So today i bought a new Fender nut for my build. And i've just noticed that the nut hole is bigger than the nut. I taken off the old one.
But there is a noticable gab when i fit it in the nuthole. Enough gap so that the nut won't stay in the hole.
Is this a major problem? Or will the glue fill the gap and it's ok????
Last edited by George Koleventis; 12-05-2017 at 11:39 PM.
Made some measurements and the nuts both old and new one are 3mm wide. And the nuthole is 4mm wide. I guess i have to find a 4mm wide nut?? Or 3mm is universal width for stratos and i have to come up with something else??
From what i've already seen the 3mm width is standard for fenders..
Last edited by George Koleventis; 13-05-2017 at 12:17 AM.
Most replacement bone ones I've seen are around 3.3mm thick, which is normally slightly thicker than the slot width, so you have to sand it down a bit to fit tightly - which is how it should be. Length can vary but 42mm or 43mm seem to be the two normal lengths for Fender style guitars. I tend to buy 43mm ones and if necessary, then take 0.5mm off each end.
It's not a good thing to have a bigger slot than the nut. You only want to use something like PVA/white glue to hold it in place. That's great if you've got a tight fit, but you don't want 1mm of PVA glue as it's not really hard enough and will deaden the string vibrations.
I'm not sure if you'll find bone or other similar material nuts with a 4mm thickness (though a web search did thor up some 4mm brass nuts). so you may have to get a bone (or another material like Tusq) blank and make your own nut. You can use the replacement as a guide for the width and height and cutting the initial slots, and you'll just have to sand it down so its the correct thickness.
Have a look on eBay for a 4mm thick Fender style nut, you might be lucky. Otherwise you should be able to find a blank of suitable material on there.
The alternative is to try and find a 1mm strip of maple veneer, glue it in to reduce the slot width so that the new nut is then a tight fit. I'm not sure how good you could make this repair look (you obviously glue it on the headstock side of the slot otherwise your nut will then be 1mm too far away from the first fret), but if you are careful it shouldn't be too noticeable and if you spray it over with some tinted lacquer first, then that will help hide the line of the maple strip.
Thanks a lot Simon.
I am starting to get frustrated with the routing the factory did. First the neck pocket, now the nut hole. These are the most critical parts and are both crap. I am thinking maybe the neck isn't the pair for the body i got...
And now my build is going to be full of maple veneers...
Anyway, i will try to find a 4mm wide nut. If i can't find one i know now.. Maple veneer is the answer to all wrong routing..
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