Fender Strat Nut Replacement

[matthew bryan]

Hello all,

I need to replace my nut on my Strat. I was wondering if all Strat's have a radiusd nut slot? Mine is a Mexican strat. Would it be the same radius as the fret board? Also, while I am on the topic if it is a radiused slot how do you guys go about doing that (radiusing the nut bottom that is)? Do you draw the appropriate radius and sand to the line?....if the nut slot is the same as the board I coud rough it in, put some tape on the board, get some sand paper and radius the bottom using the board as a template.

Thanks for the info..

Matthew

[soapbarstrat]

Last one I checked had a 9" radius on the bottom, but the actual fret-board radius was 7.25".

When I made a new nut for it, I machined a 9" radius into the bottom of the blank with a router set-up I came up with. Many do the same thing on a belt sander. I've done it for years with files and sometimes a drum sander. Less perfect with those methods, of course.

I only like to replace a stock Fender nut when the slots are just too low or the string spacing is bad or a chip in the wrong place. But they sound as good as any other material, and are plenty hard.

[Mickguard]

I like to replace stock nuts with the 'slippery' type (usually Graph Tech). That's a personal thing, has to do with my dislike for tuning up onstage.

I've found no issues with radius (although I haven't tried replace the nut on the vintage-style neck I have with its' 7.5" radius).

Not all of Fender's slots are radiused -- it's easy enough to figure that out though--look at the original nut.

Replacement nuts often have small tabs for accomodating a non-radiused slot -- just remove the tabs if the slot is radiused. Or you can buy a nonradiused nut, if you know that's what you're dealing with.

Also, keep in mind you'll still have to adjust the slots (if you buy a pre-slotted nut). Although I've found Graphtech's nuts to be pretty damn close to where it's not always needed.

Be careful with removing the nut -- sometimes they're fitted really tightly in the slot. I've had to destroy a couple to get them out.