Axe2Grind123 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 One of the reason's I joined this forum was because I'm having a problem with my (practically brand new) Epiphone guitar. You see I bought the guitar in September 2008 and by January 2009, the plastic 'nut' split. I need to replace the nut and would like to use a graphite replacement. I tried searching your website for dimensions of the existing nut, but best I could find was a width measurement (1.68"). This is for the BB King Lucille model. I don't trust myself to take an accurate measurement of the existing nut - especially since the nut is still attached to the guitar. I called Sam Ash (where I bought the guitar) and "Dave" in "Guitars" couldn't tell me what size to order. his best suggestion was to do research on my own. So I did my research and came up short, ended up joining this forum as a last ditch effort figuring Epiphone staff members must be members and hopefully somebody can look up the correct measurements for me. Here is the post I left on the forum yesterday: Hello fellow Epi-owners! First let me say I love my Epi-Lucille' date=' would recommend this guitar to anyone. It's exactly what I was looking for - great tone, looks amazing, feels great. Who could ask for anything more at $700?? Just one little issue I need to fix, within 3 months of owning the guitar, my plastic nut cracked. I planned on replacing it anyway with a graphite nut to keep the axe in tune a little better (it tends to creep a little...) I’ve been trying to find a graphite (or similar) nut that will fit appropriately, but I’m a little unsure of which is the correct size nut. SamAsh.com has this “Graphite Nut for Gibson Guitars” made by All Parts: CLICK HERE! And the GraphTech website has Ivory/Teflon nuts that sound like they’d do the same as graphite: CLICK HERE! I’ve looked at GraphTech’s instructions for sizing your guitar for a nut: CLICK HERE! I just don’t trust that I’ve got a fine enough measuring tool to get an accurate measurement of the existing nut. Can anybody please tell me the accurate measurements or point me towards a specific nut that will fit? Additional info: The specs specify 1.68" nut width, thought this might help, thank you for any assistance you can provide. 20 people have viewed my post and nobody has answered it. I'd like to bring in my guitar for repair ASAP because I'm in a band and need my guitar. Am I wasting my time hoping someone from Epiphone might see one of their customers in need and provide a little help? This guitar obviously had a flaw when I bought it (a nut doesn't crack within 4 months of owning the guitar unless you are really abusing it and I've been treating this thing like it's made of glass) so I'd appreciate a little customer service here. Oh by the way, I also sent an email to service@gibson.com 2 days ago and haven't gotten any response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Might the nut be covered under Epiphone's warranty ??? 5 months is not a long time - if the nut cracked/split already, perhaps they'd fix it for you. Am hoping .....As far as size, I don't want to venture a guess....sorry. Hopefully someone will chime in with more/hopefully better advice for you. Hang in there, man.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Surprised the Mods didn't see your post and move it into the lounge or electrics where it would get more exposure!!! If you have a 1.68" nut you order 1 & 11/16". Your "quandry" is probably trying to decide between 1 & 5/8" and 1 & 11/16", right? A machinist's chart at my work shows .675 = 11/16". OR, another way to "prove" the numbers, using 16ths of an inch as the standard: 1. Divide 11 by 16. Equals 0.68. Your nut is 1 & 11/16 OR 1 and .68 = 1.68" in otherwords, 11 is 68% of 16. ERGO, ur gitar nut iz 1.68/1 & 11/16ths. Uhhhhhhh..... MONGOL is just pawn in game of life!!!! Now, let me see what nut size the epi Lucille has...be back. EDIT: Straight from the pages of MF - Epiphone B.B. King Lucille Electric Guitar Features: Body: Maple Case Included: No Fingerboard: Rosewood Frets: 22 Inlays: Block Machine Heads: Gold Neck Joint: Set Neck Neck Material: Maple Nut Width: 1.68" Pickups: 2 Humbuckers w/ Stereo Varitone Scale: 24 3/4" Top Wood: Laminated Maple Bridge: Tune-O-Matic Tailpiece: TP-6 fine tuning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind123 Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Surprised the Mods didn't see your post and move it into the lounge or electrics where it would get more exposure!!! If you have a 1.68" nut you order 1 & 11/16". Your "quandry" is probably trying to decide between 1 & 5/8" and 1 & 11/16"' date=' right? [/quote'] Dude, thank you soooo much, you actually know what I'm talking about!! Yeah I posted this