help going from EADG to BEAD

[Bently]

I have an old Bently 4 string P-bass. I want to restring it B E A D instead of E A D G, but the slots in the nut are too small for the strings to fit in without the plastic nut cracking. I know this becasue I had to use a little super glue after trying. The nut split. I was wondering how I could string the bass B E A D without having to buy a new nut made to accept bigger strings, and still be able to string back to E A D G later.

[greenboy]

The easiest to work with I think are the graphlon ones from Graphtech - they don't easily break and their sustain tone is good. They are also available precut and cheap for several different bass/neck configs, from Carvin.com (measure!) ... Once you have the nut you'll need to gradually work away at the sides of the slots (I used a small oval or round file) without making any change in the depth.

As long as your headstock angle is decent and brings the string to the tuning peg fairly straight you shouldn't need to change nuts again if you decide to go back to standard gauges. I've done this with my nut set up for a set beginning at .165 F# and my strings stay in tune when I go back to even very narrow gauges like .120 B, 90 E, etc.

[Bently]

Much thanks

[greenboy]

Hey - good luck! : }

[Bently]

Tried it and it worked great. Thanks.