Nut adjustment

[johnnyrotten]

Just about finished my first kit, an EG175 ish copy. All has gone very well & i'm quite pleased with the result. I've gone through the setup procedure so frets, trussrod & intonation are all OK. I do think,however, that the nut is a bit high. Fretting the lower strings on the first 2 or 3 frets stretches the string out of tune a little. iI's only noticeable with open chords, playing further up the fretboard sounds good.
Should I remove the nut altogether and shave some off underneath or just increase the depth of the slots?
Thanks in advance.
Johnny

[Sonic Mountain]

I usually just sand a bit off the bottom (or shim it up). You really need nut files to lower the grooves properly (although there other methods for that)

Fit it without glue and let the string pressure hold it in place and just slowly take a bit off the bottom by gently sanding on a flat surface with 180 grit until you are happy. If you have vernier callipers you can measure the e string slots to verify you are taking off the material evenly

[wazkelly]

Old wound strings can be pulled back and forth through the nut slots to increase depth a little bit at a time. For High E, B & G strings you could get away with a very fine gauge wound D string but proper files would be the way to go. This method works fine on a Bass as all strings are wound.

Sanding bottom of nut is tricky as it very easy to lose the 90 degree perpendicular aspect and also end up with one side lower than the other, hence Sonic's last line comment above.

[johnnyrotten]

Thanks all, I have ordered a set of nut files.

[Simon Barden]

Just move to the corner, turn around, jiggle them about until you're comfortable and then return to the party.

Or have I misunderstood the thread title?

[johnnyrotten]

I've just tried that Simon & it worked a treat, thanks! That reminds me, there were these two old blokes sat in deck chairs....

Just move to the corner, turn around, jiggle them about until you're comfortable and then return to the party.

Or have I misunderstood the thread title?