So i tried building a nut with bone material from stew mac and the A, D and G string went good. When I did the E string I though I did pretty good. So I tuned it all up and plugged it in and the E string makes this hollow, synth sound if played open. Any of you all get this problem before. Also, I cant pay for a custom made nut.

Like a sitar, and it goes away if you fret the string? Your slot is too wide or just barely too wide and the string is resting on the bottom. Try taking a triangle file and removing just a bit off the bottom of the slot. The string should wedge itself into the nut, not rest in a perfect (no such thing) trough.

If your symptom is different than stated above you may have a different problem.

Greg N

tried above and warble is worse now:(

1) Does it disappear when fretted?

2) Can you make it go away by pressing directly on the string at the nut?

Greg N

1) Does it disappear when fretted?

2) Can you make it go away by pressing directly on the string at the nut?

Greg N

when I fret a note, it goes away. When I press the string at the nut really really hard the bad sound goes.

The string is buzzing inside the notch. It can be rattling from side to side or the bottom of the notch can be falling away slightly and it is buzzing there. Try putting some thick paper (like a business card) between the string and the nut. If the sound goes away then you need to re-shape the nut or install a larger string? That would change the dynamic of the instrument for sure.

If the string seems tight from side to side then try ramping the notch on the peghead side. Do not file at all on the FB side. You want the string to sit tight as close to the FB face of the nut as possible.

A new nut would be the "best" fix. You can however mix bone dust (I assume it was a bone nut) and CA in the notch and then re-file. Not as good as a new nut but I have had good results with this sort of fix before.

Greg N

I put the paper in the nut and it makes it sound a bit muted. Do you know of a good tutoriol for nut making?