nice vido mate, good explanation for what i need but could do with some advice, i was told i should keep the strings on the guitar so as to keep the neck at tension, is this nessecary as clearly you dont do that.
also i have a crack running from behind the back of the head under the peg of the fat e string running down to the edge of the nut, under where the thin e string is (almost an inch long)
should i even attempt this? am i likely to see my guitar head snap off or should i be ok.
@DrOrphious79@DrOrphious79 You know what man? I've read every guitar instruction manual on the planet. OK maybe not the chinese ones. But hype aside, you know what I mean.
At the end of the day, yes it will be better for the tension of the neck if you kept strings on. But have I EVER seen anybody do this? NOPE. Not ever.
I've been playing for 26 years. I've never ever left alternate strings on whilst I changed the others. And it has been fine.
@DrOrphious79 re - cracked neck. See a Luthier. They can do some amazing things with wood. Once I had a friend borrow my $3000 guitar for a major gig - i.e. 15,000 people. And you know what? Mistake. Came back with a hole in it.
But my good Luthier took that hole and made it perfect again. Admittedly it cost me ~$100. But at least my baby was whole again :)
There's just some things you should and should not attempt. In this case see a pro.
@shockalotti Thanks man, appreciate the reply, im prety skint and dont have a car to get it anyplace either, in your experience do you think it would be a stupid thing to try myself? was wondering if keeping the strings at tension would make it less risky for removing the nut without disturbing the crack.
if not ill have to wait for the oportunity to get a pro on it.
@DrOrphious79 I'll tell you the truth. The advice I'm giving here is assuming you're skint. I'm giving advice based upon my painful experiences in the past.
Regarding a cracked neck. Not a newbie thing to try. But then it depends upon how much the guitar is worth. If it's $50 then go for it. If it's $3,000 guitar - nope. Based upon your risk, you be the judge.
Neck tension. Ignore that stuff people say. Just make sure to take off light string, and then heavy string, and alternate
@shockalotti light then heavy. thats a good tip, wouldnt have thought of that. nice 1. the guitar was a gift. worth about 500 - a grand. so im not in a rush to do anything too risky, but the thing has been gathering dust for some time now and its getting a real shame every time i see it. i just cant make any decent chords at open pos.
hmm i might start to take them off 2 at a time and just see if the crack makes any noises or creaks. slowly slowly like.
I made the crack prety soon after i had it, about a month or 2. it was resting nicely against a chair and it just seemed to gravitate towards a door handle, the peg made contact with a loud slam.
I realy appreciate the replys and all the advice mate. and no fear, if all goes wrong i wont be blaming anyone but myself. if/when i do something ill let u know how it went. maybe even record it.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to add to the nut to make it bigger, your video shows how to make it smaller. Would you recommend just buying a new one if it should be bigger?
Im in a real pickle is why i was asking .........I have big fear of stripping out the holes for the Nut & Ive already taken it off and put it on 3 times already. Adjust the Bridge is simple for me. But my Nut sits too low,causing the bridge to be higher trying to get rid of a few buzzes. i haveto Shim the Nut,Im just trying to get the right heigth & do it Once. and Im flat totally broke for the next week. Cant afford a Feeler gauge,honestly. I have a Tread depth gauge? its in 32nds
@97warlock ok then you have to shim it. That's fairly easy. Find the right material to do it with can be tricky. I have shimmed my mistake jobs a couple times before. You need to find shims that are thin enough - that's the challenge. If you can't then you'll need to use a bigger piece, trim it to the footprint of your nut, and then sand it back to a reasonable height using the method in the video.
You don't need feeler gauges. I was just saying if you wanted to do it the 'official way' is all.
The measurements you mentioned......Im not good on reading tiny incremnts like that on a measuring device. Honestly. is there any chance theres some way of using a COIN as a way to measure a good heigth?? such as a dime etc? i know that sounds dumb but it would be a much more simpler way for me gauge it.. Right now its low enough on the fat E ,that a dime wont slide under the string without touching the string. seems a bit low.
