Help with my nut

[Admiral Axtell]

as you can see it has slid off the neck a little bit which makes it hard for me to play notes on the E string and it makes the tone a bit different too, is there anyway to fix this?
Also I know this isn't a bass but I figure it would be the same idea to fix the same thing on a bass.
thanks.

[Admiral Axtell]

or is it not fixable?

[Jimbob Jones]

You'll need to take your strings off.

Then lift the nut out (you'll find it's loose, that's why it's gone like that!)

Then apply a LITTLE woodglue or PVA glue to the nut slot.

Put the nut back in the right place (make sure it's the right way round, I've glued stuff in wrong before...not a good feeling)

Use a small clamp to keep the nut in place while the glue dries. Clamp it so pressure is applied downwards, pushing the nut to the bottom of the slot.

Make sure the nut hasn't slid to the left or right during clamping.

Use a cloth to wipe any excess glue.

Make sure again that the nut hasn't moved.

Leave for 24 hours, then and only then put your strings back.

Should be like new!

[Admiral Axtell]

right on thanks very much! Although Im not sure what I will use as a clamp.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by Admiral Axtell

right on thanks very much! Although Im not sure what I will use as a clamp.

It's not necessary to clamp this.

[zuma]

Right, just string it up to pitch and the pressure from the strings will keep the nut down. Just make sure it doesn't shift side to side. Either way, the glue will still be wet so it would be easy enough to slide it back in to alignment.

[kalle74]

I might be wrong, but I think you´re also winding the strings on the posts the wrong way, thus introducing angles to strings at nut (making tuning harder) and causing unneccessary stress for the nut... A shot of the whole headstock would be helpful...

[PJSShearer]

Originally Posted by kalle74

I might be wrong, but I think you´re also winding the strings on the posts the wrong way, thus introducing angles to strings at nut (making tuning harder) and causing unneccessary stress for the nut... A shot of the whole headstock would be helpful...

+1 - the strings should continue in a straight line up thre length of the fingerboard, through the nut slots and around the machine heads. It certainly looks like the strings are wound the wrong way round the machine heads which is why the nut has been pulled to the left.

When correctly strung up, downward pressure created by the string tension alone would keep the nut in place, the glue is only there to stop it falling off if you take all the strings off at once.

[blockinlay]

Originally Posted by kalle74

I might be wrong, but I think you´re also winding the strings on the posts the wrong way, thus introducing angles to strings at nut (making tuning harder) and causing unneccessary stress for the nut... A shot of the whole headstock would be helpful...

How about that? Yeah, make sure you have it strung right. Before you glue the nut, take any old glue out of the nut slot. Just use a tiny drop of white glue, just enough to lock the nut. Leave it for a day to dry. You don't need to clamp. You want to be able to break the nut free easily if you ever need to, so don't overglue.

[zuma]

Originally Posted by kalle74

I might be wrong, but I think you´re also winding the strings on the posts the wrong way, thus introducing angles to strings at nut (making tuning harder) and causing unneccessary stress for the nut... A shot of the whole headstock would be helpful...

Good catch!!!