DaveC Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 I am thinking of upgrading the plastic saddle and nut on my guitar to bone. No reason..except I want to. What I need to know, is what approach and tools to use to remove the existing nut so I don't damage the guitar, and any advice on attaching and slotting the bone replacement nut. Also, if I do replace the nut, it seems to be a time to possibly adjust intonation as well. I have found very little on adjusting intonantion on an acoustic guitar. Any chance I can get pointed to a good explanation of the process and approach? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodWood Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 The nut should be held on with just a spot of glue. Usually you can just tap it out. Be careful if you have a headstock veneer, clamp something to hold the edge veneer down where it contacts the nut. It should have no glue on that edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Lay a small block of wood on top of the frets and butting up to the nut. Then give the block a sharp "rap" with a hobby hammer. It should pop off easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 before you remove the nut, score the finish around the old nut with a sharp blade. If you dont do this big chunks of finish may come away with the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleman Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Before you do anything I would suggest that you make sure your new bone nut is the correct size/string spacing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted March 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Thanks everyone. If the guitar was built correctly ...sound as though the nut should come off w/o too much effort or worry. As far as the bone replacement...I am planning to make one either from stock I have from knife handle projects or I will just buy some one of the blanks offered. For the saddle I just plan to copy the dimensions of the one that is there now, unless I find some information on how to alter it to adjust for intonantion. I have seen some of the Tusq type synthetic saddles that seem to have some type of shelf ot flat area across a couple strings, but I really don't understand the purpose or why just the two strings? As far as the nut, is there a technique or process I can follow to properly slot it or adjust it for intonation? W/O any other information, like the saddle, I was just planning to get out the calipers and and make as close a copy of what is there now as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodWood Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 IT may take a couple times to get it right. I blew my first couple. Plus you have to file the string sizes correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 As far as the nut, is there a technique or process I can follow to properly slot it or adjust it for intonation? W/O any other information, like the saddle, I was just planning to get out the calipers and and make as close a copy of what is there now as I can. LINK1 LINK 2 Hope that helps, Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Most nuts are not adjusted for compensation at all but you can do that if you want, heres a link detailing that. http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/ personally i would just copy what you have, especially since you hant made a nut before. heres is an article from frank ford on makign a new nut and setting nut height: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Te...ut/newnut1.html http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Te...Nut/setnut.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Thank you all for the pointers. Just the type of information I was looking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chum Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Hello to All, newbie here.... First off, this is a very informative site, i'm glad i stumbled into it...... I've been trying to learn all i can about setting up my own acoustics, and it looks like i'm off to a good start here.... I was just about to post a nut question when i saw this thread....... Anyway, my question is, how low can i get the nut's height to be without getting any string buzz on open strings? Is there a hard and fast rule to doing this? I was setting up a Yamaha FG 150, and i lowered the bridge because it was too high.... i also compensated the bridge..... now, i kept the guitar's original nut for the time being because i ran out of blanks.... I have noticed that the guitar developed a slight buzz on the G string (this is an unwound G, I think a 0.017)...... So, i think i will have to replace the nut...... Hope someone can straighten me out..... Chum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Basically you can imagine the nut as another fret. The lowest you can bring the slots is the exact same height as the frets. Any lower and it will buzz, any higher and it will have high action and play out of tune. A way you can check is hold down the string after the second fret and check the gap between the bottom of the string and the first fret. There should be a very small gap, around the thickness of a thick piece of paper. If it touches the fret it is too low, and if there is a big gap it is too high. I would suggest first putting a capo on the first fret and setting everything up on the guitar such as truss rod and bridge height (this takes the nut out of the equation). Than you take off the capo and setup the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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