bluefoxicy Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 So my horrible special II became a much better guitar when I dumped graphite dust into the nut by grinding hi-polymer pentel 0.5mm against my D string and then shoveling a large clump of the result into each groove (loosen strings, add dust, tighten strings). I've seen bone nuts for $3-$5 online. What do I use for reshaping these? A high-speed thin ceramic cutting disc on a grinder? (kind of like a drill, but a thousand times more dangerous, uses 2cm ceramic discs less than 1mm thick to cut through steel, or bit tips to engrave things) http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/White_Bone_Nuts.html http://www.internationalluthiers.com/guitarparts.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEPI Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 So my horrible special II became a much better guitar when I dumped graphite dust into the nut by grinding hi-polymer pentel 0.5mm against my D string and then shoveling a large clump of the result into each groove (loosen strings' date=' add dust, tighten strings). I've seen bone nuts for $3-$5 online. What do I use for reshaping these? A high-speed thin ceramic cutting disc on a grinder? (kind of like a drill, but a thousand times more dangerous, uses 2cm ceramic discs less than 1mm thick to cut through steel, or bit tips to engrave things) http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/White_Bone_Nuts.html http://www.internationalluthiers.com/guitarparts.php[/quote'] blueoxicy - I'm curious...You seem to have some guitar knowledge, but you've been playing for just a short time. Did you work on guitars before learning to play??.....J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostindesert Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Read and learn before getting angry ! There are special nut files. Bone nuts and saddles are the best improvement you can install on your guitar. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefoxicy Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I learn fast. I started learning to set up my guitar when I started playing on Jan 9 2008 (so many days ago, I think 64). I adjusted the truss rod, I used 1.14mm and 2x1.0mm Dunlop Tortex picks to figure out the action based on Gibson's specs, I flipped the bridge around after disassembling and moving the saddles... I put in new pickups, got a tube amp, made my guitar sound like Slash's if I set the vol/tone/ampvol right and pick HARD, but there's no sustain. Basswood body :/ I've also been modding up my amp. I have some vague idea of how sound works. And then I did this today, and still suck: http://bluefox.kicks-***.org:8080/guitar/guitar_practice_day_064_000.pp000.ogg (use VLC or WinAmp) I pretty much try everything and pick up a ton of information if I can. I'm no luthier or veteran tech, I just have Google and Epiphone forums and I've annoyed the hell out of a few musicians with my endless stream of questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tukinator Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I think you should learn a little more on how to luthier, then start charging people to properly setup their gear. Then take the extra money and upgrade the guitar to something with more sustain. I'm just sayin. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostindesert Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 There's nothing wrong about asking questions.But working on nuts and saddles is a pro job. I still can't do it and i've been playing the guitar for more then thirty years. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefoxicy Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I think you should learn a little more on how to luthier' date=' then start charging people to properly setup their gear. Then take the extra money and upgrade the guitar to something with more sustain. I'm just sayin. . .[/quote'] Buying the Slash Signature when it comes out. I have income now, and well... some of it's disposable, let's just say that. The rest is going into my excellent stock portfolio, which should be collecting dividends in excess of the fair sum (about 25% of my pay) that I'm putting into it by some time in the middle of next year if I keep moving my money around at the right times (and no, the right time isn't "When it's as low as it's gonna get" or "when it's peaked" for buy/sell; don't be greedy). I figure I can beat my gross salary by the time I'm 32 I could never charge casually, and I can't do this for a living. Besides, I think it takes the touch of an artist to really get it right; I'm a very technical and mechanical person, even how I learn to play is very technical (a distribution between developing specific skills through exercises, and applying them to playing songs, and then further developing them with the song, and back to exercises; most people tell me they just learned the basics, got a teacher who did something or other, and then played songs until they "got good" ... huh.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I use needle files and exacto saws. *S* You can shape them with any hand file.. I always smooth the sharp corners down. slotting them right isn't easy or fast. in fact, easy and fast lead to crappy and do again. You can however, correct some small mistakes by saving a bit of bone dust from filing, and mixing it into some crazy glue in the slot.. let dry and reslot. I made a compensated two piece bone nut for my studio.. but it was way too time consuming to be profitable. AND you have to have the customer fit it, intonate it, then glue in ot right. most couldn't. also, it's rather bulky, no matter how much I trimmed. went back to regular bone nut and resumed swearing about tuning like everyone else. *not that bad, you know, but compensated would have pleased me* TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokestack Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 There are no rules about how fast you're allowed to learn. But there are plenty of traps to fall into into if you think you've learnt more than you actually have ! Many of us will have a learned much via making mistakes. I know I did in my eager youth ;^) Mistakes are certainly better made on a Special II than on a high dollar Gibson ! Guitar set up and most other aspects of "tech-ing" aren't rocket science or particle physics. Any reasonably handy person with a grasp of the basic mechanics and geometry can learn the routine stuff very quickly. The trickier stuff comes with experience. Setting off in pursuit of "factory specs" with some off the shelf guitars will have you pulling your hair out if you don't understand exactly what's going on Getting back to the nut :D This thread could develop into another of those discussions about what are the best nut materials.[i think some folks just like the [i]smell [/i]of sawing up bits of bone ;^)] Whatever your choice of nut material, the most important thing by far is that it be properly fitted and adjusted. Once you understand what that means, a proper set of nut files is the best tool to have at hand. [The irony is that the best techs can fit and perfectly prepare a nut with ten spare minutes and a pointed stick I agree with Twang that a couple of suitably sized needle files or saw blades can be pressed quite happily into service. You can actually fabricate a pefectly good set of files for occasional use from a set of old feeler guages. Just slash up one edge with a keen small file. The edge won't last long and they won't cut very quickly...but that's a good thing for a beginner ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (disposable) nail-files are great for those on a budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokestack Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Those synthetic nail polishing strips with graded surfaces are great for polishing up a nut once it's sorted. They give you a beautiful finish with very little effort. [i get into all kinds of trouible for stealing hers ;^) ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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