Nuts!

JohnD

JohnD

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Hi all,

My new Mainland Tenor arrived with a what I will call a bad nut. Mike did send me a couple to work with, and the buzz is now bad enough that I have to fix it right now! The strings sit too deep in the nut causing buzzing at the nut. My question is, how would you recommend removing some material off the bottom of the new nut--the grooves are shaped properly, but the nut is way too tall.

Thanks very much,

John
 
Hey John, Just sand the bottom of the nut on some 220 grit sandpaper until you reach the proper height. Use a hard, flat surface (counter top works well) and lay a full sheet of sandpaper, grit side up, and take long firm strokes. Follow this website for all the set up information you need: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/NutAction/nutaction.html
 
Since you have to remove the nut anyway, why not put a shim under it?

Jude
 
Pete Howlett said:
That's why we have such a thing as luthiers? Would you do the same thing on your taylors or reso?
Click to expand...

I would do the same on any of the guitars only because if I screw it up, I can always have another one done by a pro. As long as sanding it certainly seems like no big deal, I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, I still have the other one...
 
If the grooves are too deep but the string height is fine just sand down the top of the nut until the strings sit half their depth in the grooves and your fine. Or is that not what you meant?
 
If the nut is the correct height and fits well and only the nut slots are too deep, just fill the slots with a tiny drop of medium CA glue, followed by some accelerator. Then reslot as you would with a new nut. It's a very simple fix. Be warned however, either remove the nut from the uke when you fill the slots or protect your uke from the accelerator if you value your finish.
 
JohnD said:
Hi all,

My question is, how would you recommend removing some material off the bottom of the new nut--the grooves are shaped properly, but the nut is way too tall.

Thanks very much,

John
Click to expand...
Take some sand paper on a good flat surface like a piece of glass. You want the bottom of the nut to stay perfectly flat when you remove material. Mark the nut with a pencil to keep track of how much you are removing.
 
Job Done!

I sanded down the bottom of the new nut and kept checking as I went until I got it just the right height. It was very easy to do, and the buzz is gone. The slot for the strings were too wide, so I would have had to build the slots up as suggested above, but I had two extra blanks, so I went for it. Anyone could make this adjustment, but I think having a flat surface to sand on is very important.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

John
 
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