@97warlock Well... those are the measurements - like I said you need a set of feeler gauges. Costs 5 bucks or something like that. Each feeler has a measurement on it to tell you how thick it is.
A dime? No way. A dime thickness won't tell you anything useful at all.
Like I said - I go by feel mostly. I don't measure at all. I play the guitar like in the video and if it is not right then I drop the height a bit. Then I play it again to check. Make sure that you don't have any buzzing though.
Very helpful Vid, Thanx dude ...I have a Floyd rosE NUT no one mentions a word about String heigth coming from the Nut. ?? anyone got any advice? this seems to be highly overlooked..I can get a thin pic between the string & fret at the first fret. Too much space? or not enough space??
@97warlock Hey man, glad I could help. Floyd rose won't make any difference to resulting setup... essentially it's just a lock on top of your strings to stop them slipping, but it doesn't change the height.
There are indeed some specific string heights that people work to - but I prefer to work by feel because I get a better result.
First you need to buy a set of feeler gauges. Measure gap between first fret and BOTTOM of low E - it should be approx 0.022". High E string gap should be ~ 0.020".
Awesome video, especially the meaty nut rubbing bit' haha
But I do have a question, wouldn't lowering the nut make it rattle more? The strings I mean, if they're already giving the rattle sound, why make it lower?
@GreenbloodedPunkrock It depends where buzzing is coming from. Sounds like your neck needs adjustment first before you think about the nut. So you might have to increase the curvature of your neck (i.e. slacken the tension on your neck slightly).
If however your nut is already too low then of course you shouldn't lower it any lower.
@1:12 is not the proper way to measure nut height, you first need to measure the height of the first fret then add 010" to 030" to the height and draw a line across the nut.(feeler gauges as a guide)That second measurement is how deep the slots will be.
@cast390 thanks for posting the correct method. However, I always prefer to go by the method that I've posted here... and this way has always worked for me.
Put it this way, I used to take my guitars into luthiers to set-up, and the nut would be slight too high, and other adjustments just didn't feel right. So I started doing this method to get the nut to an optimial height quickly.
Might not be the professional method... but it certainly works for me, and for lots of guitars that I've set up.
I'm building my first guitar, so I will have to see if I can get by just using jewlers' (needle) files. I probably used more glue on the nut than necessary. But thanks for the vid anyway. Before I do anything else. I'm going to take a file and round off the side of the nut OPPOSIT to the fretboard. The sides are still square, and I'm having to file away more material than necessary. I'm guessing having strings pass through a groove that long is a bad idea anyway.
@a0e0roberts What you've said sounds correct; as long as the side nearest the guitar is the highest point, then you shouldnt have any problems with buzzing.
nice but what about reinstalling the nut? how do you reinstall it on the guitar? I also heard you can file the grooves a tiny bit where the strings rest...is this better or worse?? thanks!
Reinstalling is just a matter of placing the nut firmly back in place, and adding a couple of drops of wood glue to set it there. You can file the grooves, but you need a special set of groove files (not recommended for first timers). In my experience most guitars do not need the grooves filed down unless the string pops out of it's groove too often.
cool thanks for the quick reply! after checking my acoustic again last night and fretting on the 2nd fret there is barely any play between the string and first fret. i think it's good, at the nut atleast...
Good job!
wizardwithguns1 2 months ago
nice vido mate, good explanation for what i need but could do with some advice, i was told i should keep the strings on the guitar so as to keep the neck at tension, is this nessecary as clearly you dont do that.
also i have a crack running from behind the back of the head under the peg of the fat e string running down to the edge of the nut, under where the thin e string is (almost an inch long)
should i even attempt this? am i likely to see my guitar head snap off or should i be ok.
Thanks
DrOrphious79 2 months ago
@DrOrphious79 @DrOrphious79 You know what man? I've read every guitar instruction manual on the planet. OK maybe not the chinese ones. But hype aside, you know what I mean.
At the end of the day, yes it will be better for the tension of the neck if you kept strings on. But have I EVER seen anybody do this? NOPE. Not ever.
