Nut Size

[brums]

Hi everybody,

I need some information about nut acoustic size....

How much must to be nut tickness ?

[Tommy Kay]

Are you repairing this guitar or building it?

[brums]

I'm changing set up my gtr...

[Tommy Kay]

Measure the slot and make the nut - or am I missing something?

[Mike Kolb]

Maybe it's semantics.... if you mean the thickness of the nut, as viewed from above, then (like Tommy says) measure the slot and cut the nut accordingly.

If you're asking about the thickness of the nut (top slots to the nut bottom) the guitar itself will dictate that measurement. You need enough nut thickness to accommodate the string slots and have the strings just barely clear the first fret. The actual depth of the slots should be about half the diameter of the wound strings and the whole diameter of the unwound strings; nothing deeper is really needed.

In the final analysis, if your old nut served you well... then make your new one just like it.

[brums]

The nut of my guitar has a 0.21 thickness,
May I make a new nut with more thickness ?
Does It will affect sound ?

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

Why bother, if the nut is alright now?

[Len Biglin]

If it is an acoustic guitar then the nut usually sits at the end of the fretboard , and you can make it to a thickness that suits the peghead and fretboard, and just a little higher than the frets. If its an electric guitar the nut may sit in a slot and this dictates the width .If you have a zero-fret then the nut is only spacing the strings apart and the slots may be deeper .Look at the Frets.com website you will find everything there .good luck , you need to be accurate.Len

[brums]

I mean that thickness...........see photo

[Len Biglin]

well it doesn't matter much about the bottom thickness , but as I say make it to match what was there originally . The top of the nut is usually thin with a light slot for the strings .For sound quality it is much more important to get the string height correct and the slot width right , than to worry about the thickness . I think a good nut is the most demanding part of luthiery, very easy to botch it ! Len

[brums]

Well Len, tanks for your interest to my discussion,
I asked that because I bought one nut (Bob Colosi) and another
(Stewart MacDonald) and both have a different top thickness.
The MacDonald has a narrower profile than the original and Bob Colosi has a thicker one
(but it needs to be shaved off).
Well I’m making set up on my Guitar (Gibson J45 MC Mahogany) it had a B and E string slots too low adjusted by me with a Bone/Soda/CianoGlue mixture (but I don’t like it).
Guitar has now these measurements :
- Nut Clearance at 1st 0.13 / 0.22
- Relief at 7th < 0.008
- Action at 12th < 7/64 and < 5/64 on high side
- Saddle protrusion on bridge at higher point 0.182
- Strings Gauge 12/53
But strings tension doesn’t satisfy me ………. That guitar shoud to have a more powerfull sound on the bass notes ……….
- Should I to use 13/56 strings gauge on that Dread Guitar ?????
I worry to stress the top
- Should I to raise saddle protrusion at 0.19 0r 0.21 (making a new saddle) and lower relief to compensate strings action ???

Another difficult I’ve on low E string intonation 12th harmonic flat if compared with 12th fretted note and sharp on 3rd 5th fretted if compared with open note……
Thanks
bruno

I’m sorry for my lost language

[Len Biglin]

In my experience nuts cannot be bought as a stock item , you need to work on them to suit your guitar . So you are better off to buy a bone or graphtech blank and make the nut , but as I say it's not easy , thats why we have luthiers .As for the sound of your guitar , it looks like the setup is ok , have you got someone to play it to you , sitting in front ? that's where you hear it , not in the driver's seat .Len

[brums]

In fact, I've bought blank nuts without slots, I will make proper slots and all the necessary adjustments for my guitar.
My problem is about intonation (E) and strings tension (strings gauge/break angle/action).