Nut issue - ST1

Hi everyone,

Got an issue with my nut on my strat. Initially the nut wasn’t cut, the slots were shallow and I had issues when setting up the guitar. The action at the first few frets was really high and the intonation would be way off. I read into filing down the nut slots, I did this and it fixed the issue with the action and the intonation, the guitar plays pretty good. Although as you can see in the photo below, to get it to that point I ended up filing the slots really deep, and I’ve noticed when tuning, the strings gets caught in the nut a bit. Is there any way of salvaging this nut somehow or is it better to replace it with a new nut? I do have a new bone nut but I’m not sure how to remove the old nut and install the new nut. Any advice will be most welcome?

The plastic nut needs to filed down on the top, called profiling, and the string slots need to tidied up. They look pretty rough and jagged.
The sides and bottom of the slots need to be smooth, as well as having the correct break angle from nut to tuner post.

I will suggest two things:
1) Keep the plastic nut in there for the time being, and file down the top (profile).*
2) Have a closer look at the string slots, and try to get them so they are uniform "U" shaped grooves (not "V") and see if it improves catching issue.

Ok, now that you've practised on the plastic nut, pull it out and replace it with the bone nut doing exactly what you did with the plastic one! Better to bugger up the plastic one while figuring it all out than the good bone nut.

*There are multiple opinions on what is the best approach when profiling the top of the nut, but I think all will agree that filing so the top of the nut is at least even with the top of the strings. (maybe slightly above on the B & E strings if you're an aggressive strummer).

The factory nut should be able to be driven out sideway, rather than prised up. You don't want to damage the slot at the edge of the fretboard. Use a small hammer and something flat about 2-3mm in thickness to use as a drift, and lightly tap it against the side of the nut.
Even though there is no finish on the fretboard (rosewood) you may need to lightly score along the nut and slot with a razor or scalpel in there is any glue there.

Strings getting caught normally indicate the slot is too narrow for the string, though it can mean that it is simply very rough sided.

I'd fold a piece of P400 in half and run it through the slots a few times, and then maybe some P800 (double fold for the wider slots to make the sandpaper thicker). This will help smooth the bottom and sides of the slot and may cure the sticking issue. If not, file the sticking slots a bit wider.

As McCreed says, file down the top of the nut to be at least level with the top of the strings. Apart from it looking weird, the two end sections of the nut are now quite tall and weak and liable to snap off if you catch them on anything (which then means fitting a new nut). The taller those teeth are, the more leverage there is on the base of the tooth if you catch the top on clothing or a mic stand etc. At the same time, you need enough depth in the slot to stop the string popping out under heavy strumming or string bending.

Level with the top of the string is fine, but some people (e.g. McCreed) like to file a little bit more and have most of the top half of the string exposed. As long as the string stays in the slot when you play and the teeth aren't too tall, then that's OK.

Having the nut level with the top of the strings is easier to achieve and you can use a pencil to draw a line over the strings to aid filing/sanding, or if you have an old set of strings on, you can just file until you hit the top of the strings, then fit new strings. Going lower is slightly riskier, as a couple of file strokes too many and you don't have enough slot depth to keep the string in place.

After filing, the nut can be sanded with finer and finer grits (I use P240 to P800 and then Micromesh pads) until it's as shiny (or shinier) as it was when new.

Thanks guys, this is very helpful, with this info I should be able to clean this mess of a nut up haha.

I do have a sanding block with different grits on different sides, would this be okay to use over the top of the nut?

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I do have a sanding block with different grits on different sides, would this be okay to use over the top of the nut?

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It sort of depends on what grits are on your block. A flat file is better to remove most of the material first, then do final shaping and polishing with sandpaper like Simon described. That said, if all you have is sandpaper, you can do it. It will probably just a take a bit longer.

When filing or sanding, always work along the length of the nut, at least until you are down to the level of the strings. Filing across the nut when those teeth are very long is quite likely to break a tooth off.