in the "electrics" section to begin with so mods left it there... Here's my confusion, if I go to the order page on Graphtec's site, this is how they run: Meas. Thick Length Height E to E Appr. In. 0.196 1.714 0.366 1.412 Inches 3/16" 1 11/16" 3/8" 1 7/16" Way more measurements than just the width here. Does it mean that any 1 &11/16th will work for me? This is the only other nut that looks like a close match, it says "1/4" Epiphone Style, but width is listed as 1.726: Meas. Thick Length Height E to E Appr. In. 1/4" 1 23/32" 11/32" 1 3/8" Inches 0.24 1.726 0.35 1.36 Should I go with the first one? Again, thank you so much, you're awesome for taking the time to help me! Might the nut be covered under Epiphone's warranty ??? Yeah RSDx' date=' it will be covered, but I wanted to pre-order a graphite nut and bring it to the store so I don't have to wait a-year-and-a-day for Sam Ash to (1) put the guitar on in their repair queue (2) once they finally get it on their workbench, order the correct nut, (3) wait for it to ship to the store and (4) finally actually install the dang thing! LOL too long to be without my primary guitar . . . Thank you for your response, it's a good point - when I called Sam Ash the guitar guy had no idea how to help me with the nut size and told me research it myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I jumped over to the Graph-tech site you linked... Holy Moley, can be massively confusing. One of the keys will be the E to E spacing on your current nut. I measured both of my Epis, spacing is: 1 & 12/32, OR 1 & 6/16, OR 1 & 3/8" Measure your current spacing. If you want to go with Graphtech you'll need to know. I see two possibilities, one with 1 3/8, one with 1 7/16. 1. TUSQ XL 1/4" EPI style, 1&3/8" E to E, #PT-6060-00 2. Black TUSQ XL Slotted 1 & 11/16", 1 & 7/16 E to E, #PT-6116-00 Worst case, call G.T. have customer service recommend based on the info you've collected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind123 Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Great! you tha man Animal! Thank you thank you thank you! I think I'll go out and get a good quality measuring device as I don't trust my standard desk ruler . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpfan Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Go SEARS or a hardware store like Lowes and get a digital caliper. Get the digital one because your measurement will be easier to read. You can use it to measure the width and depth or height of the nut. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axe2Grind123 Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Well I just went down and took measurements using a tape measurer for now but it's line for line the same as what I see on this GraphTech nut: BLACK TUSQ XL JUMBO GIBSON STYLE LINK Thick = 3/16" Length = 1 11/16" Height = 6/16" E to E = 1 7/16" MY MEASUREMENTS Thick = 3/16" Length = 1 11/16" Height = 6/16" E to E = 1 7/16" I'll still go out and get that digital caliper before I order it but I think I found my nut! Thank you guys for helping, the users on this forum are the best! And for any of you BB King Lucille owners out there, I'll be sure to post the definite answer here when I've got it installed & it's all good . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Go SEARS or a hardware store like Lowes and get a digital caliper. Get the digital one because your measurement will be easier to read. You can use it to measure the width and depth or height of the nut. Good luck! Also, if you have a Harbor Freight store, go in and get a "Machinist's Rule" (pocket size) for $1.00 or so. I keep one in EVERY guitar case for setting action, measuring string spacing (HAR, HAR, HAR), setting pick up height. It's broken into 32nds on one side, 64ths on the other. Well, "AXE", it's been educational for both of us! I'm still looking at an EARVANA Compensated Nut for one or more of my guitars. (There's a thread discussing that, but don't let that get you distracted from your "mission".). Post results... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsideMan Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Go to SEARS or a hardware store like Lowes and get a digital caliper. Get the digital one because your measurement will be easier to read. You can use it to measure the width and depth or height of the nut. Good luck! I second this. With my mix of English and Metric standards in my hardware, it's been invaluable. I even use it to "remember" what gauge strings I'm using on my guitar--sometimes I will try something a little bigger or smaller and forget what I'm using. The digital calipers are affordable now and much easier to read than the old vernier and dial calipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.