... it’s not that scary after you’ve done it a few times.

Just save the (plastic / bone / Tusq / whatever) “sawdust” shavings in a little condiment cup as you go, for the superglue + nut filings dust “oops” formula...

[mgeek]

Anyone else here just use guitar strings to deepen slots? Works best on the wound ones of course, but cos I'm impatient I often just run each nut slot back and forth a few times on a guitar with old strings, strung to tension.