Lowering the nut on a Squier VM Fretless

[ofsalesmen]

I got a Squier VM Fretless and it's absolutely amazing; however, the action is not as low as I'd like. The nut is the only issue with the bass--it was cut for a fretted bass. I need to lower the nut so I can put some Black Beauties on and have the perfect fretless bass.

Is it possible to lower the nut by sanding its bottom surface instead of making the grooves deeper? If so, how does one go about doing it? Just FYI, I've never done any nut work before.

[fretlessman71]

Originally Posted by ofsalesmen

I got a Squier VM Fretless and it's absolutely amazing; however, the action is not as low as I'd like. The nut is the only issue with the bass--it was cut for a fretted bass. I need to lower the nut so I can put some Black Beauties on and have the perfect fretless bass.

Is it possible to lower the nut by sanding its bottom surface instead of making the grooves deeper? If so, how does one go about doing it? Just FYI, I've never done any nut work before.

It's pretty easy to do. It might be simpler, however, to have a tech do it if you're not so good with your hands (like I'm finding out is the thing with me ).

I bet if you took the nut out (you may have to pry it out gently with a screwdriver, some are glued in), drew lines on it all the way around exactly a fret's thickness from the bottom, and sanded it by hand until you got to the line, it'd work perfect. Get that nut sanded FLAT on the bottom, though - close doesn't count, this isn't horeshoes.

[Turnaround]

Please don't try to pry the nut out with a screwdriver. You will be courting disaster.

If you don't feel comfortable about deepening the nut slots with a file, then I would not recommend you try lowering the nut by sanding the bottom of it. If you are not comfortable deepening the slots, you should feel really uneasy about removing the nut, sanding and replacing it.

[black lake]

Have the nut filed by a pro. The plastic is very soft and easy to mess up if you make a mistake. I had my VM fretless done and it makes a world of difference to playability and sound.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by black lake

Have the nut filed by a pro. The plastic is very soft and easy to mess up if you make a mistake. I had my VM fretless done and it makes a world of difference to playability and sound.

oh my...come on...filing a nut is NOT rocket science...

get a rat tail file...put 3 layers of masking tape on the fretboard under the strings next to the nut...go slow...and keep a slight back angle (witness point is on the fretboard side of the slot)...

in about 15 - 20 minutes you'll have a good result...when in doubt...STOP!...

the worst thing you can do, if you follow these steps is mess up your nut...big whoop...nut material is cheap...

[Jaco who?]

I had an old set of D'addario pro-steels that felt absolutely horrible on my fingertips, but worked great for filing the slots.

[ofsalesmen]

My concern was about damaging the nut and having to buy and/or file another one. I'm sure I could do it, but it's a really killer bass and I don't want to do anything to change that. I think I might just take it to a local shop.

They told me that they're not sure how much it would cost to just work on the nut. The full setup is $50, but I can do most of it (bridge height, intonation, truss rod, etc.) on my own. Think it'll be cheaper?

[RedsFan75]

I just bought a new Tusq nut for around 10.00 it's pretty easy to do nut work on a pre-slotted one. I've installed in a Tele, a Strat, acoustic, a Mandolin and a bass, this will be my first in a fretless though, but I've lowered the saddle in an acoustic and it's the same general principle, just mark it and sand away!

[D.Don]

This thread is all nuts..

If anything goes nuts, a new one cost peanuts...

http://guitarpartsresource.com/bass_nutsaft.htm
http://guitarpartsresource.com/bass_nutsfender.htm
http://guitarpartsresource.com/bass_nutsgraphtech.htm



D.Don