Filing the Nut - Standard Guitar

[Rayzcane]

NUT ADJUSTMENT on a squire strat, and others....

I can adjust string height and intonation at the bridge end. I can twist a fat allen wrench to flatten a warped neck. My question is how much filing is required to lower the action at the nut?

I have installed a set of Blue Steel strings. I think they are about .009 - .046 (or so). I do know that when the nut is filed down it is "carved in stone" forever, so the choice of the best strings for tapping is of paramount importance. I believe these guages were recommended on Stanley Jordan's site.

Is there an ideal distance from the bottom of the string to the first fret? Or do we just keep on filing until it starts buzzing then wish we hadn't taken so much off? <vbg> If someone knows a precise figure in either millimeters or thousandths of an inch, I would greatly appreciate it. I plan to make a "go-no go" guage with a flashlight battery, flashlight lamp, a jumper wire and a feeler guage. In other words, with the string in the nut slot and the string tuned up to pitch, the light will come on when the feeler guage is inserted under the string, and the proper distance is achieved.

Since I am tuning down one whole tone (two frets) from standard parallel 4ths, how low of a string guage can I use and still be able to play "easily"? (Again assuming a 6 string electric guitar).

I am not a rocker. I don't do slapping, popping, etc. I gravitate toward sweet and slow tunes like Autumn Leaves, Patsy Cline's version of Crazy, Irving Berlin's Always and other love songs. However I LOVE the blues.


Ray Langley

[BigDaddyPoo]

There is atleast 1 therory for every person who sets up their own guitars. Here's how I do it.

I put a capo on the first fret and set the action at the bridge and adjust the truss rod so everything on the neck feels nice and the neck is strait enough that there is no buzzing (may require some fret leveling). Still with the capo on, I measure the distance from the fretboard to the bottom of the string just in front of the first fret. This is height I set the nut to. I actually don't measure with calipers or a ruler, but instead mark the distance on a card. There's less possiblity of you measuring wrong.

Another option is using feeler gauges to get the height. Then you put a piece of tape on the top feeler gauge, set the feeler gauges up against the nut and file down until you just touch the tape.

If you base your measurement like this, you end up with a nut that is ever so slightly higher than fret height. I would avoid setting it to a specific measured height, because this varies from guitar to guitar. If you set the action this way, the first fret feels like every other position on the fretboard.

Note that using this method sets the bottom of every string to the same height. Some people don't like this because the .046 will feel higher than the .009. Some like to split the difference so the strings feel more level and the thinner strings are slightly higher off the fretboard than the fatter strings.

Kinda hard to describe, but I hope this helps.

[GaryOpenhill]

Could you maybe get a blank nut to replace the original and file that one instead, just in case? These aren't hard to replace in my experience.

i don't think you have to worry too much about buzzing unless you plan to use open strings. all audible buzzing in the amp is controled by the bridge. i think you could file the nut slots down to the same higth as the frets or just slightly higher and it would work out fine. or you could have the strings run from the nut at about the same as the action at the bridge, maybe about 1 - 1.5 mm? this way the action would be more equal all over the fretboard, but i think the intonation will be a little more off. if i'm right about my megatar, the zero fret is at the same hight as the rest of the frets, ( but it seems like it is a litte bit higher at the "bass" side, but i'm not sure ). this causes no buzzing problems.

[Rayzcane]

Thanks BigDaddyPoo and Gary,

That is all excellent advice! The capo idea would be a good way for someone to "try out" tapping without filing away at the nut. You would lose a fret but tuning down 1/2 step would keep you in tune with other players.

Ray