fredwardheadboard Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Hi, I'm a total beginner to any guitar repair/maintenance so please bare with me. This seems to me a pretty stupid question but I have read several of the articles and been unable to find the answer. The plastic thingy at the top of the guitar that holds the strings in place the '0' fret if you will what is this called? Mine is damaged and I need to replace just this, is that possible and or easy? would I have to take all the frets off? Mainly I just need to find out its name so I can find out what it is I'm trying to fix. Thanks, Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 It shouldn't be too hard to replace. Once you get it off (which might be hard) just try and get a replacement. What guitar are you trying to fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredwardheadboard Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Hi, So this 'nut' I can just yank it off and glue a new one back on theoretically? The guitar is a 10 year old strat shaped Encore completely worthless I know but I'd still like to be able to play it. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoughtless 7 Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 I wouldn't recommend yanking it off...might take some TLC to get it off. You 'might' be able to stick on a fender style strat replacement. I think they have two type, the arched version and the flat version (please correct me if i'm wrong) you will need to know which one you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredwardheadboard Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 I wouldn't recommend yanking it off...might take some TLC to get it off. You 'might' be able to stick on a fender style strat replacement. I think they have two type, the arched version and the flat version (please correct me if i'm wrong) you will need to know which one you need. ← It appears to be arched, thanks for your help, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 The prenotched nuts probably won't make you happy. I'd take it to a luthier and get him to make you a new one. The prenotched nuts are cut on the safe side, so they are really too high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 no he means the bottom may be arched or flat. I would NOT recomend doing it yourself because (no offence) you dont know waht your doing. just bring it to a shop. I wont cost more than $30 and you'll get a perfectly cut nut and your guitar will be setup and play better than it ever has in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Nut jobs around here seem to be going $50-$60. Godin is right, this usually isn't the kind of job you try to do with no experience. It's very difficult to cut a perfect nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 Nut jobs around here seem to be going $50-$60. i need to move to your neck of the woods..i charge $30 for a hand made nut. doesn't take too long and i scored a bunch of bone blanks from allparts last year on sale. but you really should take it to a tech. he'll be able to cut the slots to the proper depth to insure that it will play it's best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredwardheadboard Posted March 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 no he means the bottom may be arched or flat. I would NOT recomend doing it yourself because (no offence) you dont know waht your doing. just bring it to a shop. I wont cost more than $30 and you'll get a perfectly cut nut and your guitar will be setup and play better than it ever has in the past. ← I really wanted to give it a go myself I thought it would be a good job to start with to wet my feet in guitar repair. The guitar itself is probably worth about 30 quid and I have other better guitars for playing purposes (which I would not touch myself). That said I'll try not to hurt it too much. Fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclej Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 if you really want to try it yourself try this first..go to www.allparts.com and order a graphtec pre-made nut..i use them for customers that don't want to pay for a bone nut. take a slotted screwdriver and place it on the end of your existing nut and tap it lightly but firmly and the old one should break loose and come right out. clean out the bottom of the route where it goes and place the new one in. the base is curved with a small protrusion in the middle so that you can use it on a flat channel or curved channel. when you put it in place try to rock it..if it pivots in the middle sand the protrusion until it doesn't. if you want to try making one from scratch try a search on line for tutorials on nut making. i didn't find one here. but remember that while cutting and shaping a nut takes some skill what it takes more of is specialized tools for cutting the fret slots. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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