I would never have thought that replacing the nut on a guitar was something that I could do myself, but I'm about to order a TUSQ XL pre-slotted nut (from StewMac) for my Telecaster, as the open G has started sounding strangely muffled while the fretted notes are fine. Thanks for such a detailed and informative video - the knowledge packed into four minutes is incredible and invaluable.
Total master. Anyone who disliked this, keep in mind, the old guys are the ones with experience. If you're young and think you know more than this guy, you're kidding yourself.
BlazemanGuitarX Unless you're one of the one tenth of one percent who knows right away what they want to do and how to get there, experience comes with age, and, hopefully, wisdom comes with experience. I hope I'm wrong, but you kind of sound like you have an axe to grind.
Dennis McCauley I do have an axe to grind. It is with foolish people that believe anyone who is old is wise. It is with people who are narrow minded to think in such ways. And it is with people who believe one way is the right way and there are no other possible explanations.
Reginald Von Goldbergstein Well I do agree with you. You do have an axe to grind. Did I say "anyone who is old is wise" or that this is the only way to accomplish this task? No, I did not. All I said, in response to the people out there who were disliking this clip, that experience very frequently beats whatever smarts you think you might have.because the old guys have made all the mistakes already and know at least one best way to do whatever it is they have to do. That is, if they had smarts to begin with. You're really narrow minded if you're going to ditch a possible solution just because the source is someone old.
Dennis McCauley As I recall, you did when you said: "...keep in mind, the old guys are the ones with experience. If you're young and think you know more than this guy, you're kidding yourself." You also generalized and made the same statement again by saying: "...because the old guys have made all the mistakes already..." You are generalizing wisdom and experience with age. I also never said I would ditch a possible solution just because somebody is old.
Dan, I am fully convinced that you have forgotten more about guitar repair than i will ever know. But this is one thing that i have learned from trial and error and many many replacements over the years. It is a good idea to hold the nut against something that is a 90 degree angle while you sand the bottom radius on the nut. A small block of wood or a shelf corner bracket holds it perfectly upright while you sand. This insures that the bottom surface will fit completely flush with the wooden radius you are fitting it into. Even a slight out of angle on the bottom surface will keep more of the nut out of full contact than you expect. You can check it with old carbon ink typewriter paper to see how much stain it is leaving on the bottom of the new nut by stringing it up. I think you will be surprised. I know i was. I also use it to hold a new saddle correctly when i am sanding the bottom and ends to make sure it will make full contact with the wood too. It definitely increases volume and sustain if fitted to full contact with the wood.
Watched a few StewMac videos on making a guitar nut. Took a deer antler and made an awesome antler bone nut, for my Harley Benton SC 550. Used a bone saw, dial caliper, micro files and a polishing wheel. I never had a grandpa. I wish Dan was my grandpa because I could listen and learn from him all day long. Thanks for the lesson
+Jay Truw, they do have great tutorial videos BUT I'll say it again. Stew-Mac prices are ridiculously high. Some things they sell cannot be found anywhere else but still, their prices are highway robbery.
I have had to replace all 3 stock nuts on my MIM fender Strats because they were junk! I went with the TusqXL preslotted nuts and am VERY happy with them! Great video here! Thanks!!
Wow. I could literally listen and learn from this Man all day every day. I am a musician of 16 or 17 years but as far as a job goes, I think this could be my calling.
It’s amazing how bicycle mechanics translate to the Stratocaster. On a bicycle, I would never use glue. If I want just a little stickiness so things don’t slip-such as handlebar tape or things which are mounted on with friction-I use hairspray. It’s sticky enough without gluing cheap accessories to an expensive frame.
Great video. Right to the point. Four minute video, no time wasted, covered the important parts of the *install* which is what the video was about. Again, great vid.
Now this is good advice! Just before this video I watched one by Fender and the expert with years of experience said, "When filing nut slots, you don't want to touch the wood. Oh, it looks Iike I did." Here is a true professional who said to tape the area and he did just that. I appreciate that. Got to be careful who's advice to take. Dan is the man!
Paul Reed Smith has a video on the differences between nut materials. Im not a luthier, just a lifelong player with some mechanical skills. I bought pre-slotted TUSQ and natural bone nuts for both my LP and Tele from StewMac. I easily messed up the TUSQ nut for the LP...it files extremely fast. The bone nuts both ended up working out extreamly well. Easy to work with. Great quality. And bone was workable with just basic hand tools. Slots were done with a welding tip cleaner and Im happy.
