This is the fourth and final instalment on a lovely Ibanez BL-400. Now that the electronics and hardware had been dealt with, it was time to fit a new bone nut. The old nut finally came off after putting up a good fight, no thanks to the copious amount of glue employed.
It was then that I realized something peculiar, in that the top of the bullet truss rod nut was protruding from the bottom of the nut slot. As the repairman before me had cleverly filed a slightly rounded recess into the bottom of the nut to accommodate the protrusion; I did the same. Following this was the normal run-of-the-mill procedure: tracing of the first fret height/profile, marking and filing of the nut slots, final shaping; and sanding/polishing.
As the new nut was now ready; the "stunt" strings were taken off and the neck, fretboard and frets given a good clean/polish. While cleaning the maple fretboard of gunk and grime, I actually discovered what looked like dried blood. How did it get there? When I casually mentioned this to the owner, he just laughed. Aha, so I guess it was blood after all!
The BL-400 was then strung with Ernie Ball RPS Super Slinkys (009-042) and set up in the usual manner. It's been a great adventure overhauling this gorgeous instrument, and I thank you for being with me all the way. Until we meet again, stay home, stay healthy; and God bless.
