Bone nut too thin

[dbeltrami]

Hi folks,

The bone nut upgrade I received with my maple neck is too thin (about 0.4 - 0.5mm) for the slot that held the standard plastic nut.

Any suggestions on what too do here? Is glue sufficient or will this amount of space be problematic for tuning stability and sustain?

[McCreed]

I have fixed this by shimming the nut slot (on tuner side of the nut) with wooden veneer. My veneers run .6-.8mm so they generally need to be thinned down to fit for this application. The veneer can be sanded or scraped to achieve the right thickness.

I keep a range of different wood veneers on hand to try and get the colour to match as closely as possible to what I'm shimming, but because it's made of real timber, it can be stained to match as well.

[dbeltrami]

Thanks @McCreed. Where can I find small strips of suitable veneer?

[McCreed]

You can probably get it a the BGS (Big Green Shed) but not sure what the minimum length would be. A little bit will last a long time.
What I do, is go a local joiner/cabinet maker and ask to buy some offcuts. I have never had a shop actually accept my money.
They generally will pull some different pieces out of the bin and give it to me.

My last trip to the joiner, they gave me enough to last years (I don't go through a lot of it, as it's usually very small bits at a time).
I got Tas Oak and Pine which are good for light coloured timber like Maple, and Blackwood which is close to Rosewood. Got some Jarrah too.

[fender3x]

I got all the veneer I have needed so far for about $6 US on ebay...but I just priced it on ebay.au...and I can see why McCreed goes to joiners.