Been bitten with the modification bug

[howdy-doo]

Well as you'd probably expect the nut on my Gibson wasn't cut properly, and was way to low, I put extra relief on the neck and raised the action, and the first fret still buzzed, so I replaced it with a graphtech Tusq nut, I'd heard these were pretty much the best so I thought why not , replacing the nut was a lot easier than I anticipated, so that was fine, I just had to wait a day for the little bit of glue to dry.

now thats fitted theres no more fret buzz!

while I was at it though, I added these too:


I'm pretty impressed with them so far, I've not experienced any problems. The saddles however do change the sound a little bit, but not in a bad way so it's all good

[BrianGT]

Cool! Well done for giving it a go!

Some people are just not mechanically minded at all but for those who are I really do think that changing nuts, pickups, fret dressing should be learned as you go along.
Learning the guitar is a musical journey and if you can learn to keep your guitar in great shape along the way it adds to the playing satisfaction!

[howdy-doo]

Cool! Well done for giving it a go!

Some people are just not mechanically minded at all but for those who are I really do think that changing nuts, pickups, fret dressing should be learned as you go along.
Learning the guitar is a musical journey and if you can learn to keep your guitar in great shape along the way it adds to the playing satisfaction!

i was a bit nervous before hand, but it turns out it was pretty straight forward, and now i know how to do it if i ever need to change the nut on any of my other guitars too

[skz30]

That looks great. I should look into doing that someday, I noticed a tiny hairline crack in mine, just always figured it wasn't worth trouble or price to have it fixed because it still plays great.

[BrianGT]

i was a bit nervous before hand, but it turns out it was pretty straight forward, and now i know how to do it if i ever need to change the nut on any of my other guitars too

You have done a great job....worth the worrying!

I would treat yourself to a set of nut files....a great investment and they last a lifetime. I have had mine for over 25 years now and would be lost without them!

[howdy-doo]

i was a bit nervous before hand, but it turns out it was pretty straight forward, and now i know how to do it if i ever need to change the nut on any of my other guitars too

You have done a great job....worth the worrying!

I would treat yourself to a set of nut files....a great investment and they last a lifetime. I have had mine for over 25 years now and would be lost without them!

i may get some in the future, but at the moment, i have a welders nozzle cleaner multi tool thing, it does basically the same thing, just a set of really thin files, and it was pretty cheap too

[BrianGT]

i may get some in the future, but at the moment, i have a welders nozzle cleaner multi tool thing, it does basically the same thing, just a set of really thin files, and it was pretty cheap too

Improvisation! You are well on your way to becoming a guitar Tech!!

My late friend was a guitar tech.....some of the tools he made to "get the job done" were inspirational!

[BrianGT]

Here's a simple little tool for polishing frets.

Make a block of hardwood to this shape.....approx 45-50 mm long......about 25 mm high and about 5 mm in width....maple is good but as long as it is fairly hard wood it's ok.

Now get a drill bit that is the same width as your frets....lay the drill bit on the botom edge of the wood block and using a vice press it in to the wood until it creates a groove approx half the depth of the drill....you now have a fret cleaning tool that you can wrap very fine sandpaper around to polish the frets without having to mask the fingerboard!

I use 1500 grade paper about 2 or 3 times a year......it polishes great but doesn't remove material.
Again, I would be lost without it!
I believe Admiral Joe may have made one!

[howdy-doo]

Here's a simple little tool for polishing frets.

Make a block of hardwood to this shape.....approx 45-50 mm long......about 25 mm high and about 5 mm in width....maple is good but as long as it is fairly hard wood it's ok.

Now get a drill bit that is the same width as your frets....lay the drill bit on the botom edge of the wood block and using a vice press it in to the wood until it creates a groove approx half the depth of the drill....you now have a fret cleaning tool that you can wrap very fine sandpaper around to polish the frets without having to mask the fingerboard!

I use 1500 grade paper about 2 or 3 times a year......it polishes great but doesn't remove material.
Again, I would be lost without it!
I believe Admiral Joe may have made one!

i'll have to give that a go, i like making things, so i'd always rather try it myself first, before getting someone to do it for me , and i think i got the improvisation from my grandad, if we needed something for a job, we just made it, i've already got a block of wood to hold my guitar cables when they need soldering

[Neiloler]

VERY cool Liam, you're much braver than I, I should really get into doing my own bone nuts, but I'm scared!

[howdy-doo]

VERY cool Liam, you're much braver than I, I should really get into doing my own bone nuts, but I'm scared!

just jump in and give it a go. I did do a load of research before I changed the nut, which included asking Tar on the forum (she also suggested the welders nozzle cleaners), its basically just a case of scoring the edges of the nut to separate any lacquer or finish from the nut, gently tap the nut out, then get the new nut to the right size and glue it in. I just kept thinking, well if something goes wrong, I can always just put the old nut back in

[Neiloler]

That's really cool. I should try it out sometime. I wonder if it's generally easier to do the Gibson-style nuts vs the Fender-style nuts? Hmmm. Maybe this is why I need to get a DC Jr...

[howdy-doo]

That's really cool. I should try it out sometime. I wonder if it's generally easier to do the Gibson-style nuts vs the Fender-style nuts? Hmmm. Maybe this is why I need to get a DC Jr...

any excuse is a good excuse for a new new guitar! and this is all in the interests of science

[Neiloler]

That's really cool. I should try it out sometime. I wonder if it's generally easier to do the Gibson-style nuts vs the Fender-style nuts? Hmmm. Maybe this is why I need to get a DC Jr...

any excuse is a good excuse for a new new guitar! and this is all in the interests of science

Haha, I'll try that one on my lovely wife. Something tells me she's okay without the science in this one.

[bclaire]

VERY cool Liam, you're much braver than I, I should really get into doing my own bone nuts, but I'm scared!

Actually, keep in mind if you ever DO change your own nuts that bone dust is a carcinogen- make sure you wear a respirator or at least a dust mask.