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Best glue to use for glueing new nut?

#21
scotch said:
The 'right' way to lower action at the nut is NOT to remove it & sand the bottom down. I believe you're thinking of acoustic saddle repair, which is entirely different.

To lower action/string height at the nut, you file the slots lower. Then, you remove the right amount of material from the top of the nut so that the strings don't bind in too deep of a slot. Generally, this means about 1/2 of the low E string exposed, graduating to a high G string that is almost flush with the top of the nut.
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I agree whole hartedly.

The best action is on each string. It should be
set string by string, not the whole boat.

The problem is, most folks don't know when to
stop. So buy an extra if you want to try it.

A groove cutter is cheap on eBay,

Tabdog
 
#22
My 2 cents:

The right way to glue a nut in place is to use just a little dab of titebond or ca glue will be ok. Just dont over do it, your repair man with thank you for that. Also the right way to adjust string height is to file down the individual slots with a file. Don't sand the bottom of the nut it wont be nearly as precise. Use a feeler gauge to check string height at the first fret. It should be somewhere around .15.
 
#23
frianbisher said:
My 2 cents:

The right way to glue a nut in place is to use just a little dab of titebond or ca glue will be ok. Just dont over do it, your repair man with thank you for that. Also the right way to adjust string height is to file down the individual slots with a file. Don't sand the bottom of the nut it wont be nearly as precise. Use a feeler gauge to check string height at the first fret. It should be somewhere around .15.
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That's more than 1/8 inch there FB.:eyebrow:
 
#24
96tbird said:
Future reference. Don't adjust nut height by filing the groove! Ouch! Sand the bottom of the nut down!
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JLS said:
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
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96tbird said:
:confused: Why would you say that remove wood is better than removing material from a cheap, replaceable nut? :confused:

He's done permanent damage to his nut seat.
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ah!

JLS had to have thought the same thing i did, that you were saying not to file the string grooves.

yes, do not file the nut slot in the neck down to fix the action :eek:

the slot needs to be cleaned up and squared-off so the nut fits tightly and cleanly, but that's it.

oh, and superglue is perfect for this; just use a little, so it can be popped out later.

wood glue is fine, as long as the nut can be properly clamped in place so that the front edge stays square against the end of the fretboard and can be left overnight that way.

(the strings sometimes won't do that, and can even force the nut out of place. with CA, you can hold the nut in the right place with your fingers for the 30 seconds it takes for the glue to set.)
 
#25
I got my new nut in the mail and am much happier with the quality, except it's too high :crying:

5976427589_b2bb448635_b.jpg


I don't have a nut file or any other luthier equipment, so what's my best option? Is it really that detrimental to sand it from the bottom?
 
#26
aussiebasshero said:
I got my new nut in the mail and am much happier with the quality, except it's too high :crying:

5976427589_b2bb448635_b.jpg


I don't have a nut file or any other luthier equipment, so what's my best option? Is it really that detrimental to sand it from the bottom?
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i sand from the bottom and it has worked out greatly for 2 guitars and 2 basses. i think you're fine to do that as long as the radius for the string slots match the fretboard.
 
#29
96tbird said:
Just don't.let a luthier know you did it.that way. Heh.
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:rollno:

OK firstly I'm on a next to zero budget, secondly, it's a DIY project, thirdly, if I keep the plane level I don't understand what the difference is.

Filing the individual slots then sanding back the top seems like a laborious exercise which effectively achieves the same thing.

Again, bear in mind it's a $50 bass. I'm not suggesting I'd go the same approach for my Ibanez, for example. ;)
 
#31
of course you can sand the bottom of the nut to get it in the ballpark.

you just won't get it over the plate without nut files, used in the string slots after it's glued in place.
 
#32
JLS said:
Hey, do it however you want--drag it on the sidewalk. Far be it for anyone who actually knows how to do this, to give any pertinent information. Besides, it's just a $50 bass.
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Jeeze, it's just a chunk of plastic:P no need to get emotional about it.... The instrument is just a modding platform, not a Carl Thompson.
 
