Gap at the nut

Loveiz

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I recently bought a lovely snail tenor Ukulele which looks like new for half price. Yes fab.
But I have just noticed the nut does not fit tight up to the fretboard at on end in fact there is .020" gap beneath 'A' string!
Question is should I remove it and fit it flush ?
It's a very grossly finish so a bit hesitant.
What is likely to happen if I tap the nut? Will it crack the varnish behind I wonder.
I don't want to return it as the rest is fine.
 
Pictures might help. How is the setup otherwise? If the action is ok, and the intonation is ok, and there's no buzzing, and the sound is ok, (lots of ifs, I know), it may be better to just leave it alone.
 
If the action and intonation is good I suggest leaving as is.

If not then strip it of strings and you will probably find that the nut is loose of if not a gentle tap will remove it without breaking it.

Refinish and set up.
 
I have a photo in library but on is iPad will not let me drag and drop into attachment line.😱
But the instrument sounds ok actually. I may just leave for a while.
 
If not then strip it of strings and you will probably find that the nut is loose of if not a gentle tap will remove it without breaking it.
Number two on the loose nut. Lots of times the only thing holding the nut in place is string pressure. I glue them with a concoction of Elmer's glue and water, just enough to hold it in place when I bend notes but not enough that I can't knock them loose with a screwdriver handle. I've had them slip before.
 
Nut space

This is hopefully going to show an image of the gap.
 

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This is hopefully going to show an image of the gap.

If the notes play true, leave it as it is, because filing the end of the fretboard to fit flush against the nut will change the intonation.
 
I recently bought a lovely snail tenor Ukulele which looks like new for half price. Yes fab.
But I have just noticed the nut does not fit tight up to the fretboard at on end in fact there is .020" gap beneath 'A' string!
Question is should I remove it and fit it flush ?
It's a very grossly finish so a bit hesitant.
What is likely to happen if I tap the nut? Will it crack the varnish behind I wonder.
I don't want to return it as the rest is fine.

The best thing to to is to see local guitar tech. If you want to remove it, you can do it by yourself at your own risk. Do not tap, just push the nut. There is not much glue underneath.

 
Looking at the picture, the gap may be at the binding and the fretboard could be flush.
Also if it's not broke don't fix it.
 
Interesting this I thought I would be told to get it closed by everyone.
The nut when viewed from above is slightly scewd so it's flush to the fret board at the 'G' end the gap then gradually increases to what is in the photo.
It's sounds fine so Inthink I will leave it for now.
 
That is a large gap but as I said prior if the intonation is OK the leave it.

To check intonation:-

Tune each string of the uke then put the tuner in Chromatic mode and see what the tuner says what each note is when you fret and play each string at the 12th.

Come back with the results.
 
Depending on how much trouble you want to go to to resolve this, you can work out the required nut-to-first fret spacing with a bit of remedial mathematics.
Measure the centre to centre spacing for frets 1 to 6 as accurately as you can (ignore the nut-to-first fret spacing) and tabulate the results. Measure the scale length (the nut end of the fret board to the string departure point on the the saddle) and, for a tenor, subtract about 2.5mm. This should give you an idea of the intended nominal scale length of your instrument.
Using an online ukulele fret spacing calculator, start with the estimated scale length, then make adjustments up or down until the calculator's measurements match your recorded fret intervals. Hopefully, you will be able to get this down to around one decimal point of a millimetre (eyesight dependent).
Once a match for your measured fret spacing is realized, the nut-to-first fret spacing will be shown on the calculator.
 
Lets say you have just accurately tuned the open strings on this ukulele. When you fret and play the first fret, the second fret and the third fret, are the notes in tune, going sharp or going flat?

If the notes are in tune as you fret up the neck then do nothing. It looks to me like someone has made a simple yet inelegant fix of the intonation.
If the notes are going sharp of flat up the neck then that's different and a fix may be in order but what fix depends on which way the intonation (sharp or flat) is going.
 
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