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Replaced 1-11/16" nut on AJ-45ME with 1-3/4" nut


JustStrummin

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I hope this won't be considered sacrilegious, but I recently replaced a standard 1-11/16" nut with a 1-3/4" nut on my new-to-me Epi Masterbuilt AJ-45ME. The nut that came on the guitar looked like bone that had "rotted" somewhat - kind of brown-ish in color, and with what appeared to be very minute hairline cracks all through it. Since I wanted to replace it for cosmetic reasons, I also decided to try an experiment. This is my first guitar with a 1-11/16" nut, and although I really like the guitar and neck itself, I have been having difficulty adjusting to the tighter fretting space. I started on a classical guitar (2"), added a 12-fret slot head (1-7/8"), and have been mostly playing a 000 guitar with a 1-3/4" nut. But this last 1/16" has been a challenge. Anyway, I am happy to report that it has worked out perfectly for my playing needs. I have a pretty vertical approach with my fretting hand, and I don't bend notes, so I haven't had any problems with strings slipping off the fret board. It still amazes me how small the margin of error is between a beautiful ringing string and one that gets muted by an adjacent fat finger. For the record, it is a Graphtech PQ-6234-00 Tusq nut, and it did take some sanding work to make it fit the AJ-45ME. Height was good, but it was much too thick, and a bit too long.

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I’ve spaced strings a bit wiser on a nut on some nuts I’ve cut. Never had a problem, luckily, I never gotten way too close to the side of the fretboard at the 1st and 6th strings, although I have certainly moved strings closer to it.

 

When you say you used a larger nut, I assume you still trimmed the sides of the nut si they didn’t hang over the fretboard on its sides, yes?

 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

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