cukaracha Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) I'm going to change my regular plastic nut to a locking one. problem is, the locking nut won't 'fit' because its 15mm. heres what i mean: any suggestions is greatly appreciated. Edited October 4, 2007 by cukaracha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 i have seen a lot where people just leave them overhanging, as long as they can get the screws in it should be fine. personally i would make a shim of wood that filled the gap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cukaracha Posted October 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 (edited) so should i file down that area of the neck then place a shim there or what? could you pls explain a little more detail? also, would an ice cream stick work as a shim? thx. Edited October 4, 2007 by cukaracha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 i wouldnt remove wood at all - i would get a little ofcut of fretboard from somewhere and shape it to fit in the gap between the neck and the nut just so it all looked ok. shim possibly wasnt the right word because that does suggest shimming under all of the nut, sorry about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cukaracha Posted October 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 oh.. but my neck is fender-style one. any idea how i can fill the gap considering its curved? can i use some wood filler than sand it into shape or something? i'll be refinishing the guitar anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Is this what you're after? http://thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/FRStrat.jpg Do you actually need to remove the old nut? It's a reasonably common idea to just add a locking nut behind your existing nut. I have a Westone Spectrum which has that kind of arrangement, looks like the one on the left on this page: http://www.westone.info/spectrumfx.html However, you could use something like this to replace the nut: http://www.wammiworld.com/5513.html [Notice how it has a gap in the centre for truss rod adjustment?] I think using that nut would mean you'd have to remove the fingerboard wood which is beyond the nut, in order to give the new locking nut somewhere to mount????? If the old nut is knackered anyway, I'd be tempted to replace it with eg. a Graphtech one. You could then add a locking nut behind it anyway, or get some locking tuners - there are plently to choose from! Remember: you don't want to move the position on the fingerboard at which the string leaves the nut, otherwise you're effectively altering the guitars scale length, and that would be a bad idea!!! Confused yet?? hope this helps! DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cukaracha Posted October 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 i plan to do it like the first pic.. and the reason why i choose to use a locking nut is cuz i'll be changing the trem to a locking one too.. but anyways, back to main question.. how/what should i do to make the locking nut fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 oh.. but my neck is fender-style one. any idea how i can fill the gap considering its curved? can i use some wood filler than sand it into shape or something? i'll be refinishing the guitar anyway. i would cut the peice of wood i wanted to fill the gap to match the curve of the headstock transition. you can always use filler after its done to touch it up but it will still be better with a solid piece of wood in place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Ok, let me check if I'm understanding you correctly here......... Does your nut currently look like this? http://www.21frets.com/images/77strat/nut-done.jpg ie the nut fits INTO the fingerboard? Here's a neck I had the same problem with: but notice how the nut sits BEHIND the fingerboard? [that's the locking nut sitting on the 'board to illustrate the nut, it's not positioned correctly!!] And the locknut I want to use has its mounting holes [the countersunk ones] right where the truss rod channel is, which is a problem. AND the little "shelf" where the old nut came from is about half the width I need to seat the new nut! So, I'm gonna fit it to a wooden wedge-shaped "platform" to extend the surface for the new nut to sit on, and to give it something to mount to, like this: Makes sense? [Now the new nut IS positioned correctly.] If your neck has the truss rod adjustment nut at the headstock end (as opposed to the body end) you could have the same mounting problem. Also, if wanted to add a locking nut behind your old nut, like this for instance: bear in mind that there may not be enough room between the truss rod nut and the first tuner, if your neck has the bullet-type truss rod nut [as pictured in the photo in the link at the very start of this reply!] I think this one must have the truss rod nut at the body end: http://thewindtunnel.com/GuitarPics/FRStrat.jpg and looks like the bit of the fingerboard behind the nut has been removed to make an area wide enough for the locking nut. Here's another: http://www.randyciak.com/guitar/scalloped%...ds%20guitar.jpg ignore the scalloping, but notice that under the locking nut there is still some of the fingerboard thickness visible? Must be how they got it to sit at the right height I suppose! Obviously the distance from the nut edge nearest the body to the first fret has to be the same as it was before, or it'll sound awful and won't intonate correctly. Hope this helps! Wez, is this kinda what you're talking about? DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Oh yeah, here's a Westone I have which may help: DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer X Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Like alex said, just let it overhang. I've modded several Strat-type guitars like this, and have had zero problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cukaracha Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 thanks for all the replies. they really helped. but just one more thing, is it 'safe' to leave about 5mm of the nut hanging (only 10mm will fit)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Wez, is this kinda what you're talking about? That is definately not going to work because the action at the first fret would be huge Yeah, I know, it was just the limitations of my drawing skills here!! I was aiming for something the same as your last picture! DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 So, I'm gonna fit it to a wooden wedge-shaped "platform" to extend the surface for the new nut to sit on, and to give it something to mount to Thats what i was trying to suggest, i say 'shim that fills gap', you say 'wedge-shaped platform' . . . lets call the whole thing off!!! I know my descriptions can be pretty vague but they make perfect sense in my head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhollowman Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 So, I'm gonna fit it to a wooden wedge-shaped "platform" to extend the surface for the new nut to sit on, and to give it something to mount to Thats what i was trying to suggest, i say 'shim that fills gap', you say 'wedge-shaped platform' . . . lets call the whole thing off!!! I know my descriptions can be pretty vague but they make perfect sense in my head DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 i have seen a lot where people just leave them overhanging, as long as they can get the screws in it should be fine. personally i would make a shim of wood that filled the gap just going to repeat my first post for the sake of clarity. like i said at the start - should be just fine with the overhang. . . The gap i am talking about filling is the space under the overhang. If the neck was not being refinished i would leave it alone as it would look worse if not done well. But if the neck is being refinished a solid colour i would definately consider filling the space with a peice of wood and possibly a bit of filler so there was a good solid 'platform' for the locking nut to sit on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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