Great video Dan!! Your work is always impeccable! I had a semi local shop change the nut on a brand les paul i purchased to a tusq nut last year and they must have slipped with the razor blade during the process and a cut a line right across my rosewood fretboard ughhh. I was mad but i didn't notice it until i got home. I would have done the work myself but i figured because it was new i wanted a steadier and more experienced hand no pun intended. I will say i do love the tone of tusq nuts though and highly recommend them but now i do alot of the work myself and i always refer to your videos. Thanks for sharing!
Love Tusq, on my Art and Lutherie, Ami and my Tanglewood, HD 15hb. The Art came stock with Tusq and the Tangle I did myself. Thank you StewMac and Dan your book is great, my parts Strat rips because of you. Next is a CBG or OOO from scratch.
Great explanation. It couldnt have been done better. Things that were easier shown then said, were shown. Specific details like sand paper grade and type of tape. Were said while showing the work was demonstrated. Great job you guys !!!
I watched this on site from my email. I came to add a comment just to say how much I love the shows and secrets. This one was right on time as if you guys heard the horrible sound of my favorite daily player, a Mexican Strat, taking a dive on concrete stand and all after my foot hooked the neck strap while carrying a load of junk out to the garage. What broke? I got really lucky and it was only that little bit right there, one end of the top nut. I'll be needing one of those. :D P.S. I was going to make one from bear bone before I saw this.
Great work mate, and what timing this video clip has, because I'm doing the same thing on a 1960's strat now I know how to get my radius so thanks mate
“If I had to rush out the door and play this thing tonight I probably could” meanwhile no pickups😂 before anyone gets mad, we all know stewmac is the best in the business it’s just jokes
I had seen that in another video and thought the same thing. As a half-assed repair guy who leaves the tough jobs to my guy who I found after years of trial and error, I love StewMac tools, but noticed the pros make their own. But with StewMac, even they get to see others developed tools to attack the same problems, and in the end, it's a Godsend to both amateurs and pros alike. I love that Dan is not "stuck up", in that if you use his book, he gives credit to those who came up with better solutions, while always allowing that there is more than 1 way to skin a cat!
I just saw this myself - right after I misshaped the new nut and over sanded it. Ha! What an elegant solution, great tip from a highly skilled craftsman! How cool is it that technology lets us novice guitar enthusiasts (speaking for myself) learn these great tips to make easy, relatively inexpensive repairs/upgrades?
I bought this for my 90's tex mex Strat and open g string buzzes on first fret. I only filed off the middle tab. I was wobbling with it intact on dry fit. Old nut had no buzz that I can recall. Thought maybe I ordered wrong radius part number but not the case. Will try it again as this is my time doing own work on guitars. I didn't see other options on site for taller nuts with radius precut. I am going to get another one and a bone nut as a back up for a do-over and see if I can leave a little more material on it in event I filed off more that I thought.
Great video - as usual - from the master. Only thing he didn't mention was that some nut slots (like on some after market necks) are not radiused and are flat.
Hi Stew. Thanks for making this really good "how to" vid. I do wonder, once I have made the radius on the bottom of the nut using the high end fret position radius, how do I know the bottom of the nut is in full contact with the neck once it's place. In other words - How do I know the shape of the contact surface of the neck is the same radius as the new "radiused" shape of the nut. I've always thought that surface contact was all important.
I like tusq as well. But I want it a certain way and I can't get there with a pre fit. He didn't have to slot this one, but you may. You need a set of gauged nut files that have a U shaped profile. Hold down the 3rd fret & look at the space under the first fret.Lower the slots until you hardly see any space.Just tap over the first fret (the string depressed at the 3rd fret always when you check), when you hear just a "tink" you know it's the right height. You've matched the FB radius too.
