Tone Ninja?

[SoulFetish]

Haha

[Chuck H]

It's very important to be clear and specific regarding purpose and use when you market a product called "Nut Rescue Powder"

Wouldn't it be a hoot if what's in the bottles is talcum.

[Helmholtz]

This stuff might be even better than baking soda +CA alone (see the video):
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tool...rescue-powder/

[tedmich]

What is this trick? A guitar tech I worked with saved the bone dust from filing nuts. He would mix it with cyanoacrylate to make minor adjustments if slot cut too deep. I guess the baking soda trick is the same technique?

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) actually does chemistry with cyanoacrylate glues (CA) and forms a matrix that can be stronger and more adhesive than CA alone. A plastic nut stuck in with baking soda + CA can be very secure. You can make a variety of cement like materials by mixing different viscosity CAs and baking soda, and you can add colorants if you dont want cement color.

CA alone uses ambient water to catalyze its polymerization, and there are a variety of nasty smelling organic spray accelerators which make this faster, Adam on Myth Busters favors Zip Kicker, put anything with N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine will probably work well (though stink!)

[g1]

When a slot is cut too deep, sometimes the baking soda trick works.

What is this trick? A guitar tech I worked with saved the bone dust from filing nuts. He would mix it with cyanoacrylate to make minor adjustments if slot cut too deep. I guess the baking soda trick is the same technique?

[35L6]

How do you guys lay out nut slots ? I have been useing a mm rule and a sharp pencil just trying to stay on my mark and cut strait and square with a .010 saw . Do you use any special scales or guides ?

[Helmholtz]

Absolutely nothing wrong with shimming a nut using a stripe of veneer. Won't change sound at all.

[35L6]

Yes there is a point of no return . If you can shim it it will do til the new one comes . Getting back to the tone thing it's not what material has the best tone but that the open note sounds the same as a fretted one .

[Chuck H]

I've shimmed nut's on occasion too when there's no noteworthy cosmetic issue or a cosmetic issue already exist so I'll be touching things up anyway. For a strat nut with that thin slot I doubt a shim would be noticeable unless you were looking for it. Or if you're a little OCD like me and your brain won't let you STOP looking at it.

[Helmholtz]

No matter how you adjust the neck, the bottom of the slot must never be lower than the top of the first fret.
Use feeler gauges as depth stop.

When a slot is cut too deep, sometimes the baking soda trick works.
But might no be as slippery as pure bone.

Agree that a pre-slotted nut rarely fits.

[35L6]

Agree that the high strings should be down in there . Not sold on the half diameter thing either . I would like the low E to be above the top of the nut though . I'm with Chuck on buying extras . The more spares you have the less likely to mess up . Especially if you paid too much . About your low slot , you may be able to save it if it's not too low . Thicker glue line will bring it up a couple thousandths . Also if you picture a see saw on the first fret if the nut goes down the bridge comes up . You may be able to lower the other 5 and raise the bridge . Then you will need to adjust the truss rod . The problem with all this is we are dealing with distances too small to see . Are you adjusting slots with strings installed ? Checked at full tension ? You'll get better with each nut . There is only one way to get experience .

[SoulFetish]

It's my own opinion that most strats have too little string to fingerboard edge margin.
.

^^^

[Chuck H]

Ill tell you Im having a hell of a time finding a music store that has a 1/8” thick bone blank. I hate waiting for parts at this stage of a project.
but I will say this: i will probably never buy a pre-slotted nut again. There are so many nuisances in neck construction that can affect the optimal distance from E to E a few millimeters one way or the other. It throws the rest of the strings out of alignment if it differs from the pre-slotted

Not to mention our own personal preferences. It's my own opinion that most strats have too little string to fingerboard edge margin. I would like to have an American bridge on my partscaster but the spacing on the MIM bridge is narrower and works better for me. So that's what I have. With a pre slotted nut you get what someone else thought was appropriate and possibly not ideal for you.

[SoulFetish]

Ill tell you Im having a hell of a time finding a music store that has a 1/8” thick bone blank. I hate waiting for parts at this stage of a project.
but I will say this: i will probably never buy a pre-slotted nut again. There are so many nuisances in neck construction that can affect the optimal distance from E to E a few millimeters one way or the other. It throws the rest of the strings out of alignment if it differs from the pre-slotted

[Helmholtz]

And then the top should be trimmed to allow just under half the string diameter to be above the slots.

I know that's what luthiers like Dan Erlewine recommend.
But it doesn't work with the treble strings for my playing style (lots of heavy string bends). Too easy to lift a treble string out of its slot.
So I go for full diameter with treble strings. Can't hear a difference. No increased problems with string binding either with well shaped and polished slots.