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6
Bone Nut Setup
Howdy folks :) It's CA again, with the fifth post on this gorgeous Sunburst American Special Stratocaster®. Let's start the ball rolling, then. Now, before carrying out a refret or fret dress, I usually remove the nut to allow me to follow through on my sanding beam strokes. I realize not everyone does this, but well; it's easier for me this way. And it so happened that while I was gingerly removing this Strat's nut, it somehow cracked just below the A-string slot.
"Definitely a case for a new nut," I thought. After some discussion with the owner, it was decided that a new bone nut be installed. He had heard good things about bone; and was eager to try one out. I had on hand a 43mm Strat cow bone nut blank that had "starter slots" already cut; this would be a good choice.
The first step was sanding the peghead side of the nut to reduce its width so that it would fit snugly in the slot. That being done, it was time to radius the bottom of the nut; as it was dead flat. The bottom of the nut needed to be radiused to 9.5" to match the curve of the bottom of the fretboard nut channel.
This took lots of time and patience; but finally seeing the bottom of the nut fit nicely on the fretboard brought on a deep sense of satisfaction. Once the nut fit properly in the fretboard nut channel, the next step was to mark the maximum depth of the slots. No, I did not use the "
half-pencil technique," as I lost the last one years ago; and did not have a belt sander on hand.
Instead, a stack of feeler gauges and a mechanical pencil were used to draw a curved line on the fretboard side of the nut. This line was a tad higher than the height of the first fret as a safety measure. Following this, various nut files were used to gradually deepen each nut slot until the bottom just touched the pencil line. Having reached this stage, I was now able to file the top and sides of the nut to create a rough profile; and also dress the slots.
Then, once the strings were on; the final setup was carried out. This began with further deepening each nut slot until there was just a hair's width between the bottom of each string and the top of the first fret. With minimal string clearance such as this, you'll achieve optimal action at the first fret. No more sore fingers from F or Bb Major barre chords ;)
Once the slots were at the targeted depth, the top and sides of the nut were once again filed, sanded and polished until the desired profile was achieved. Kindly note that the top of the nut needs to be filed down to where no more than half of the wound strings sit in their respective slots. I have found that a string buried too deep in its slot is a sure recipe for a host of problems further down the road. Meanwhile, here are three useful online resources on nut making and setup:
Fitting Nuts: The Curved Bottom — Haze Guitars
Fitting Nuts: Pre-Shaped Nuts Part 2 - Installation — Haze Guitars
Making a Nut, Step-by-Step — Dan Erlewine
Well, folks, that's basically how this lovely Sunburst American Special Stratocaster® was fitted with a custom bone nut. Thanks for dropping by, and I'll see you again real soon :)
