How to Remove Nut on Ibanez?

[tonesponge]

It's a GSR200 and I have the strings out of the way and the truss rod cover off, but it seems like the nut is glued on to the end of the fretboard or something.

I'm trying to shim it. How do I remove it? Or am I just supposed to slide something under it and leave it apparently glued to the fretboard? Seems that would raise the fretboard slightly at that end.

[Eric Moesle]

They are typically glued in place. Usually a light whack with a hammer against a screwdriver at the gap will unseat them, but sometimes they break and need replacing when this is done.

Why do you want to shim it? If its your main bass, make sure you know what you are doing and why before doing something like this.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by Eric Moesle

They are typically glued in place. Usually a light whack with a hammer against a screwdriver at the gap will unseat them, but sometimes they break and need replacing when this is done.

Why do you want to shim it? If its your main bass, make sure you know what you are doing and why before doing something like this.

^Agreed.

Unless you have open strings buzzing, what are you up to?

[LilloEsquilo]

What I found today is using a flush cut pliers, like the kind you use to pull frets, works great as well. You just tape off the area around the nut, and grab it with the flush cut pliers near the base of the nut, and gently rock it free. This is after using an exacto knife around the edges to break loose any glue bond so you don't mess up your finish. That rocks it right loose and worked really well on plastic/graphite nuts. Should work on bone too, not sure about brass it might slide on that so you'd have to use some caution but then again you should be going slow and using caution during the whole process anyway.

And damn they really glue the hell out of those nuts at the factory.

[LilloEsquilo]

Oh I should post one other thing, you would do well to have a new nut on hand. It's VERY easy to mess up the existing nut when removing it. They are cheap you can order them online. You'll have to take some measurements to get the right one, or else get a blank and carve to size.

And yes it is glued in as he said, sometimes with super glue and are a world of fun to get out if they use more than a dab. I use wood glue myself, because I know someday I'm gonna pull it and I don't want the hassle of trying to break that super glue bond, but whatever floats your boat is fine.

Just some free advice, but it's really a good idea to have an extra nut on hand. You can get new graphite nuts for about 6 bucks plus shipping, even bone and brass aren't too much more.