question about nut slots

[mc]

hello,

 

i am just an amateur guitar player with an interest in guitars.  i was looking at the a-b-c-d picture of nut slots on this page: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/Nuts/nuts3.html and wondering about another shape:

 

 

from reading the text it would seem that this shape would be fine.  it won't bind and would keep the string centered.  one advantage might be that it would allow for trying different gauges of strings without requiring any work on the nut.

 

so i started this thread looking for comments.

[mc]

lots of useful information on your page.  thanks. 

like the frets.com page io referenced in the op, this type of exit shape wasn't discussed on your page.  from the information gathered in this thread, i currently feel that it might work well for a guitar with straight string through design and a fairly steep break angle at the nut.

[mc]

i've been thnking about the bell shaped slot you showed.  in regards to the nut slot from above, the axis of the bell is parallel with the fretboard.  if it was in line with the path to the machine head, then would that let the string sit in the lowest part of the bell and be more stable?  something like this (just ignore that the bell lines continue past the nut.):

 

 

 

[Paul Hostetter]

MC: The point of the bell is to avoid the sharp break right at the front of the nut. When the string follows the curved surface a but farther back, it's supported better. The slot will be more durable and it probably sounds better too.