I've been playing for 26 years. I've never ever left alternate strings on whilst I changed the others. And it has been fine.
shockalotti 2 months ago
@DrOrphious79 re - cracked neck. See a Luthier. They can do some amazing things with wood. Once I had a friend borrow my $3000 guitar for a major gig - i.e. 15,000 people. And you know what? Mistake. Came back with a hole in it.
But my good Luthier took that hole and made it perfect again. Admittedly it cost me ~$100. But at least my baby was whole again :)
There's just some things you should and should not attempt. In this case see a pro.
shockalotti 2 months ago
@shockalotti Thanks man, appreciate the reply, im prety skint and dont have a car to get it anyplace either, in your experience do you think it would be a stupid thing to try myself? was wondering if keeping the strings at tension would make it less risky for removing the nut without disturbing the crack.
if not ill have to wait for the oportunity to get a pro on it.
Cheers
Ed
DrOrphious79 2 months ago
@DrOrphious79 I'll tell you the truth. The advice I'm giving here is assuming you're skint. I'm giving advice based upon my painful experiences in the past.
Regarding a cracked neck. Not a newbie thing to try. But then it depends upon how much the guitar is worth. If it's $50 then go for it. If it's $3,000 guitar - nope. Based upon your risk, you be the judge.
Neck tension. Ignore that stuff people say. Just make sure to take off light string, and then heavy string, and alternate
shockalotti 2 months ago
@shockalotti light then heavy. thats a good tip, wouldnt have thought of that. nice 1. the guitar was a gift. worth about 500 - a grand. so im not in a rush to do anything too risky, but the thing has been gathering dust for some time now and its getting a real shame every time i see it. i just cant make any decent chords at open pos.
hmm i might start to take them off 2 at a time and just see if the crack makes any noises or creaks. slowly slowly like.
DrOrphious79 2 months ago
I made the crack prety soon after i had it, about a month or 2. it was resting nicely against a chair and it just seemed to gravitate towards a door handle, the peg made contact with a loud slam.
I realy appreciate the replys and all the advice mate. and no fear, if all goes wrong i wont be blaming anyone but myself. if/when i do something ill let u know how it went. maybe even record it.
Cheers
DrOrphious79 2 months ago
are u a kiwi?
pauljosse 3 months ago
@pauljosse certainly am :)
shockalotti 3 months ago
What advice would you give to someone who wants to add to the nut to make it bigger, your video shows how to make it smaller. Would you recommend just buying a new one if it should be bigger?
thebringathecuba 9 months ago
Take some meat off the bottom of your nut ? Yikes ! sounds painful .
brucey39 1 year ago
jesus christ...scary
theamazingsupergirl 1 year ago
Good stuff
organicpaul 1 year ago
Im in a real pickle is why i was asking .........I have big fear of stripping out the holes for the Nut & Ive already taken it off and put it on 3 times already. Adjust the Bridge is simple for me. But my Nut sits too low,causing the bridge to be higher trying to get rid of a few buzzes. i haveto Shim the Nut,Im just trying to get the right heigth & do it Once. and Im flat totally broke for the next week. Cant afford a Feeler gauge,honestly. I have a Tread depth gauge? its in 32nds
97warlock 1 year ago
@97warlock ok then you have to shim it. That's fairly easy. Find the right material to do it with can be tricky. I have shimmed my mistake jobs a couple times before. You need to find shims that are thin enough - that's the challenge. If you can't then you'll need to use a bigger piece, trim it to the footprint of your nut, and then sand it back to a reasonable height using the method in the video.
You don't need feeler gauges. I was just saying if you wanted to do it the 'official way' is all.
shockalotti 1 year ago
The measurements you mentioned......Im not good on reading tiny incremnts like that on a measuring device. Honestly. is there any chance theres some way of using a COIN as a way to measure a good heigth?? such as a dime etc? i know that sounds dumb but it would be a much more simpler way for me gauge it.. Right now its low enough on the fat E ,that a dime wont slide under the string without touching the string. seems a bit low.
