Need a nut cut - SE Michigan

[aborgman]

Note: nut, not nuts

Any recommendations around the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area for getting a nut cut at a reasonable price? Normally I'd do it myself, but I'm just ridiculously busy lately and don't want to bother.

[madmatt]

Look up your local vascectomy doctor...

[NCD]

It only takes about ten minutes to do it yourself by using either old round wound strings or you can even take off your current strings and use the ends of them that are up by the tuners rather than the parts of the strings you play. That would also ensure a perfect fit. I just use the string like a hacksaw blade while pulled tight between my hands and the depth of each slot should have it's string sitting half in the nut and half above it. Almost every nut I've seen was cut too deeply and I use an AC based fill and then re-slot them myself to get the depth to the correct height.

If you don't have ten minutes to slot them yourself, how do you have time to be reading this in the first place? Just sayin'.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by NCD

It only takes about ten minutes to do it yourself by using either old round wound strings or you can even take off your current strings and use the ends of them that are up by the tuners rather than the parts of the strings you play. That would also ensure a perfect fit. I just use the string like a hacksaw blade while pulled tight between my hands and the depth of each slot should have it's string sitting half in the nut and half above it. Almost every nut I've seen was cut too deeply and I use an AC based fill and then re-slot them myself to get the depth to the correct height.

Pretty much what I've done in the past... but I've got to order a blank and wait for it, then find the time to do it.

Originally Posted by NCD

If you don't have ten minutes to slot them yourself, how do you have time to be reading this in the first place? Just sayin'.

I can read and post from work... I have kids at home.

[NCD]

Originally Posted by aborgman

I can read and post from work... I have kids at home.

My "kids" are in their 20's... as a parent myself, I'm wondering how you find time to play if you can't find time to cut a nut. Planning for when they get old enough to tell them to sit down and shut up after you put in all that effort to teach them to walk and talk? lol

[samc2527]

Maybe he just doesn't want to spend his free time doing maintenance...why are you on him about time management?

[walterw]

a really well-cut nut is worth paying for; it makes a huge difference in playability and tuning stability, it's not as easy as people make out, and dong it right requires a good $100 just in specialized nut files.

isn't collins lutherie in ann arbor? david collins is one of the best anywhere.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by walterw

a really well-cut nut is worth paying for; it makes a huge difference in playability and tuning stability, it's not as easy as people make out, and dong it right requires a good $100 just in specialized nut files.

So well said it needs to be quoted.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by walterw

a really well-cut nut is worth paying for; it makes a huge difference in playability and tuning stability, it's not as easy as people make out, and dong it right requires a good $100 just in specialized nut files.

isn't collins lutherie in ann arbor? david collins is one of the best anywhere.

Yeah: "Ten minutes"? That's a chuckle, there.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by NCD

My "kids" are in their 20's... as a parent myself, I'm wondering how you find time to play if you can't find time to cut a nut. Planning for when they get old enough to tell them to sit down and shut up after you put in all that effort to teach them to walk and talk? lol

I play at gigs, when I'm getting paid, which covers babysitting.

...and I play at work during lunch.

[Bullitt5135]

JK's Guitar Garage in Whitmore Lake (Hamburg). They are on M-36, a few miles west of US-23. I just had them do some work on my Fender Jazz, including a new bone nut. I was very happy with the results as well as the customer service. I don't remember what they charged for the nut exactly, but it was fair.

6468 E Mi State Road 36
Whitmore Lake, MI 48189
(810) 231-6151

A friend of mine recommends Tom Pellerito (by appointment only). He works out of his shop in his basement off N Prospect in Ypsi. Pellerito's Guitars, (734) 485-9550.

A lot of people swear by Herb David on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor.

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by Bullitt5135

JK's Guitar Garage in Whitmore Lake (Hamburg). They are on M-36, a few miles west of US-23. I just had them do some work on my Fender Jazz, including a new bone nut. I was very happy with the results as well as the customer service. I don't remember what they charged for the nut exactly, but it was fair.

6468 E Mi State Road 36
Whitmore Lake, MI 48189
(810) 231-6151

A friend of mine recommends Tom Pellerito (by appointment only). He works out of his shop in his basement off N Prospect in Ypsi. Pellerito's Guitars, (734) 485-9550.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Bullitt5135

A lot of people swear by Herb David on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor.

They're the first place that comes to mind, but I'm not exactly enthralled with them...

[NCD]

Originally Posted by samc2527

Maybe he just doesn't want to spend his free time doing maintenance...why are you on him about time management?

There's a difference between being on someone about something and jesting with them about it in a friendly manner. The difference was indicated by the joke about trying to get kids to sit down and shut up after teaching them to walk and talk, as well as the lol.

As far as files go, I've been advised many times that the best way to cut a slot that will be the perfect width and depth for any string is to use an identical string to the one that will be in that slot and ensure that each string sits half in and half above the nut, no more deeply than that. That may or may not be textbook "correct", but it's worked very well for me over this last year.