Advice on New Jazz Bass with nut cut too deep

[Alexthephotoguy]

I bought an AmPro II Jazz bass from an authorized (and well rated) store via Reverb. Got a great deal from what I thought ($400 off list).... fast forward to 60 days after purchase (outside of 30 day return warranty) and I finally get the opportunity to take it into the studio for some recording. When we got nitty gritty in the headphones, we realized the bass has a buzz on the open E and A string. In my mind it was something Fender must cover under warranty. I took it to the ONLY authorized Fender repair shop in Atlanta (45 min north of the city, mind you) and they said the nut had been filed down too far at some point (see photos).

The shop said Fender very likely won't cover this. The dealer I bought from says they don't do nut work and it was probably caused by going from the stock 102 gauge strings to 105 flatwound - which I find hard to believe?

The repair shop said the "right way" to do it is to carve a new bone nut, which will cost $260 and their queue is 6 weeks. The dealer said the best they can do is mail be a pre-cut fender nut to have someone install.

Anyone out there have other thoughts? I def want to do it the right way... but was hoping there was a better solution.

 

[brianrost]

Call Fender yourself and complain about it. Get them to contact the local authorized shop about doing the work for free, maybe even to push you up in the queue.

If not, get the dealer to send you the new nut and find any local shop who can do the owrk sooner and cheaper than the authorized shop.

 

[Bassaga]

Or get a new pre-cut nut for $3 on ebay, drop it in under the strings, and you're good to go.

 

[RSBBass]

The dealer is either ignorant or a liar. The proper depth for the nut slot doesn't change with a minor string gauge change. It is possible, but unlikely, the string isn't sitting all the way down in the slot. If this is the case, two swipes with a small file will fix it. Fender should take care of you and avoid that dealer in the future.

 

[RSBBass]

Or get a new pre-cut nut for $3 on ebay, drop it in under the strings, and you're good to go.

It isn't that simple. Pre-cut nuts are almost all cut too high and have to be adjusted to optimal height.

 

[Turnaround]

In my shop a new nut hand carved from bone is a $85 job. The price quoted seems to be a "go away" price (i.e. don't want to do it).

Double check if the nut is too low. Press the string down between the second and third fret so that it's touching the second fret. There should be a tiny gap over the first fret - less than the thickness of a piece of paper. If there is such a gap the nut is not too low. If there is no gap at all the the nut is too low.

If it's too low, remove the nut and super-glue a couple of thickesses of paper to the bottom of the nut (use water-thin super glue). Once cured trim the paper to the edges of the nut and put the nut in position (no glue), string up, tune and check the string height as above. Hopefully the nut will now be a wee bit high. If not, super-glue another layer of paper. Once the nut is a tiny bit too high, glue it in place and carefully file the slots to proper depth. Don't worry about using paper - once it is saturated with super glue it will be plenty hard

 

[aprod]

Those slots look fine to me. Buzzing in that area could indicate the need to loosen the truss rod a tiny bit, like 1/16 of a turn.

 

[Ellery]

$265 for a bone nut is not a quote, it is a veiled middle finger in your face. Very likely this dealer doesn't like doing warranty work for someone he didn't sell to, probably feels Fender doesn't compensate enough, but it comes with part of the dealer agreement. The only way you're going to get your warranty extended for what is obviously a factory defect would be to contact Fender directly.

 

[Cardsfan85]

$260 for a bone nut is crazy.

 

[Chop11777]

Just like @Turnaround says
However looking at the pictures
They look higher than mine
Another good way to check is .020 feeler gauge under the first fret
It's all a game of angles
fyi
If your on the east coast pm me I'll juice ya up !

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Congratulations on not getting ripped off. If you're handy, that's an easy fix. Pop the nut loose, cut a shim half the width of the nut from a matchbook cover, and place the shim under the E and A slots, then replace nut.

 

[SJan3]

I bought an AmPro II Jazz bass from an authorized (and well rated) store via Reverb. Got a great deal from what I thought ($400 off list).... fast forward to 60 days after purchase (outside of 30 day return warranty) and I finally get the opportunity to take it into the studio for some recording. When we got nitty gritty in the headphones, we realized the bass has a buzz on the open E and A string. In my mind it was something Fender must cover under warranty. I took it to the ONLY authorized Fender repair shop in Atlanta (45 min north of the city, mind you) and they said the nut had been filed down too far at some point (see photos).

The shop said Fender very likely won't cover this. The dealer I bought from says they don't do nut work and it was probably caused by going from the stock 102 gauge strings to 105 flatwound - which I find hard to believe?

The repair shop said the "right way" to do it is to carve a new bone nut, which will cost $260 and their queue is 6 weeks. The dealer said the best they can do is mail be a pre-cut fender nut to have someone install.

Anyone out there have other thoughts? I def want to do it the right way... but was hoping there was a better solution.

Is this a new or used bass? If new, go to Fender. If used, you're on your own but I like @Turnaround solution.

 

[lunarpollen]

Any time i had nut slots that were too low, i just shimmed the nut with some paper to raise it. Used a bit of super glue to make it last.

 

[sdjfoh]

I'd pop the nut off and throw a match from a book in there with a lil super glue. Clip the sides. File down slots if needed.

Tons of pre cut nuts out there for cheap. I like the Tusq/graphtek and have success with some brass nuts pre cut too. People don't care for the axe master brass nuts but if you file a bit they are just great. $20 plus elbow grease.

 

[DWBass]

Buy a new nut. If you own a dremel, use that to fine tune the nut slots. Or buy a nut file set.

 

[shirojiro]

Was the A string strung so that the string was forced down as low as possible?

I've added a string tree to Fender basses in the past to keep the A string from rattling on open A.

There is also a "hidden" string tree that is a loop around the tuning peg.

This has been an issue for me on more than one bass.

Just a thought.

 

[TonyTonewood]

Or get a new pre-cut nut for $3 on ebay, drop it in under the strings, and you're good to go.

I paid $6.60 at SW, bone, free shipping, fit right in my clone.

 

[zombywoof5050]

I just wanted to say don't wait too long to fix it.
Continuing to play it with the open notes buzzing on the first fret can eventually cause wear spots on the fret where it is buzzing.

 

[MechaSparky]

Treat it as an opportunity to upgrade to a Tusq xl nut. Buy a good set of stewmac nut files and go slow....result - better than new.

 

[Ewo]

Whenever I ran into that problem--from the nut wearing down over time--and didn't want to bother with making a replacement nut, I just cut a small square of writing paper to fit in the bottom of the nut slot under the string.