As part of the 'try something different' aspect of this build I wanted to see if I could cut a nice low nut for it without having the strings on, without the bridge on, without even the neck on the body. Basically, can I make a decent bone nut that won't really need adjustment using just the neck as a guide.
I didn't want to waste a good chunk of bone so I dug out a blank that was borderline too small. It was thinner (towards the headstock) than I'd like, but if things went right it should just be big enough.
The plan was to use the 'clearance over 1st fret' as a guide for cutting the nut. Normally, fretting a string at the 3rd fret allows you to check the clearance above the 1st fret. In this case I used a short thin straight edge sitting on the crown of the 2nd fret to the string slots on the stock nut (sitting in place) to get an idea. It was actually closer than I expected, but a little high, so I transferred slightly lower measurements of the E and G to my nut blank and drew a 12" radius between them. Then marked out the string spacing.
Rough shaped the nut and slots cut slightly short of their intended depth. I much prefer the single size black handled flat nut files, they're easier to use and have a better cut, but I had to resort to the larger two-size edges one for the 105 E string. Cut as 046, 065, 085, and 105 and using the stock strings to how they sit in the slots.
Some final tweaks, sand and light polish. Looks ok but won't know if it's good enough until I actually get to assemble the Bad Girl.
Black nut is a long way from home…
Given that the build will have black hardware and a dark fretboard a pale bone coloured nut won't really match, so time to see how well bone takes stain. I didn't want to immerse it in any stain to thoroughly soak it for fear of the bone being weakened, so I decided to try the Fiebings once again (with my favourite type of Fiebings applicator).
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