L_Z_Nut

Jump all over my thread why don't cha! J/K It's better to just post it in here then to start another thread. Maybe there should be an "official fret buzz thread" or something..... IDK. My friends who play guitar (since I only have 3 other friends who play) actually decided to pay me. I did it once for free on one of their guitars cause the way they did it was like a horror show to me (like a million wounds overlapping each other) And after that they all came to me to get it done, I was never gonna charge them but after I changed their strings they just said "here, this is for your trouble" I kept saying "no don't worry about it" and gave it back but I would usually just find the cash later sitting on top of my amp or on my computer. Besides, I always liked changing strings... I don't know why, I just think its fun. The only thing I've always been afraid to try was a truss rod adjustment, I just can't get that thought out of my head that if I mess up,*snap* there goes your rod, and your neck. But they never asked for a truss rod adjustment, nor have I ever needed one.

See the way they screw you at my shop is they charge around the same price for the nut as yours... maybe just a little more. But then they say they have to change the strings, which for them would be an extra $50-$60, whcih would bring it to around $70-$80, then they said depending on the labour involved it could bring the total up to $100-$120. I mean $50-$60 for a string change, I charge my lazy friends who always do a sloppy job only $10 to change the strings... all they have to do is buy the strings and bring me the guitar, 10 minutes later and I'm done. These people at Long & McQuade keep it for 1-2 weeks depending on how busy they are. Outrageous!!

That's good to remember incase I get any problems with present or future guitars. Thanks for the help

SWEEEETTT. After diddling around with my guitar for a while last night I found out that the buzz was actually coming from the bridge. So I remebered hearing about how SRV used to use some kind of string material of whatever to keep it from breaking the strings at the bridge, so I tried it. And HUZZAH it worked no more buzz. I so happy I don't have to waste my money on a new nut, or pay some jackass at my local shop $100 to fix it. Thanks again for the help.

YEah I tried it and it didn't do anything so I guess I'll have to pop in to my local shop tomorrow and get a new nut. But I will be putting some graphite in the braided string slots with my new nut. Thanks for the help.

LOL Yeah I know it's friggin crazy. It's a strat style guitar and nut that's just slightly wider then 1 5/8" (less then a 1/64" wider)and I have jumbo frets, would it be pretty easy to find a replacement for it. EDIT: Thanks for the help BTW, I think I'm gonna try a little graphite in the slot, if that doesn't work I think I'll just a new nut.

Yeah I use my trem quite a bit. I have a graphite nut, do you think that a little pencil lead might help alleviate the buzz? EDIT: if I were to change the nut what would be the best material to keep it from wearing down faster? I'm assuming brass?

For some odd reason my guitar has developed an open string fret buzz on the D string. It used to buzz very very slightly when I would change strings, but after I tuned up all the strings (I have a Wlikinson tremolo bridge) and played for a few minutes it would go away until the next string change where it would do the same thing as before. I changed my strings about 1.5 to 2 weeks ago but the buzz has not gone away this time and seems to be getting worse. I have a feeling it might be because the string is not properly seated in the nut slot, maybe it had some slight high points or low points in the slot and it just made it worse the more I played it. IDK. Any advice? I don't know how to file a nut nor do I have the tools to do so, which brings me to my main question. Do any of you know any luthiers in or near the Toronto Ontario region? All I have near me that can replace the nut or file it is Long & Mcquade, but they want to charge me for a re-stringing, replace the nut completely and slot it which they said would run me about $100-$120 depending on the time and work envolved. and that's just insane! Thanks for your time and help. EDIT: Also I don't know if this will help much, but it buzzes on a downstroke but not on an upstroke, IDK to me that seems like it might help. Lately I've been trying to make sure I pluck it on an upstroke LOL.

^^ looks like the same type of growth pattern or whatever you call it, but his is a little green in colour and that ones more grey. But it definately looks like the same thing only a dif colour. BTW are band name won't be "Fungus" that's just riduculous it's gonna be "The Fungis". Thanks again for all the help.

Well what I told my friend is that if it gets noticably worse and starts to effect his playing then I'll help him figure out what to do and fix it, but until then, he's gonna have to live with it. Thanks a lot for the help.

I really thought it was mold since, in person, (I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures) it does look like it was sanded in those areas, and I thought the unfinished areas got moldy. But as long as most of you (people who actually know what they're talking about) think it's just some kind of chemical reaction of some sorts, then that's good enough for me (and hopefully my friend). If he brings it up again I'm smashing that damn guitar , cause that's all he's been talking about since he got it. "What do you think it is? Is it mold? Could it be this? Could it be that?" Shut the **** up it was free. In some ways having your neighbour as a bandmate is a blessing and a curse. Thanks a lot for all the help people, if only my bro's camera wasn't all screwy this problem could have been solved 15 posts ago. EDIT: ^ that pic is a little blury, but I don't think it's the same thing cause it's not that bright of a green.

^Ummm, the fretboard is rosewood, the back wood is maple. And I'm fairly confident that it's not dirt from his hands, because on the green areas it looks very lightly sanded down. I finally got some good pics. I put them as links to make this thread easier to load. I took a few more pics so if this doesn't help much I'll post some more.

I'm guessing maple doesn't right?

I'm having trouble getting a clear picture of the neck without glare from the flash, so I'll probably take some pics tomorrow during the daytime. Hmm... well if it's not mold and not oil/dirt residue build up from his hands then what the hell is it? Does maple have a little green tint to it when it hasn't been finished, or is it about the same colour as it is when it has been finished? Cause if it is maybe someone accidently sanded it down at the factory, and that's just the natural wood colour coming out. Thanks again for everyone's help.

