mattharris75 Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 OK guys, I feel like i'm going crazy. I think I must have been test fitting my nut about halfway down in its slot, because when I went to mock everything up as I do every few days I noticed that the nut looked really low in the slot. So, I decided to take a few measurements. At the edge of the fretboard the recess for the nut is .14". The total height of the nut at this same edge is .18". This is not including the slots depth. My strings are going to drag on the frets at this height. The fretboard is a Stew Mac 25.5" fender style board. The nut is the Graph Tech fender nut that Stew Mac also stocks (12" vs 7 1/4" radius oddly enough, but I assumed a little slotting would do the trick). Is it commonly necessary to have to shim the nut higher in its slot, or am I missing something obvious here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 (edited) Are you using the flat bottomed Graph Tech blank nut # PN 1865. The nut should be 1/4" high for a Graph tech and Bone are 9/32" . If that is the nut the slot in the fingerboard may be cut too deep? I haven't as yet used the Fender fingerboard with the nut slot cut in it but all other nuts I have used there is quite a bit to file away to set the string heights and finished nut height. You certainly shouldn't need to shim the nut especially when it set up for the fingerboard. Unfortunately Stew Mac dont say how deep the nut slot on their fingerboards are on their web site. Edited July 10, 2007 by Acousticraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 The nut slot appears to be the same depth as the fret slots. I'm using #1866, the pre-slotted nut. It's listed at 3/16" thick, or .1875". But I measured it out to about .20". Perhaps this is part of the problem, the extra .05" depth from the unslotted nut could make the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Sounds like an in compatible combo My I suggest you call Stu and ask they why the two dont work and ask for a proper nut for their neck. Hopefully the nut is still stock, no cuts. Why shim your slot get the right nut in the first place. You better call them because they dont care unless you are speaking with a real person. Woodenspoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Well, my mistake was obviously assuming that the two components would work together rather than measuring. Not a big deal, just one more confirmation that everything needs to be planned out. Fortunately, nut height is a pretty small and easy thing to fix. I've determined that if my nut slot is .14" at the edge, then it's probably about .15" at the top (estimating here, since i'm not at home and can't measure). Which means an additional .050" for the fret height and .030" to clear the frets and I need a .23" baseline nut height. So, looks like the flat bottomed 1/4" nut they sell would be the way to go, except for the fact that it's not slotted, and I have no desire to slot my own nut. So, either I find a pre-slotted nut of the right string spacing and height, or I make a small shim out of scrap rosewood to go under the nut. Seems like either route will work out OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 (edited) Those other nuts listed are not flat bottomed so that is where the problem is. I am assuming the nut slot is flat at the base? I always use blanks then you can space the slots to suit your final neck width which in my case doesn't always work out exactly what I planned it to be. I just come in 3mm from each edge of the fingerboard and space it out equally 5 times with a pair of dividers between those marks. That way if you are slightly wider or narrower you can compensate easily and it doesn't matter. Edited July 11, 2007 by Acousticraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Yes, it's a flat bottomed slot, but the nut has a flat protrusion in the center so that it can be used in a flat slot, so that should be fine. I made a shim to fit in the slot last night out of an offcut from my fretboard. It's .05" thick, and looks like it is going to do the trick perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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