replacing a broken MIM Jazz nut - need some help

[Argali]

I've inherited a MIM Jazz from my brother that is in woeful shape. I don't know what he did with this thing. When I took it home and attempted to change the strings, the nut basically cracked and crumbled. Now I have half a nut, beneath the E and A strings!

I'm starting to look at this bass as a good way to learn how to do basic set-up and repair. Replacing the nut is a bit intimidating, but I'd like to try. When I bought this bass for my brother years ago, it was a good player. It would be a waste just to toss it because of a few problems.

So, my first question is: are there pre-slotted nuts available to fit a MIM Jazz? I'm a big fan of Graphtech stuff, but I'm not sure if they have nuts that will fit this bass.

[mattygbass]

you can buy a nut made for a jazz bass an glue it in. they sell them here http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/middle_bass.htm
they might even have one at your local guitar center

good luck,
matt

[Argali]

Originally Posted by mattygbass

you can buy a nut made for a jazz bass an glue it in. they sell them here http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/middle_bass.htm
they might even have one at your local guitar center

good luck,
matt

The question is though, will these fit on an MIM Jazz? I thought the neck dimensions of the MIM are slightly different than an MIA. I could be wrong...

[XylemBassGuitar]

Argali,

That's really cool that you are interested in doing it yourself!

I would get a decent guitar-building or repair book and check out the section on installing the nut. It's actually not too hard to fabricate one from scratch and install it, if you are patient and have the right information and tools.

If you get a ready-made nut, make sure it has the right size slots for the string gauges you are going to use. Wrong size slots can cause tuning issues and buzz, among other things.

Check out stewmac.com for more information. They'll have some good books there and they might even have some free information posted about making and installing a nut.

Good luck!

[RED5]

I get a new bass, tone of the first things I do is replace the nut (usually plastic) with a bone nut. It's sort of a ritual, like when aquiring a new car, washing and waxing so you find all the details you missed on the walk around. I also like re-spoking motorcycle wheels for fun so maybe I'm not the guy to rely on............