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Filling a nut

Dogbertday

Dogbertday

Commercial User
Jul 10, 2007
2,236
1,080
SE Wisconsin
Disclosures
Blaine Music LLC
#1
So I'm no luthier but I bought a very cheap bass (60's? Kingston) that's in pretty poor condition. I need to but a new odd type of wrench to adjust the intonation, it needs a new bridge (about 2 inches for string spacing), but the reason i'm here is that the nut is cut too low. Now I know I could take it to a pro and just ask for a new one but i bought this as a DIY project.

So I'd like to just fill the slots and re-cut it myself so i'm wondering what my options are for filling the slots. would a small dowel and some wood puddy work?... is there a specific compound that would harden hard enough?... is this even possible?

I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible and i'm not worried about tone that much, just playability for now.

thanks in advance for any help
 
#3
with guitars, an easy way to do this is to fill the slot with baking soda and a drizzle of superglue, let harden, then file to correct height...some people use bone dust instead of baking soda

...unless there is a specific reason why it won't work on a bass nut (perhaps too much volume to fill?) i don't know why it wouldn't work
 
#4
I'll try filling it with baking soda and superglue... maybe i'll mix it and make a paste quick then apply it?... if that doesn't work i'll be back asking questions about full on replacing the nut :)

now the question is how far do i cut?... should i leave it just higher than the first fret?
 
#6
The superglue and filler technique is OK in a pinch but can't match a fresh cut. No way. No how. Do you put patches on your pants too when they get a hole in them? If you want practice then go to the local Corian fabricator and do a little dumpster diving. Play around with that until you have the confidence to spend what, a whole $4-$10 on a new bone nut.

Sorry, I just think it is a false economy to even screw around with the CA unless it's for a quick fix on one string. Hell, the bottle of CA will cost more than the nut!

Greg N
 
#7
Nelson Guitars said:
The superglue and filler technique is OK in a pinch but can't match a fresh cut. No way. No how. Do you put patches on your pants too when they get a hole in them? If you want practice then go to the local Corian fabricator and do a little dumpster diving. Play around with that until you have the confidence to spend what, a whole $4-$10 on a new bone nut.

Sorry, I just think it is a false economy to even screw around with the CA unless it's for a quick fix on one string. Hell, the bottle of CA will cost more than the nut!

Greg N
Click to expand...

thank you!
if you want to leearn and practice start with the basics and do them as correctly as possible;
this filling /halfas$ crap is like prepping for a date by humping a door knob; in the end your f###king yourself.
 
#9
:)of course a new nut is better--i wouldn't argue that--but filling works well enough, when done properly, to last quite a long time (at least on guitars, as i mentioned, i haven't experienced it on a bass nut)

i tend to agree that if all the slots are low, a new nut or shimming the bottom make more sense, and i also agree that a new nut blank would be good practice for cutting a nut

however...filling isn't quite the 'duct tape and bailing wire to get her home' fix that you guys are insisting:D

maybe not a bad idea to know how to do it if for nothing else but the time when one might be 'in a pinch'
 
#11
ok so what I ended up doing was trying to fill it. I used he baking soda and superglue mix (I had both around the house).. it took a full 20 minutes and my bass is now playable.

Eventually I will get a new nut for it as well as a new bridge but for now this works... thanks for all the help!
 
#12
Nelson Guitars said:
The superglue and filler technique is OK in a pinch but can't match a fresh cut. No way. No how. Do you put patches on your pants too when they get a hole in them? If you want practice then go to the local Corian fabricator and do a little dumpster diving. Play around with that until you have the confidence to spend what, a whole $4-$10 on a new bone nut.

Sorry, I just think it is a false economy to even screw around with the CA unless it's for a quick fix on one string. Hell, the bottle of CA will cost more than the nut!

Greg N
Click to expand...

+1...I patched the nut on my old Yamaha RBX a couple of times...then one day, while stringing it up with nylon tapewounds, it broke...I had a bit of PVC lying around...not the best material...but in about 1 hour I had a brand new nut fashioned and it worked perfectly...Had I had a bit of corian, I could have made a better nut in about 1/2 the time.
 
#13
Dogbertday said:
ok so what I ended up doing was trying to fill it. I used he baking soda and superglue mix (I had both around the house).. it took a full 20 minutes and my bass is now playable.

Eventually I will get a new nut for it as well as a new bridge but for now this works... thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

cool, man, glad it worked out...maybe in the meantime you can find a nut blank and planning for that when/if you decide to replace it
 

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