nut replacement question

[straightshots]

OK, I've spent a lot of time trying to adjust my action to not hearing that rattle on E and A strings, 5th fret (string height is set correctly, by 12'' radius gauge). Action is quite high (~3-4 mm on 17-th fret) and I'm still getting a slight buzz.

So, I suppose, my next steps would be to level the frets and/or replacing nut (neck has no curves). Since fret levelling is quite hard to do, I decided to try and replace nut first (I have a cheap chinese no-name guitar, and not afraid to break anything )

Well,stock nut is done poorly, cheap plastic, nut slots are badly done too (they're getting wider closer to the first fret).

Also nut itself is curved, low from G going higher to E like this : http://graphtech.com/product-578-2/

So far, I've measured only width of the nut, its 41mm, Im not worrying about string spacing (you just cant be more wrong than with my stock one ) , height can be adjusted by sanding.

I've decided to purchase this one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Question is, will it fit (I'm left-handed) ?

Thanks.

[Zooberwerx]

"Neck has no curves"....??? Sounds like you should take it to a tech for a proper set-up before hacking away at nuts, frets, and the like.

Riis

[straightshots]

Oh, I meant "neck is not warped" sorry

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by straightshots

Oh, I meant "neck is not warped" sorry

Okay, what's the relief?....what's the nut clearance at 1st fret while fretting the 3rd?

Riis

[straightshots]

I'm at work now, so I will measure it later, what would be the correct clearance at nut then ? 0.3 mm ?

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by straightshots

I'm at work now, so I will measure it later, what would be the correct clearance at nut then ? 0.3 mm ?

With the relief set correctly, the nut clearance should be .003 - .005" or .076 - .127 mm (I like it towards the high side, myself). This is between the bottom of the string and 1st fret while depressing directly on the 3rd fret.

0.3 mm (or .012") sounds more like a normal clearance when checking relief.

Riis

[straightshots]

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by straightshots

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind.

Hate to see anybody waste their time, energy, and money for potentially non-existent or mis-diagnosed problems. Things might not be as bad as you think.

Riis

[straightshots]

I will double-check if nut clearance is ok, but still, I'm getting that buzz at 5th fret even with slightly high action so I'm a bit confused.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by straightshots

I will double-check if nut clearance is ok, but still, I'm getting that buzz at 5th fret even with slightly high action so I'm a bit confused.

Here's a quick way to eliminate the nut from the equation:

Using your middle finger, fret the the string at the 5th fret and pluck the string. Does it buzz? Now, repeat the procedure but this time use your index finger to fret the 4th fret simultaneously with the 5th. Is the buzz still present?

You can also stick a small sliver of doubled-up post-it note and stick it in the suspect nut slot to act as a shim. Does the string still buzz?

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of adusting neck relief correctly before attempting any of the above!

Riis

[straightshots]

I'll try all that and come up with the results, thanks!

[straightshots]

OK, so, im at home, taking all the necessary measurements, lets see...

so, nut clearance at first fret while fretting 3-rd fret is less than 1mm on all strings (so, no nut problem I guess ).

1) fret 5-th fret with middle finger, pluck, buzz ?

G - none
D - none
A - slight buzz
E - buzz

2) fret 5-th fret with middle finger, 4-th fret with index finger, pluck, buzz ?

G - none
D - none
A - buzz
E - very little buzz

mmm, what should I do next ?

[Zooberwerx]

If you're seeing some type of clearance betweenst the 1st fret and string whilst fretting the 3rd fret, you're doing okay. Less than 1 mm is generally too wide of a description to work with and totally worthless when doing any detailed nut work. Next time you pass a Pep Boys, AutoZone, whatever, stop in and buy some feeler gauges. Best $4 you can ever spend. You may also want to try the "ping" test: fret each string at the 3rd fret (see a pattern here?) and string the top of the string quickly with your fingertip directly above the 1st fret. You should hear a distinctive percussive "ping" as the string strikes the fret and bounces back.

You really need to check the relief! I use a capo and set of feeler gauges but I'm suspicious you have neither on hand. So be it. Fret the E string at the 1st and last frets (there are variations on this but it will work for now). Check the gap betweenst the 8th or 9th fret and string bottom. Optimally, it should measure out at .012 -014" or approximately the thickness of two business cards.

Get back to us! Pics of the bass, headstock and nut might be nice, too

Riis

[straightshots]

After properly measuring fret level and nut height, I've came to conclusion that I have uneven frets AND incorrect E and A strings height at nut. I decided to level and crown frets myself, so I've read a ton of articles on how to do that.

Here is what I needed, bought and used for this procedure :

1) level (medium-sized, cost me about 5 $)
2) sanding paper (240, 320, 1000, 2500 grit, about 3$)
3) sanding paper holder (something like rubber brick with flat bottom, about 4$)
4) black permanent marker ( 1.5 $)
5) paper tape (to cover the fretboard, 1 $)
6) various sponges with sanding paper of different grit glued to them (turned out invaluable thing! , 2 $)
7) superglue, 0.5 $
8) linen oil (small bucket, like 6$, hope to use for next 30 years or so, with such quantity )

Leveling and crowning turned out to be fairly easy, but time-consuming process, also you have to be careful to not screw things up, so I've double-checked everything that I was doing.

1) removed strings from bass, unscrewed neck from guitar
body, placed on even surface and fastened it.

2) covered fretboard with paper tape, leaving frets intact.

3) marked all frets with marker.

4) using 1000 grit sandpaper on a sandpaper holder, I've lightly sanded the frets all over fretboard, till marker disappeared. Turned out that frets were fairly even (though needed some work) starting from 24-th to 7-th fret, but having like "bump" at 5-th till 1-st (thus explaining that pesky rattle of E and A strings). All of them were firmly sitting in fret slots (so, no superglue was needed)

5) marked all frets with marker again, I've started sanding down the frets with 240 grit sandpaper, then with 320 grit,checking with level. that took me a while.

6) leveling was done, time for crowning. marked all frets, and started sanding each with sponge to get that half-round shape, gradually going from lowest to highest grit. level checks were handy.

7) with 1000 grit sandpaper between 2 fingers, I've lightly went along the fretboard, polishing frets, same thing with 2500. that took a while too.

8) removed paper tape, sanded back of the neck with 1000 grit sandpaper to get it smoother (turned out very useful, neck is much more "faster" now), cleaned fretboard with whitespirit (careful not to spill on laquer finish of the neck)
and applied 2 layers of linen oil on the fretboard. left it for 8 hours to dry.

9) screwed neck back to body, strung it and adjusted action, lowered it about 1.5 mm lower than before, no buzz at all! (still I have like quite high clearance at 17-th fret, but I think I can get it to 2 mm, even with such improper nut!.

Overall, I'm really happy with a result. Im no woodworker by all means, but it turned out fairly easy (thanks Internet ) Next step would be replacing the nut.

Pics will follow later.