First attempt at making a nut for my Strat.

Hi everyone,


Not sure if this is the most appropriate place for this thread, but anyway, I've been having some trouble with trying to get a bone nut to work properly on my Strat ever since I replaced the stock plastic one with a bone one I ordered a couple of fortnights or so ago, the main issue was that the slots seemed a bit too narrow for the 42-09 gauge strings I was using at the time, so I tried using my set of 42-09 gauge nut-slot files to try and fix the issue with limited success, I ended up with a few strings buzzing like a sitar, so, thinking that I needed to start again with a new bone nut, I ordered a couple more, they arrived in the post this morning, unfortunately I couldn't install one of them because they were for a left-handed guitar, and I'm right-handed, I tried to adapt one of the nuts but it just didn't work, so, I did some thinking and then remembered I had a spare white Tusq XL nut that was designed to fit a Gibson Les Paul, so I though that since both my Strat and my LP Studio had a 12 inch radius neck, I would try fashioning a nut for my Strat out of the white Tusq XL nut, and I think I have finally had a win, I tried the nut out on my Strat and all the strings sounded cleanly with no sitar-buzzing, here's a pic of the nut I made:


Attachment 10675


It seems to fit pretty well in the nut trench on the neck of my strat, I think I must have fluked it given that nuts are very difficult to get right, or so it seems to me, I think I managed to get the back and bottom of the nut reasonably square too, while I was trying to get the replacement bone nut working I managed to break one of the strings of the only spare set of 42-09 gauge strings I had, after some rather colourful language followed by a fit resembling tourettes, i calmed down and then remembered that I had a set of 46-10 gauge strings, I decided to put them on my strat and do a full re-setup on it, I'm going to pop down to the service station shortly to buy some super glue to glue the white Tusq xL nut into place.

Update:


The white Tusq XL nut is now glued into position and the guitar is tuned to pitch, all I need to do now is tweak the action at the 17th fret cause it's a bit high, fortunately it only needs to come down about .5mm and she'll be fine, I'll probably need to tweak the intonation a bit but it shouldn't be to hard a job, after that the trem springs will be adjusted and then the guitar will be ready to play again.


Here's a pic of the white Tusq XL nut glued into place:


Attachment 10686

And the Strat is back up and running, if my ears weren't deceiving me I think my Strat seems to sound better with 46-10s on it, I dunno, might just be my imagination.

Hey Doc long time no follow up. Your Strat looks and sounds awesome. Nut looks good. I use 10s on all my Fender guitars (7.25 & 9.5 radius fretboards). To my ears it contributes positively to the overall tone.

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Originally Posted by andrewdosborne

Hey Doc long time no follow up. Your Strat looks and sounds awesome. Nut looks good. I use 10s on all my Fender guitars (7.25 & 9.5 radius fretboards). To my ears it contributes positively to the overall tone.

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Cheers mate, I reckon that putting 10s on Strats tends to mellow them out a little bit so that they're not so ice-picky like they are with 09s, plus 10's seem to produce more output.

Well done Doc great skill to learn fitting a new nut. If you can keep the gap between the first fret and the underside of the string,while holding string down at 3rd fret. These feeler gauge measurements should put you in the right area. .020" depending on your preferences.
Here's some favourite setups.

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Originally Posted by kimball492

Well done Doc great skill to learn fitting a new nut. If you can keep the gap between the first fret and the underside of the string,while holding string down at 3rd fret. These feeler gauge measurements should put you in the right area. .020" depending on your preferences.
Here's some favourite setups.

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Cheers Kimball, I tend to aim for a 1st fret action of .020 of an inch, the first fret action on my Strat is just a tad less than .018 of an inch, I wouldn't go any lower than that, or risk fret-buzzing at the 1st fret.


While I was sorting out the nut on my Strat it really made me appreciate how hard it was to get it right because it doesn't take much to ruin things.

The nut is probably hardest to get feeling and sounding right. So always file a little at a time. As DB will tell you it can make or break a guitar.

As it just so happens, I trained as a Fitter and Machinist while doing an Apprenticeship with my dad back in the late 90's so I'm pretty used to working on things with my hands, I actually find it strangely relaxing while working on something that involves a hands-on approach plus I feel that I learn things easier that way.

Well done Doc.
You are right, nuts can be a bit of a challenge to get right but once you have nailed it, it is a good skill to have.

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Well done Doc.
You are right, nuts can be a bit of a challenge to get right but once you have nailed it, it is a good skill to have.

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Cheers mate.

Doc, Whats the Tusq nut like?

The last nut I had DB made I didn't have a big enough piece of bone for the GR-1SF it's massive lol. I've tried Tusq Andy there ok diifferent to bone sometimes the standard ones need shimming as not high enough. Tusq are good on a guitar that is a bit on the tinny side as it seems to cut a little of the high frequencies. Be nice to hear Docs thoughts.

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Doc, Whats the Tusq nut like?

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It seems to sound similar to bone, I don't know if it had much effect on the tone of my Strat cause I put 46-10s on my Guitar and I reckon that they mellowed the tone and produced more output.

I just got back home from visiting a mate and helping him out with one of his guitars that needed a replacement toggle switch, anyway, I managed to fix his guitar so that all the pickups were working correctly, while I was out at his place I tried my Strat through his Rock Rig and my Strat sounded really good, so I'm happy with it.


