Filling/seating new nut on old Guild D-50...

[Dave]

I am replacing the nut on a '76 Guild D-50 I picked up off eBay a year ago to correct a string spacing issue that I find annoying.

 

When I knocked out the old nut, with a hammer and wood block ala Frank Ford, a fair amount of wood fiber came out with it (pic attached) and a bit of a divot was left in the nut seat.

 

I cleaned the seat up with a file, and the new nut sits in it nicely... cosmetically it is fine. But, I am wondering if I should fill the divots before lightly cementing in the new nut, and how?

 

My first idea was to use a new razor blade to carefully cut the wood fibers from the old nut, orient them into place with fine forceps, and use thin superglue to cement them into place (then using the nut seating file to smooth out the seat again). The second idea was fine mahogany sawdust (the neck is mahogany) and superglue... but I'd have to come up with some mahogany to make sawdust.

 

My questions: first, how important is it to fill in the missing wood, and next, what method would you all suggest? (in the meantime, I have the new nut held in by string tension so that I can play the guitar and evaluate the new string spacing... I don't notice any loss of volume or tone from the missing wood)

 

Thanks, Dave

Here's the Guild (front) (back)

Here's the old nut

[Mike Kolb]

Hindsight is 20-20, but we all live and learn. It's a good idea to score a fine line with a razor knife at the junction of the nut and the wood before knocking it out with a block. It may not have solved this problem exactly, but it's a good idea to avoid the potential of taking chunks out of the headplate.

If the missing wood bugs you (and you've got the patience) I'd go with cutting the fibers and regluing them back in place.  As for idea #2, mahogany sawdust should be pretty easy to come by from scraps. Just make sure it's a similar color and that the dust is fine-enough to fill the voids without creating new "mini-voids" between the particles. Sawdust from sanding a scrap piece should do the trick. Nice guitar, by the way:)

[Dave]

I actually did score around the nut on the sides, fret board edge, and edge of the fretboard overlay... basically, whereever I could reach with a single edge blade. This obviously wasn't the original nut, and I don't know what it was glued in with... there was a bit of a glob under the nut that had oozed into the void where the truss rod is. Clear, and hard... clearer (and not yellow) than most epoxy I have worked with, and not like Elmers of Tightbond. I am thinking a superglue gel of some sort.

 

Cosmetically, nothing shows... it's all under the nut. I am just wonderng if I should fill the void for acoustic/tonal reasons.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Dave

[Mike Kolb]

Gotcha'... and (in looking at the picture) the nut tore-off wood you couldn't have scored if you wanted to. My error in not studying the picture better.

I wouldn't imagine that filling the void would make any discernible difference in the tone.  It might come down to psychology. You know it's gone... and now we all know it's gone :)  

Seriously, there just isn't that much wood in question (added or subtracted) that would make any changes noticeable.

[Dave]

Mike, thanks again for your reply! For now, I am going to hold onto the old nut with its attached wood fibers... on the chance I might want to glue them back in before glueing the new nut into place. I may not even get around to that until the next string change (I broke a couple strings during the nut fitting/slot filing, and so put a whole new set on... don't want to waste them). This one has become my main player since I bought it last year... and I don't like having it out of action, even for a couple days.

Dave

[Mark McLean]

I would agree with Mike here that you don't need to be too precious about how you fill those defects - it is all going to be invisible.  It is fortunate that it is in the middle of the nut slot and didn't run out to the ends.  I would fill the floor of the slot with some mahogany dust mixed with CA or epoxy, then file it flat again. Or, if you have a taller nut blank for the new one you could just deepen the slot with a file to get to a flat base and put in the new one.  Gotta love an old Guild!

[Dave]

Thanks, Mark,

If I do anything, I'll fill. The bottom of the nut slot now sits even with the bottom of the fretbaord... I'd rather not take it any lower than that, for aesthetics.

 

I do love those old Guilds... so much so that I have seven, ranging from '71-'92 (from oldest to youngest: D-44, D-35, G-37, D-25, D-50, D-46, D-55).

Dave

[Jim Bancroft]

Doesn't look like that much wood is missing, but what I'd try and do is remove wood from nut with an exacto knife and fit them in place, then use a drop of thin superglue to glue them in place. Or you could fill the slight void with super glue and wood dust. Once dry, flatten and smooth that area with a file or sandpaper to get a good flat surface to reglue nut..

 

Jim