How much for a new nut?

Knowing that everyone is going to charge differently, etc...

I have a Mele Kalia concert that I bought off of ebay a year or so ago. It's nothing fancy, but it's solid wood. It sounds okay. except that I think the last owner fiddled with the nut with a file or something. It looks like it's been reglued, and-- and this is the PITA part-- the A string pops out of the groove with even gentle use.

It's a minor thing, but it makes the uke pretty much unplayable.

This brings me to a tripartite question:

1. I know different shops have different prices, but around how much should I have in the bank before I take it in to talk about replacing the nut and getting it set up again?
2. Despite being solid wood, it's a pretty beginner-level, unremarkable uke. Is it even worth doing the above?
3. If not, what should I do with it instead? Is it bonfire time? futz with the nut myself 'cause it's not like I can make it any worse? Sell it on ebay without mentioning the problem, like the last guy did? Sell it on ebay as a "project" uke?

I spent around 200 on it, and I'm worried about chasing good money after bad. Advice?

1. Mike at mainland sells bone nut and saddles for $6.50 (for the pair)....I would email him, he may have the right size for you. mike@mainlandukes.com

2. I think it's worth it and you will too (once complete)

3. Send it to me. I live close enough to the beach to have a nice bonfire, but I can't provide pictures proving I burnt it.

I agree with Mokai, give Mainland Mike a call, but if you don't feel up to trying it yourself and you have a luthier nearby, take it in and see what they will charge. From what I've heard of Mele's it's definetly worth it, and I would expect it to run around $25-50 around here.

So that'd be $25-50 plus how much for set up? Another 25 or so?

Hmmm...

this is by far the funniest title i've seen on UU.. sorry its late, don't mind me.

CoLmes said:

this is by far the funniest title i've seen on UU.. sorry its late, don't mind me.

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I like the old nut just fine.....how do you feel about this Cashew?

what happened, bicycle accident?

(sorry, couldn't resist)

This is a do-it-yourself job. You can probably buy a nut blank at the local music store, if not, just about anything will be adequate. Nuts have been made out of wood, plastic, the nice ones are bone. As a matter of fact, next time I go hiking past this old deer kill I plan to pick up a couple of rib bones for future nut replacements.

You can get a bone next time you have chicken or pork chops, dry it out, cut it down, file it down. Not hard. You really should have a set of needle files if you're going to play uke, if you don't have them already. If you don't want to buy some, you can file with emery boards and cut the slots with a knife blade wrapped in sandpaper.

Don't spend $50 bucks! Spend .50 cents! Please, you're killing me.

Clayton, the guy who sold this to me thought he'd "upgraded" the nut by replacing it, but he did a piss-poor job of the filing, and now I need to replace it. I'd rather leave this to someone with experience rather than experimenting on one of my two solid-wood ukes.

If the string is popping out sounds like the slot is not deep enough. Is there enough clearance to make it deeper, i.e. the string should sit in the slot and have a gap of about 1 mil above the first fret. Slots should also be angled following the line of the head down to the tuners so as to avoid buzzing. If you have a needle file its easy to do, take it slow and a little at a time. Of course if the nut has just a slight groove in it and you wouldn't be able to make the groove deeper because it would cause the string to become to close to the fret then you will have to get a nut that is a little bit taller.

I'm pretty sure that it's not that the slot isn't deep enough, but that it's too wide. But that said, I do have a file set, I guess there's no harm in making it a little deeper and seeing if that resolves it. Can't ruin a uke that already won't play, eh?

tad said:

I'd rather leave this to someone with experience rather than experimenting on one of my two solid-wood ukes.

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If it is unplayable now what do you have to lose? It gets messed up and you take it to someone.

I just replaced a nut and a couple of saddles and will replace another nut soon. Never done anything lik eit before, I asked for some help in the luithers lounge and got some. Did some research online and my new nut works just fine. I ordered a set from mainland but the saddle was too thin and the nut was not the proper size. I ended up ordering a couple of blanks online for $5 (2 nuts and 2 saddle blanks) got some sand paper, steel wool and a welding tip cleaner. The tip cleaner has a bunch of little files that can be used to gauge the nut slots, not the greatest thing to use but it is about $3 and if you start with a regular file then use the tip cleaner it works pretty well. Plus it is rounded, which is apparently the ideal shape for the strings to sit on.

If you do order form mainland see if you can get some measurements from him first, to make sure it will be the correct size for your uke. I will give you my nut from mainland if you want. I can get the measurements later. It is for a soprano, but might work. I used the soprano saddle for my concert uke.

Keeping in mind that I have never done this....

I've read here on the forums about folks fixing bad nut slots using superglue. They applied layers of the thick type of superglue to an oversized slot, letting one layer cure before applying the next. This effectively fills in the oversized slot, allowing it to be re-filed to the correct size.

Cheap, sounds easy, and as has been said, you aren't going to make it any worse....

The superglue thing works. I've sen a few guitars with this done. Plus it costs next to nothing.

Super Glue Gel + Baking Soda = a quick-drying paste that will fill that slot in nicely.