Not sure if anyone is still commenting here, just had a quick simple question. I’ve never replaced a nut, I always had a Floyd Rose on my guitars. Anyway, I finally just got a couple partsCasters, and I’m wondering how snug the nut should be. Feels like it’s in there tight on the guitar am working on. It doesn’t slide side to side. But there’s a tiny bit of play back and forth, in the direction of the strings. It rocks just a tiny bit, only when the strings are off. So, what I’m wondering is, even when the strings are off, should it be snug and not moving at all? Because I imagine it could moving a tiny bit while playing and using the vibrato bar. Thank you! 🤘🏻🎸🇺🇸
i watched maybe 50 videos of idiots doing this before i found your video. youre very professional and smart. thank you!! now i wont ruin my guitar trying to replace the nut
TUSQ is great . . and you do like myself, and leave off the pickguard/pickups for this job, as in my case the truss rod adjuster is at the butt end 👌🏻👌🏻
Can anyone help me find a nut replacement for my ROLAND G77 bass? :O its one of those that have to be shaped straight on 3 sides like shown on 3:57 the end of the nut (on the thickest string) fell off
I'm currently trying to build my own "vintage" guitars from scratch. Any classes I can take to get a better understanding of measurements, radius, and tech work to get a job in a luthier shop?
I never heard you mention how to set the depth of the nut slots----How deep do you make the nut slots ?? How can I figure the depth without normal tools and not the more expensive dials and such..I just have a few to make.
Where are you Dan, at the Smithsonian? What a stash of goodies. I have 2 new Gibsons that came with Tusq nuts and saddles, I replaced the saddles with bone but left the nuts, they seem to sound good.
I bought a nice Fender Mexican guitar that has one fatal flaw, the G string just jumps out of the nut too easily when you either bend it or when you bend the string bellow. Forget about playing the Unforgiven 2 intro. Never had seen this happen on a guitar. I have not replaced the string since I bought it, i am not sure if the string gage is too fat for the Nut. But yeah, I am thinking if I must buy one of these notes to get the problem solved. If one would buy one of these nuts, what sort of files do you need to have and what sort of sand paper do you need to have?
Great video! I’m curious if the rounding of the nut edges is purely for aesthetics? I can’t see it mattering for playing since the hand never really gets near it.
i have made several replacement nuts from bone. Just hang on to a nice thick piece of bone, clean it well, leave it in the sun for a while to dry and bleach.
I've been considering having an Earvana nut installed on my Yamaha FG800 acoustic. The nut dimensions are 43mm (1 11/16") X 5mm X 8.62mm. However, I have no idea which one would fit best. I know that there's an acoustic nut for a Fender and one for a Gibson, but I don't know which one would fit best. Also, apparently there is a drop in nut as well as a retrofit one. So, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Used old nut with 20 thou shim as truss rod turning wouldn't take away the fret buzzing....sounds better with hardly any fret buzz but High E when OPEN sounds very loud? Shim is like a plastic material.....any idea why?
How do I adjust correctly if it's on a new guitar neck that's never been mounted on a guitar? If it buzzes it might be the truss and I will get confused?
Ok so I got a question. I have vintage style tuners. In order to check the nut height and make adjustments, I have to remove my strings? Anyone with vintage tuning pegs knows how much of a pain they are if your strings get bent when your trying to install them
It would be nice if that TUSQ nut had a filled in flat bottom version instead of a tab. It leaves only three small points of contact at the bottom to transfer string vibration when used with flat bottom necks. Then there's an alternative actual Flat bottomed TUSQ nut but it's pre-cut string slots are less than half the depth and you have to re-slot it. Can't win with either one. =(
Bridge saddles shouldn't be arranged to match the curve of the fingerboard because the strings will tend to move laterally along the downward slope and change the strings spacing. Varying the heights of the saddles in a "stairstep" with each one parallel to the top of the guitar (flat) allows matching the radius without the sideslip.
this guy is a legend and a great teacher
InstaBlaster
I’m thinking he’s probably good at making sandwiches too
100%
I love the Pickups on this guitar, they sound So clear
thought they sounded pretty hollow...
Too scooped for my taste.
@@headly21 Incredibly transparent!
Could play it through the night at an unplugged gig.
how could one possibly dislike this video. it was quite near perfection in all aspects
There's always super arrogant people out there that believe what they do is the greatest and try to discredit experts.
They just wanna be 1st
Probably due to a controversial material like tusk being used.
@@mwilliamshs Just to clarify, he's talking about Tusq, not tusk. It's probably the best man-made nut material on the market today.