Well for some reason getting a picture to show what I want is friggin' impossible. So for now he's just gonna have to live with it, well until he decides to refinish it or get a new neck. Thanks a lot for the help everyone.

It doesn't bother him, or me at all when playing. It's just that, if it is mold, he doesn't want it to start spreading, or maybe cause some damage or something, with more years of use and sweat. Otherwise the guitar is great. And I know (well pretty sure) it was poorly finished and not oils and dirt caused from sweaty hands (his cousin was never good, and at most played for 1/2 hour every couple days for like a month then put it away). You can actually feel the grain when you run your fingers accross that area. And if you could see it up close, you will see it looks like that area was sanded down too much or something. I don't think any of this new info will help, and I need my brother to get back from work, so I can get my camera working again. Some pics will definately help you understand. I'll probably get some pics up in 1 or 2 hours.

His house isn't very humid, I would assume it being just as humid as anybodies house. Would you recomend removing the neck to sand it, or can he just cover up some of the heel and cutaway area so it doesn't get all scratched up?

^ so is this something my friend should worry about, or will the oils from his hand protect it from getting worse? Since there's already mold on it wouldn't playing it, and sweat from his palm make it worse?

Thanks for the help so far people. Its not oil residue left over from before. I told him to try the peroxide thing, then gave him some of my polish and cleaner to clean off some of the left over peroxide. The peroxide cleared off a little of it. And after about 1/2 an hour of him playing it this morning, then about 1 to 2 hours of me playing it today, the colour went back to the same light green tint it was before. I'll see if I can get my camera working so you can get a better idea of what it looks like. I take it not too many people on these boards have experience with finishing over mold lol. So I'll ask again. Does anyone know if it would be ok to refinish the maple neck with tung oil over moldy areas, or will that cause more problems?

My friend just got a guitar for free from his cousin. It's only been played a few times, then he apparently got bored with it and just kept in the basement for a long time. The neck apparently wasn't finished to well on the side your fingers wrap around, and there seems to be a little mold growing, It's not extremely moldy. It just has a little tint of green (It's maple on rosewood). He wants to know the best way to either remove/prevent it from getting worse the more he plays it (sweaty hands and an poorly finished moldy neck don't go well together). He wants to just cover it with some tung oil or something. Would that be a bad idea? I have no idea what he should do since I'm not a pro. And I would imagine that putting tung oil over the mold wouldn't really do much to prevent it from growing. Sure maybe it would stop growing on the outside but wouldn't it still spread on the inside? I told him it would probably be best to get a new neck altogether. Would you agree? Thanks for your time.

Thanks for the help. I was hoping someone tried my idea first, if someone here has tried it, it would be worth a try. I think I'll try the graphite idea first and see if it helps. Cause it's easier and faster then filing the slots But I would still like to hear if anyone else has tips or even concerns about this method of widening the slots. Thanks again. EDIT: I wouldn't mind getting a new nut like a graphtech from stew mac (it already has a graphite nut though) but I think I would probably have the same problem anyways. Last time I got a nut (dif guitar) that had all the same specs as mine it turned out totally off and I had to remove it and put back my original. Does anyone here have any experience installing a graphtech nut from stewmac in a Strat type "1 11/16 nut slot? How did it go, did it need some extra filing in the slots?

I have this new Agile Strat style guitar here's a pic. The guitar is flawless but the only problem I have with it is the nut. It seems to be the right depth and the strings are sitting great and level, no high points, but some of the slots are too tight, and when I use the trem it makes that awfull ping noise, not all the time but sometimes, and never when I bend the strings for some reason. I'm just a little upset cause this is the first time I have a good tremolo (it's a Wilkinson btw and It has grover tuners) and I'm really getting some interesting and cool sounds from it, but it just goes slightly out of tune every so often after the annoying ping noises. I don't think it needs to be widened that much since it doesn't ever do it when I bend, even with big bends. I'm pretty sure it's the nut though, because the first day I got it and removed the clear plastic from the pickguard, I had to loosen the strings and move them out of the way cause some of the plastic was stuck under the heel, and the strings were a little hard to take out of the slots. Could it be another problem or is it the nut? I was just wondering if I could use something like this that my dad has laying around the house, wrap it with some sand paper and just patiently and little by little grind off a little of the sides to open up the slots a bit. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Measurin...es.html#details I really don't want to bring it into a shop cause they said it would cost about $75-$85. They would need to change the strings and do a complete set up, and with taxes I'm looking at almost $100, and I've already spent waayy too much money over the holidays and can't really afford that right now. And a set of nut files would be just as expensive. Any tips or helpfull ideas? Should I just wait it out t'ill I have some spare cash?

^lol Yeah I guess I'll just leave it. Thanks a lot for the help though.

Dang! I can't make the nut wider because its the same width as the current one. Its not the nut thats too small its the binding thats too wide so I don't think that the binding will appear tapered. What do you mean by "you could also sand through the colour coat below the binding" will it make it a lighter or darker colour or what, what exactly do you mean. Thanks for the help.

I recently ordered a graphite nut for my epi vint g400 and I wanted to file away some extra binding at the nut that the assemblers must have missed... here's a few photos in case you don't understand. I'm pretty good at getting things even and level, I just need step by step instuctions on what to do and what not to do, that sort of thing. I need some help, like what type of equipment I need, stuff like sand papper grit for removing the binding then buffing it out and making it nice and smooth, a type of file I should only use, if I even need to use a file or if I just need to use sand paper? What should I do to avoid scratching and taking off the finish on my neck (this is my main concern)? Thanks for your time and help.