I think that it doesn't matter so much what material the nut is made out of as long as it's hard enough to withstand the amount of downward force exerted by the string on the nut itself, I think what really matters is the way the nut slots are cut, how wide the nut slots are, and the amount of friction between the nut material and the string, you really want some kind of material that's both hard and also offers very little friction, friction is one of the main causes of tuning-instability in a guitar, especially one that has a trem system installed on it, the way the string passes over the nut is important, if it kinks to one side or another then no amount of futzing with the nut-slots is going to cure it, something I've found through experience, a sideways kink is going to create a point of friction that no amount of lubrication is going to cure, so, the string needs to pass over the nut as straight as possible with a downwards break-angle so that the string vibrates cleanly without choking-out, which shortens the sustain, the break-angle ensures enough downwards-force that the string does sustain cleanly.

The nut slots need to be wide enough so that the string doesn't bind in them, but not too wide that the string buzzes against the side of the nut slot, the bottom of the nut slot needs to slope downwards towards the headstock from the front of the nut so that the string rests on the front-most edge closest to the first fret, this ensures that the scale-length starts at the proper zero-point so that the intonation is correct at the 12th fret.

Lastly, there's the string-to-string spacing of the nut-slots, these need to be spaced so that the strings are even and not bunched up.

good stuff Doc, so did you turn up the amp so you could (and the neighbors haha) hear it nice and clear ?

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

good stuff Doc, so did you turn up the amp so you could (and the neighbors haha) hear it nice and clear ?

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Yeah, we had the amp turned up to a reasonable....hahaha...volume level for rock n roll, I tried playing my strat through my Baja Real Tube Overdrive with my Rangemaster acting as a booster and you should have heard what it sounded like, it sounded really good and smooth.


I was playing through my mate's Mesa/Boogie Studio .22 Valve combo amp, he had it connected up to a speaker cab with two 12 inch speakers in it.


My mate has an Italian made Vox Wah pedal that sounded good with my Strat but he reckons my Dunlop Crybaby Wah sounds better.

sounds like a great setup Doc, was it loud enough for the pickups to feedback ? It's only loud enough if there's feedback haha

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

sounds like a great setup Doc, was it loud enough for the pickups to feedback ? It's only loud enough if there's feedback haha

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Yep, it was loud enough to get feedback easily, but it wasn't so loud as to be painful to listen to, while the guitar was feeding-back I waggled the trem arm and that caused the feedback note to sustain longer, I even got feedback with open strings too, this with single-coil style pickups, the feedback was very musical-sounding.


I should have recorded it so you guys could hear what it sounded like.

sounds good Doc Hendrix !!!

you must be stoked.

Did you end up finishing the blues track on your build diary ? I can't be bothered reading through 5 or more pages to find it hahha

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

sounds good Doc Hendrix !!!

you must be stoked.

Did you end up finishing the blues track on your build diary ? I can't be bothered reading through 5 or more pages to find it hahha

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I'm still working on it mate, I may end up re-recording the bassline again, but in a different style that suits the drumtrack a bit better, I dunno, the last time I tried recording the guitar tracks it wasn't happening for some reason so I left it till I could come up with something more inspired.


My Desktop DAW PC had a major hissy-fit yesterday and wouldn't boot up properly, but I managed to sort it out before my mate came and picked me up to go out to his place.

sounds good Doc, sure you will come up with a Doc blues track

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

sounds good Doc, sure you will come up with a Doc blues track

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Well, I'm determined to get that demo track finished for you guys even if it drives me mad in the process, I hate leaving things unfinished.


How are your guitar builds going mate?


In a couple of fortnight's time I'm going to start working on ordering all the new bits and pieces I'll need from Evatco to get my Tube Amp Soldano SLO 50 Head up and running again, I'll do a build-progress thread on it so you guys can see some pics of it being built.


I've decided to build a 4 X 10 inch speaker cab for it using four 10 inch Jensen C10Q speakers, I talked to my mate about it and he reckons I should do it too.

sounds like a great plan Doc,
my builds going well thanks Doc, I've had alot of side projects lately so build progress has been slow, but got a 4 day weekend so should get some solid work done on them

your amp should kick butt mate !

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

sounds like a great plan Doc,
my builds going well thanks Doc, I've had alot of side projects lately so build progress has been slow, but got a 4 day weekend so should get some solid work done on them

your amp should kick butt mate !

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I reckon the amp will too, especially through a 4 X 10 cab, the Strat should sound great through it.

Lastly, there's the string-to-string spacing of the nut-slots, these need to be spaced so that the strings are even and not bunched up.[/QUOTE]

Compensated spacings are the way to go as they allow for the different thicknesses thus giving a truly evenly spaced string spread that feels more comfortable to play.

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Originally Posted by dingobass

Compensated spacings are the way to go as they allow for the different thicknesses thus giving a truly evenly spaced string spread that feels more comfortable to play.

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Yep, that's exactly what I was getting at when I posted that comment, one day I'm going to have to order a new set of nut-slot files to replace my current ones, one broke and they all got a bit rusted when one of my cats decided to relieve itself on them, I had to wash them under running water, but I'm considering that a blessing in disguise, I've found that the more I've learnt about guitar luthiery, the more I want to learn, pretty exciting times for me.


I can't wait to get round to ordering that TL-51 kit I'm interested in for my next build, my mate reckons I'll have all the bases covered once I have a good Telecaster.


Next time I'm out at my mate's place I'll make sure I take a pic of the guitar I fixed up for him, it is a hollow body guitar, has a Bigsby Trem on it, has a TOM bridge mounted on a wooden archtop-style bridge mount, he's got three pickups in it, one is a Gretch, and you should see the grain-pattern on the body top, the guitar sounds gorgeous through my mate's guitar rig, some of the tones are Fender-ish and would sound even better with a hint of reverb, he calls the guitar "The Bird".