Some people might disagree that bone and tusq is the best. In some opinions, some people may prefer non bone and non tusq materials
I would never have thought that replacing the nut on a guitar was something that I could do myself, but I'm about to order a TUSQ XL pre-slotted nut (from StewMac) for my Telecaster, as the open G has started sounding strangely muffled while the fretted notes are fine. Thanks for such a detailed and informative video - the knowledge packed into four minutes is incredible and invaluable.
I just changed the nut on my guitar myself and I was nervous, but it was relatively easy. I wish I had done it sooner.
Total master. Anyone who disliked this, keep in mind, the old guys are the ones with experience. If you're young and think you know more than this guy, you're kidding yourself.
Age doesn't bring wisdom. Age comes alone.
Wisdom comes from experience.
BlazemanGuitarX Unless you're one of the one tenth of one percent who knows right away what they want to do and how to get there, experience comes with age, and, hopefully, wisdom comes with experience. I hope I'm wrong, but you kind of sound like you have an axe to grind.
Dennis McCauley
I do have an axe to grind. It is with foolish people that believe anyone who is old is wise. It is with people who are narrow minded to think in such ways. And it is with people who believe one way is the right way and there are no other possible explanations.
Reginald Von Goldbergstein Well I do agree with you. You do have an axe to grind. Did I say "anyone who is old is wise" or that this is the only way to accomplish this task? No, I did not. All I said, in response to the people out there who were disliking this clip, that experience very frequently beats whatever smarts you think you might have.because the old guys have made all the mistakes already and know at least one best way to do whatever it is they have to do. That is, if they had smarts to begin with. You're really narrow minded if you're going to ditch a possible solution just because the source is someone old.
Dennis McCauley As I recall, you did when you said: "...keep in mind, the old guys are the ones with experience. If you're young and think you know more than this guy, you're kidding yourself." You also generalized and made the same statement again by saying: "...because the old guys have made all the mistakes already..." You are generalizing wisdom and experience with age. I also never said I would ditch a possible solution just because somebody is old.
Best video I have seen on installing a strat nut. This man really knows his trade! Thankyou for the tips.
Dan, I am fully convinced that you have forgotten more about guitar repair than i will ever know. But this is one thing that i have learned from trial and error and many many replacements over the years. It is a good idea to hold the nut against something that is a 90 degree angle while you sand the bottom radius on the nut. A small block of wood or a shelf corner bracket holds it perfectly upright while you sand. This insures that the bottom surface will fit completely flush with the wooden radius you are fitting it into. Even a slight out of angle on the bottom surface will keep more of the nut out of full contact than you expect. You can check it with old carbon ink typewriter paper to see how much stain it is leaving on the bottom of the new nut by stringing it up. I think you will be surprised. I know i was. I also use it to hold a new saddle correctly when i am sanding the bottom and ends to make sure it will make full contact with the wood too. It definitely increases volume and sustain if fitted to full contact with the wood.
Stewmac videos for some reason relax my anxiety ... always great, chilled lessons
Not gonna lie, sometimes i watch these videos just for Dan Erlewine.... fucking legend.
Watched a few StewMac videos on making a guitar nut. Took a deer antler and made an awesome antler bone nut, for my Harley Benton SC 550. Used a bone saw, dial caliper, micro files and a polishing wheel. I never had a grandpa. I wish Dan was my grandpa because I could listen and learn from him all day long. Thanks for the lesson
Ol' Dan Erlewine is certainly a Master of Luthiere. Kudos to his entire life of making guitars playable and teaching the craft!
1:34 is why I mostly watch stewmac. Its always great Learning something new about guitars you didn't know and have fun while doing it,
+Jay Truw, they do have great tutorial videos BUT I'll say it again. Stew-Mac prices are ridiculously high. Some things they sell cannot be found anywhere else but still, their prices are highway robbery.
I used a pre-sloted Tusq nut on my first guitar and it sounds great
Notice at 3:43 Albert Collins' autograph on the guitar he's working on here with a dedication to Dan.
Thank you so much for putting this up as I am waiting on a Preshaped nut to arrive in the next few days. Much appreciated!
I have had to replace all 3 stock nuts on my MIM fender Strats because they were junk! I went with the TusqXL preslotted nuts and am VERY happy with them! Great video here! Thanks!!
Its always a pleasure to watch a pro work and Dan is certainly a pro. If I want to be certain about a procedure I check how Dan Erlewine does it.
