Nut Height Action

[kyral210]

I am installing a new nut and I was wondering about what nut height action I should be going for. That is when a capo is installed at the 3rd fret, what height should there be between the 1st fret (bass and treble side) and the underside of the string.

Currently the distances are 0.45mm Bass Side, 0.25mm Treble Side

I own a Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass and and play Marilyn Manson style bass.

Thanks

[202dy]

The rule of thumb is ~.003" clearance at the first fret when the string is stopped at the third fret. That is .0762 mm. It is roughly the thickness of a sheet of notebook paper.

[kyral210]

The rule of thumb is ~.003" clearance at the first fret when the string is stopped at the third fret. That is .0762 mm. It is roughly the thickness of a sheet of notebook paper.

Bass or treble side?

[The modifier]

Sometimes its up to what you feel conformable with, some people like the nut slot height the same height as the first fret (same as a zero fret), others particularly people who like zero relief necks, like the height at the nut up a bit higher.

[Benjamin Strange]

Originally Posted by 202dy

The rule of thumb is ~.003" clearance at the first fret when the string is stopped at the third fret. That is .0762 mm. It is roughly the thickness of a sheet of notebook paper.

This.

[kyral210]

This what? Bass, Treble or both?

[wmheilma]

I have not measured what is too high or low for each string in inches from the 1st fret, but I do know that if the nut is too high, the bass is harder to fret near the nut and sounds sharp on the first few frets even when the intonation is correct at the 12th fret. If your lower the nut too much, the strings start to rattle against the frets when you are playing higher up the neck on the bass strings which irritating and is audible when tracking in the studio.

[John Wentzien]

Originally Posted by kyral210

This what? Bass, Treble or both?

I use the corner of a dollar-bill as a "feeler" guage over the first fret, with the string fretted at the 3rd fret with a capo, on all of the strings.

[John Wentzien]

A US dollar bill is .0043" thick

[J.D.B.]

All the strings should be at the same height to the first fret when fretted at the third(ideally).

Josh

[JustDavid]

Apologies if this is off-topic. And I'm not disagreeing with anything above; good advice.

I never quite got the hang of visualizing nut slot height until someone told me that an open string should have about the same string/fret clearance at the 1st fret that you see when you fret the 1st & look at the string/fret gap at the 2nd fret. (Perhaps a touch more for slot wear'n'tear over time.) Thoughts? I've been wrong before.

[Chris Breese]

Good to know! Thanks!

[walterw]

Originally Posted by JustDavid

Apologies if this is off-topic. And I'm not disagreeing with anything above; good advice.

I never quite got the hang of visualizing nut slot height until someone told me that an open string should have about the same string/fret clearance at the 1st fret that you see when you fret the 1st & look at the string/fret gap at the 2nd fret. (Perhaps a touch more for slot wear'n'tear over time.) Thoughts? I've been wrong before.

right, that's your "ideal", which you usually can't quite reach. you should be able to get fairly close, though.

[levis76]

Get a Warwick. Gotta love the Just-A-Nut.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by levis76

Gotta love the Just-A-Nut.

Not really. On the original Just-A-Nut, the smallest adjustment you can make is a half-turn and though it would do, it wasn't just right on the last 'wick I set up. A half-turn in one direction was a hair too low - in the other, a hair too high.

Just-A-Nut 2 was better in a sense but it broke too frequently for my liking.

The current version seems much better, but you cannot adjust it on a string-by-string basis, so it's a bit of a compromise. It's OK, but I certainly don't love it.

[JustDavid]

Originally Posted by walterw

right, that's your "ideal", which you usually can't quite reach. you should be able to get fairly close, though.

Thanks Walter!

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by levis76

Get a Warwick. Gotta love the Just-A-Nut.

+1 on just-a-nut....tweak up and down with the twist of the allen wrench....the warwick bridge is awesome, too.

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

Not really. On the original Just-A-Nut, the smallest adjustment you can make is a half-turn and though it would do, it wasn't just right on the last 'wick I set up. A half-turn in one direction was a hair too low - in the other, a hair too high.

Just-A-Nut 2 was better in a sense but it broke too frequently for my liking.

The current version seems much better, but you cannot adjust it on a string-by-string basis, so it's a bit of a compromise. It's OK, but I certainly don't love it.

Yeah, but it beats the tar out of filing nut groove depths and having to replace the nut if you go too far.