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Replacing a nut on a Dot - Help Needed


Dylan1281734152

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Just give it a little tap to break the glue and it'll pop right off. I use a piece of wood and fret hammer for that job. Wood goes against the nut, hammer goes against the wood. Light taps, from each side ( starting with the sides, not front or back)

After you have cleaned up the slot and rough shaped your new nut, place it on, string up the guitar and fine tune the slot depths. On a dot there is not a very deep slot to hold the nut on like on a strat, so take some tite-bond, mix 2 part water to 1 part glue, put just a dab on the nut, place on guitar, and string it up. I normally don't go full tension with the strings until the glue has dried. Be sure the nut doesn't "creep" as you string it.

If you have never made a nut before, be sure to buy an extra blank or two, chances are you'll goof at least one on your first time out. I've done a thousand nuts and still break one or go to low with a slot every now and again. Be patient and go in little increments.

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Just give it a little tap to break the glue and it'll pop right off. I use a piece of wood and fret hammer for that job. Wood goes against the nut' date=' hammer goes against the wood. Light taps, from each side ( starting with the sides, not front or back)

After you have cleaned up the slot and rough shaped your new nut, place it on, string up the guitar and fine tune the slot depths. On a dot there is not a very deep slot to hold the nut on like on a strat, so take some tite-bond, mix 2 part water to 1 part glue, put just a dab on the nut, place on guitar, and string it up. I normally don't go full tension with the strings until the glue has dried. Be sure the nut doesn't "creep" as you string it.

If you have never made a nut before, be sure to buy an extra blank or two, chances are you'll goof at least one on your first time out. I've done a thousand nuts and still break one or go to low with a slot every now and again. Be patient and go in little increments. [/quote']

 

 

Very sound advice! ^^^[biggrin]

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Musikron has it right. One thing I might add is to take an exacto knife

and run it around the edges of the old nut, just so you don't

chip or flake any of the finish when it moves.

Remember, you're not trying to pry it off with the knife.

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go to stewmac.com and have a look around. There are no sizes per se, you can get blanks that are already roughed in, but you have to slot them and fit them to the guitar. There is quite a bit of art to making a good nut. Buy a handful of blanks, a few files and go at it! Don't glue em in at first, wait till you make a good one, and glue that one on in.

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Tusq by graph tech.

sounds better than bone.

pre slotted. made to fit epis.

some prefer the black graphite graph techs.

I've sold a ton of those. they go in easy, and don't cost much either.

 

TWANG

I'm never making another nut again as long as I live when there's premade that good out there for so little.

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I still always make my own. I've been doing my own nuts for years, and now I do them all the time for everyone else. I like experimenting with different materials and shapes to highlight or down play certain tones or errors.As we know all too well, not all guitars are created equal, and there can be a measurable variance to the necks width as well as profile of the nut slot. For the nut to sit straight it may need to lean slightly toward the fingerboard. It's also nice to fit the nut flush with the neck, so that your finger can't even feel the seam on the side of the neck. Plus un bleached and fossilized bone polish up to such a lovely shine.

Are the slots evenly spaced or is it graduated to account in string diameter differences?

Also, the player and the technique they use dictates other factors such as slot depth and string spacing. It's just one of the things that go together to tailor a guitar to the player, and add to it's overall greatness. A good nut for one is a bad nut for another, I just don't think you can get that from a molded/machined nut.

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