#33
JLS said:
Hey, do it however you want--drag it on the sidewalk. Far be it for anyone who actually knows how to do this, to give any pertinent information. Besides, it's just a $50 bass.
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Sardonicism aside, just because it's the 'best' way to do it doesn't mean it's the only way to do it. I took all of the advice in, and decided on the one that would be the cheapest/most convenient to do, because for me, it's honestly a waste of money to buy a set of nut files for repair work I only genuinely envisage doing once, nor do I see the benefit in paying someone else to do it for the same reason.

It's not a slight to any tech who does go about the 'right' way of lowering the action at the nut - I'm sure if it was a much more expensive bass then I wouldn't hesitate taking it in.

So, chill :cool:
 
#35
Here's a hint for sanding down the bottom -

Glue some fine sandpaper onto a piece of plate glass, marble or other very flat surface. Lay a hunk of wood flat on the sandpaper. Slide the nut back and forth along the edge of the wood, using the wood as a brace to assure that you're keeping the nut at 90 degrees to the sandpaper.

I agree, fine tuning would help, but I don't see any reason you can't make this work to get close. The joker is whether the surface under the nut is flat or not. If it's radiused, this will not work because you can only sand the surface flat this way.
 
#37
If the nut slot itself is the same radius as the fretboard, you could tape a piece of sand paper on the first fret and run the nut across that to achieve a radius. I've sanded a few nuts off the bottom because the string grooves were so close to where they all needed to be, so a little off the bottom brought them all down equally.
 
#38
aussiebasshero said:
5976427589_b2bb448635_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Here's a perfect example of the problems of nut replacement.

First - no nut is a drop in replacement. They all have to be worked to fit your instrument properly.

The replacement nut is obviously too high. So just cut the bottom down to height, right? Sorry, but it's not that easy. If you look at the slot for the A string, it is not nearly as deep as the other strings. Sure this may be just the way it appears in the photo, but are you sure your new nut has slots the right depth to follow the fret radius? We hear lots of talk about the bridge saddles following the fretboard radius, but the nut must also conform. And in truth it's not the fretboard radius that either should follow, but the fret curve radius. Subtle difference, but it can differ.

It must be just the photo, but to me there's too much space between the G and D string slots on both nuts compared to the other string spacings. May not make a difference to you , but it's the kind of thing that would drive me nuts.

So assuming that I would want to correct these shortcomings, (which I would), I would end up cutting the nut down to the right height, re-aligning the string-to-string spacing, and slotting to the proper depth to suit my instrument.

So I would ask myself - why not just by a quality bone blank and start from there? Nearly the same amount of work regardless if it's a $50 project bass or a $6000 boutique job.

Glue? Least of the problems. Anything that just keeps the nut from falling out when the strings are off is fine, and sufficient to keep the nut from slipping from side to side. If it's fitted right, that's almost no glue at all. The type of glue is not important - hide, aliphatic, epoxy, casein, cyanoacrylate, wallpaper paste......
 
#39
Turnaround said:
Here's a perfect example of the problems of nut replacement.

First - no nut is a drop in replacement. They all have to be worked to fit your instrument properly.

The replacement nut is obviously too high...If you look at the slot for the A string, it is not nearly as deep as the other strings.

It must be just the photo, but to me there's too much space between the G and D string slots on both nuts compared to the other string spacings. May not make a difference to you, but it's the kind of thing that would drive me nuts.
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It's the light in the photo – the A slot is just as deep as it is on the old nut ;) and the distance between D and G is the same; I just couldn't take the photo of the broken nut on its front without pushing it together.

Peace :bassist:
 
#40
turnaround's point stands, though.

you can get it to play sort of OK by sanding the bottom of the nut, but you'll never get it as sweet as a properly fashioned and installed blank using the right tools.

this is a detail even far too many so-called "techs" get wrong, as well as just about all factories (where they can't take the time to get each instrument perfect).

we're talking about a tolerance where .010" for each slot is the difference between playing (and intonating) poorly and playing great, or between playing great and buzzing on the open strings.
 

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