Wow. I could literally listen and learn from this Man all day every day. I am a musician of 16 or 17 years but as far as a job goes, I think this could be my calling.
I hardly ever work on my guitar and when I do it is super simple stuff. However, I really enoy watching you work on yours. Love this channel.
It’s amazing how bicycle mechanics translate to the Stratocaster. On a bicycle, I would never use glue. If I want just a little stickiness so things don’t slip-such as handlebar tape or things which are mounted on with friction-I use hairspray. It’s sticky enough without gluing cheap accessories to an expensive frame.
That sounds like a very good idea! Thanks!
Great video. Right to the point. Four minute video, no time wasted, covered the important parts of the *install* which is what the video was about. Again, great vid.
Now this is good advice! Just before this video I watched one by Fender and the expert with years of experience said, "When filing nut slots, you don't want to touch the wood. Oh, it looks Iike I did." Here is a true professional who said to tape the area and he did just that. I appreciate that. Got to be careful who's advice to take. Dan is the man!
Paul Reed Smith has a video on the differences between nut materials. Im not a luthier, just a lifelong player with some mechanical skills. I bought pre-slotted TUSQ and natural bone nuts for both my LP and Tele from StewMac. I easily messed up the TUSQ nut for the LP...it files extremely fast. The bone nuts both ended up working out extreamly well. Easy to work with. Great quality. And bone was workable with just basic hand tools. Slots were done with a welding tip cleaner and Im happy.
Great video Dan!! Your work is always impeccable! I had a semi local shop change the nut on a brand les paul i purchased to a tusq nut last year and they must have slipped with the razor blade during the process and a cut a line right across my rosewood fretboard ughhh. I was mad but i didn't notice it until i got home. I would have done the work myself but i figured because it was new i wanted a steadier and more experienced hand no pun intended. I will say i do love the tone of tusq nuts though and highly recommend them but now i do alot of the work myself and i always refer to your videos. Thanks for sharing!
Love Tusq, on my Art and Lutherie, Ami and my Tanglewood, HD 15hb. The Art came stock with Tusq and the Tangle I did myself. Thank you StewMac and Dan your book is great, my parts Strat rips because of you. Next is a CBG or OOO from scratch.
Dan watching you work on guitars is fun and relaxing these are great.
Great explanation. It couldnt have been done better. Things that were easier shown then said, were shown. Specific details like sand paper grade and type of tape. Were said while showing the work was demonstrated.
Great job you guys !!!
*S A N D T H E N U T O N T H E F R E T B O A R D H O L Y S H I T*
That would've saved me fucking 7 hours of work. GENIUS
That was genius. It made so much sense I wish I though of it.
This guy must have decades of experience. Hes a master. RESPECT.
No must about it. Dan has been doing for half a century.
This man is really incredible. A real craftsman.
that was like a 4 minute master class. tons of good info. : )
Hi, You pointed out things I never have thought of. I am doing my first build and it all helps. Thanks!
Short and straight to the point! Thanks!
I watched this on site from my email. I came to add a comment just to say how much I love the shows and secrets. This one was right on time as if you guys heard the horrible sound of my favorite daily player, a Mexican Strat, taking a dive on concrete stand and all after my foot hooked the neck strap while carrying a load of junk out to the garage. What broke? I got really lucky and it was only that little bit right there, one end of the top nut. I'll be needing one of those. :D
P.S. I was going to make one from bear bone before I saw this.
I’m doing that right now on my cheap Squier Affinity strat.Hope it sounds better when I’m done.
Great work mate, and what timing this video clip has, because I'm doing the same thing on a 1960's strat now I know how to get my radius so thanks mate
“If I had to rush out the door and play this thing tonight I probably could” meanwhile no pickups😂 before anyone gets mad, we all know stewmac is the best in the business it’s just jokes
Shaping it on the neck to get the curve so it fits. Fucking Christ why didn't that occur to me lol. Genius
I had seen that in another video and thought the same thing. As a half-assed repair guy who leaves the tough jobs to my guy who I found after years of trial and error, I love StewMac tools, but noticed the pros make their own. But with StewMac, even they get to see others developed tools to attack the same problems, and in the end, it's a Godsend to both amateurs and pros alike. I love that Dan is not "stuck up", in that if you use his book, he gives credit to those who came up with better solutions, while always allowing that there is more than 1 way to skin a cat!
