string gauges, do they fit a nut or a style?

[hanx]

i've been doing some good old googling, but one thing i'm still lost on.

do i need to get the right gauge strings for the nut on my bass?

all the info out there talks about the sound and feel of different gauges, but isn't real clear on whether the fit to the nut is an issue.

[Meatrus]

Unless you go for an extra heavy set, a standard nut will fit most strings without altering the nut. Exceeding standard (45-105) by .10 or so should be fine with no nut altering, but it can depend on the nut itself, .5 will be fine pretty much for definite.

Lighter gauge hasnt had any nut problems for me without altering, but the same could be true for them depending on the nut when going very low gauge (like 40-95, but these were fine for me without altering). They may sit too low in the nut, in this case you would need a new nut rather than an alteration.

So to recap exceeding or decreasing by .5 across the strings wont cause any trouble, .10 may not either, basically dont worry about it!