97warlock 1 year ago
@97warlock Well... those are the measurements - like I said you need a set of feeler gauges. Costs 5 bucks or something like that. Each feeler has a measurement on it to tell you how thick it is.
A dime? No way. A dime thickness won't tell you anything useful at all.
Like I said - I go by feel mostly. I don't measure at all. I play the guitar like in the video and if it is not right then I drop the height a bit. Then I play it again to check. Make sure that you don't have any buzzing though.
shockalotti 1 year ago
Very helpful Vid, Thanx dude ...I have a Floyd rosE NUT no one mentions a word about String heigth coming from the Nut. ?? anyone got any advice? this seems to be highly overlooked..I can get a thin pic between the string & fret at the first fret. Too much space? or not enough space??
97warlock 1 year ago
@97warlock Hey man, glad I could help. Floyd rose won't make any difference to resulting setup... essentially it's just a lock on top of your strings to stop them slipping, but it doesn't change the height.
There are indeed some specific string heights that people work to - but I prefer to work by feel because I get a better result.
First you need to buy a set of feeler gauges. Measure gap between first fret and BOTTOM of low E - it should be approx 0.022". High E string gap should be ~ 0.020".
shockalotti 1 year ago
Awesome video, especially the meaty nut rubbing bit' haha
But I do have a question, wouldn't lowering the nut make it rattle more? The strings I mean, if they're already giving the rattle sound, why make it lower?
GreenbloodedPunkrock 1 year ago
@GreenbloodedPunkrock It depends where buzzing is coming from. Sounds like your neck needs adjustment first before you think about the nut. So you might have to increase the curvature of your neck (i.e. slacken the tension on your neck slightly).
If however your nut is already too low then of course you shouldn't lower it any lower.
shockalotti 1 year ago
"take some meat off the nut when you rub it" pfffftt haha....nice tutorial
cairns22 1 year ago
@cairns22 ha ha yeah I never thought of that.
shockalotti 1 year ago
@1:12 is not the proper way to measure nut height, you first need to measure the height of the first fret then add 010" to 030" to the height and draw a line across the nut.(feeler gauges as a guide)That second measurement is how deep the slots will be.
cast390 2 years ago
@cast390 thanks for posting the correct method. However, I always prefer to go by the method that I've posted here... and this way has always worked for me.
Put it this way, I used to take my guitars into luthiers to set-up, and the nut would be slight too high, and other adjustments just didn't feel right. So I started doing this method to get the nut to an optimial height quickly.
Might not be the professional method... but it certainly works for me, and for lots of guitars that I've set up.
drivingonlinesales 2 years ago
I'm building my first guitar, so I will have to see if I can get by just using jewlers' (needle) files. I probably used more glue on the nut than necessary. But thanks for the vid anyway. Before I do anything else. I'm going to take a file and round off the side of the nut OPPOSIT to the fretboard. The sides are still square, and I'm having to file away more material than necessary. I'm guessing having strings pass through a groove that long is a bad idea anyway.
a0e0roberts 2 years ago
@a0e0roberts What you've said sounds correct; as long as the side nearest the guitar is the highest point, then you shouldnt have any problems with buzzing.
drivingonlinesales 2 years ago
nice but what about reinstalling the nut? how do you reinstall it on the guitar? I also heard you can file the grooves a tiny bit where the strings rest...is this better or worse?? thanks!
ed0985587 2 years ago
Reinstalling is just a matter of placing the nut firmly back in place, and adding a couple of drops of wood glue to set it there. You can file the grooves, but you need a special set of groove files (not recommended for first timers). In my experience most guitars do not need the grooves filed down unless the string pops out of it's groove too often.
shockalotti 2 years ago
thanks for the good lesson
sirvendor 2 years ago
cool thanks for the quick reply! after checking my acoustic again last night and fretting on the 2nd fret there is barely any play between the string and first fret. i think it's good, at the nut atleast...
ed0985587 2 years ago
lol... you're probably right! :)
shockalotti 2 years ago
you dring too much alkohol...
rastamaniakTHC 2 years ago
thx for the help
hvnboi 2 years ago