I just saw this myself - right after I misshaped the new nut and over sanded it. Ha! What an elegant solution, great tip from a highly skilled craftsman! How cool is it that technology lets us novice guitar enthusiasts (speaking for myself) learn these great tips to make easy, relatively inexpensive repairs/upgrades?
I tought the same here! What a simple and effective think to do hahaha.
Steve, love your explanations. Great job!
I bought this for my 90's tex mex Strat and open g string buzzes on first fret. I only filed off the middle tab. I was wobbling with it intact on dry fit. Old nut had no buzz that I can recall. Thought maybe I ordered wrong radius part number but not the case. Will try it again as this is my time doing own work on guitars. I didn't see other options on site for taller nuts with radius precut. I am going to get another one and a bone nut as a back up for a do-over and see if I can leave a little more material on it in event I filed off more that I thought.
Great video - as usual - from the master. Only thing he didn't mention was that some nut slots (like on some after market necks) are not radiused and are flat.
This is awesome, I wonder, is it possible to do this with a brass nut as well?
He's the man and knows and has seen it all.
Hey Dime, Stew-Mac has alot of good info on their website and alot of cool ideas in their videos, I use them all the time. Take care hope this helps.
Hi Stew. Thanks for making this really good "how to" vid. I do wonder, once I have made the radius on the bottom of the nut using the high end fret position radius, how do I know the bottom of the nut is in full contact with the neck once it's place. In other words - How do I know the shape of the contact surface of the neck is the same radius as the new "radiused" shape of the nut. I've always thought that surface contact was all important.
Watch again as Dan addresses that.
Why can't this guy be my dad? Very cool video, and super informative. I feel confident that I can now install the nut in my new guitar.
I like tusq as well. But I want it a certain way and I can't get there with a pre fit. He didn't have to slot this one, but you may. You need a set of gauged nut files that have a U shaped profile. Hold down the 3rd fret & look at the space under the first fret.Lower the slots until you hardly see any space.Just tap over the first fret (the string depressed at the 3rd fret always when you check), when you hear just a "tink" you know it's the right height. You've matched the FB radius too.
thanks a lot for this high-quality video (both content & format)
NOTE: Guitar was signed by Albert Collins To Dan!! Too Cool!! Gary/Hk
Great looking autograph too. Albert was The Man and so is Dan!
I was wondering about that ...I had to do it on all the Strats I fitted the Tusq nuts to. That's what took the most time doing the job.
Love these videos from dudes/chicks who's been around the block!
Not sure if anyone is still commenting here, just had a quick simple question.
I’ve never replaced a nut, I always had a Floyd Rose on my guitars.
Anyway, I finally just got a couple partsCasters, and I’m wondering how snug the nut should be. Feels like it’s in there tight on the guitar am working on. It doesn’t slide side to side. But there’s a tiny bit of play back and forth, in the direction of the strings. It rocks just a tiny bit, only when the strings are off.
So, what I’m wondering is, even when the strings are off, should it be snug and not moving at all? Because I imagine it could moving a tiny bit while playing and using the vibrato bar.
Thank you! 🤘🏻🎸🇺🇸
i watched maybe 50 videos of idiots doing this before i found your video. youre very professional and smart. thank you!! now i wont ruin my guitar trying to replace the nut
"Lucked out" = Experience
I used Weldwood rubber contact cement, sticks good and easy to remove if I ever need to remove the nut.
Dan Erlewine, classy as usual, thanks!
TUSQ is great . . and you do like myself, and leave off the pickguard/pickups for this job, as in my case the truss rod adjuster is at the butt end 👌🏻👌🏻
You're the man Stew
Well that flows of the tongue much better.
That's why I prefer doing it myself and watching videos like this one.
Thanks again Dan!
I love how how maple neck and fingerboard is all checked. Are the maple necks fender uses shot with nitro!? How do you get that effect
I bought a TusqXL nut for my Epi Les Paul and the damn thing fit like a glove out of the box. Just needed to file the ends.
Hey, come and get mine....you got it down, cool to see a craftsman at his best.
I would love to see an examplevideo like this for application on a LP.
Can anyone help me find a nut replacement for my ROLAND G77 bass?
:O its one of those that have to be shaped straight on 3 sides like shown on 3:57
the end of the nut (on the thickest string) fell off
Cool checking on that Fender!
I'm currently trying to build my own "vintage" guitars from scratch. Any classes I can take to get a better understanding of measurements, radius, and tech work to get a job in a luthier shop?
I put a black tusq nut on my jim root strat and it made it that much better.
I never heard you mention how to set the depth of the nut slots----How deep do you make the nut slots ?? How can I figure the depth without normal tools and not the more expensive dials and such..I just have a few to make.
Thanks for the great video as usual. Yes it's easy for Dan but probably not as easy for me. Plus I usually don't lucked out. 😫
Where are you Dan, at the Smithsonian? What a stash of goodies. I have 2 new Gibsons that came with Tusq nuts and saddles, I replaced the saddles with bone but left the nuts, they seem to sound good.
His shop should probably be moved to the Smithsonian when he passes.....
I bought a nice Fender Mexican guitar that has one fatal flaw, the G string just jumps out of the nut too easily when you either bend it or when you bend the string bellow. Forget about playing the Unforgiven 2 intro. Never had seen this happen on a guitar. I have not replaced the string since I bought it, i am not sure if the string gage is too fat for the Nut. But yeah, I am thinking if I must buy one of these notes to get the problem solved. If one would buy one of these nuts, what sort of files do you need to have and what sort of sand paper do you need to have?
My Tusq nut turned colors. Not a bad thing. Looks more vintage.
Great video! I’m curious if the rounding of the nut edges is purely for aesthetics? I can’t see it mattering for playing since the hand never really gets near it.
Definitely getting a set for my strat and Tele!!
Gibbs199761 madgeniusmusic That'd be Albert Collin's signature.
i caught that too.....I was wondering if anyone commented on it. LOL.
Using the fret board to match the radius is a great idea.
i have made several replacement nuts from bone. Just hang on to a nice thick piece of bone, clean it well, leave it in the sun for a while to dry and bleach.
I've been considering having an Earvana nut installed on my Yamaha FG800 acoustic. The nut dimensions are 43mm (1 11/16") X 5mm X 8.62mm. However, I have no idea which one would fit best. I know that there's an acoustic nut for a Fender and one for a Gibson, but I don't know which one would fit best. Also, apparently there is a drop in nut as well as a retrofit one. So, any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks! man! saved my! guitar! great! vid!
Ethanks for this video. It was exactly what I needed
So to get the nut to be the corect radius of your guitar neck place sandpaper at the beck at bottom .👍 great idea
Used old nut with 20 thou shim as truss rod turning wouldn't take away the fret buzzing....sounds better with hardly any fret buzz but High E when OPEN sounds very loud? Shim is like a plastic material.....any idea why?
How do I adjust correctly if it's on a new guitar neck that's never been mounted on a guitar? If it buzzes it might be the truss and I will get confused?
Absolute Legend
Ok so I got a question.
I have vintage style tuners. In order to check the nut height and make adjustments, I have to remove my strings?
Anyone with vintage tuning pegs knows how much of a pain they are if your strings get bent when your trying to install them
It would be nice if that TUSQ nut had a filled in flat bottom version instead of a tab. It leaves only three small points of contact at the bottom to transfer string vibration when used with flat bottom necks. Then there's an alternative actual Flat bottomed TUSQ nut but it's pre-cut string slots are less than half the depth and you have to re-slot it. Can't win with either one. =(
I think they offer a flat bottom nut for strats dont they?
Right on Stu....You're an excellent craftsman & a very good instructor.....thanks.
His name is DAN ERLEWINE, not Stewart, and not MacDonald. They were 2 different guys.
Bridge saddles shouldn't be arranged to match the curve of the fingerboard because the strings will tend to move laterally along the downward slope and change the strings spacing. Varying the heights of the saddles in a "stairstep" with each one parallel to the top of the guitar (flat) allows matching the radius without the sideslip.
I have a 2019 Gibson SG Standard Tribute. I would like to replace the nut with a Graphtech Black nut. How can I find the right fit?
Great video!
Dan Rocks
Man are you good.
Incredibly clever
awesome video
Is this man the best there is ?
Let me answer that ...... Yes !!!!!!
great vid shop tour video would be killer.
Don't you have to put some kind adhesive or glue to install a but on most guitars?
make one for my strat.....godd work Mr.!
Please tell me how did you remove the original nut
thanks