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new nut?

C

cerokilik

Guest
Aug 22, 2013
61
0
Clinton, MI
#1
I recently obtained a Epiphone EB-3 but have hit a brick wall, the previous owner changed the nut to a lefty rather then standard. I've looked at guitarcenter's website and called local guitar shops to get quotes/see if they have a standard but that isn't one for a fender. sadly my only option it seems is either paying to have a blank carved or to carve it myself. carving it myself would be cheaper but how difficult would it be?... paying to have it carved would probably be easier but it'd be a punch in the wallet 110 was the cheapest 225 was most expensive plus the price of the blank so $230.

so.... how difficult is it or should I leave it to a professional?
 
#3
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#4
Nut work is some of the most exacting things to do on an instrument. Yes it can be done - human beings do it all the time. Easy? - no.

But the prices you are quoting seem way out of line to me. I do custom nuts in bone all the time and they are half or less than what you are talking about. You might want to shop around a little further.
 
#5
I've shopped around at the local shops(3 mom and pop sorta shops and guitar center) guitar center was the cheapest and I've ordered a graphtech nut so hopefully it works. Also I agree they are out of line quotes seeing as how i asked the guy where he got the nut for the bass he said he got it at a different guitar center and paid 100 for strings new nut setup and restringing ($28 for the carving + nut)
 
#7
Nuts aren't real difficult, just very tedious.

Its carved lefty?, or GDAE? Correct?

You could try flipping it 180 degrees, shimming it up from the bottom, and re-file the break angle.

Not ideal, but it might get you by until you can afford to have it done.
 
#8
I recently changed the nuts on both my Squier Standard Jazz bass and my Squier CV 50's bass. I used a combination of hand sanding, and used a set of needle files to fine-tune the string slots. I took my time, and used a Carruthers video on YouTube for guidance. I think that they both turned out well, and made a HUGE difference in tone over the factory, soft plastic nuts. My local music shop/luthier wanted $45 - $75 each. PS: I bought pre-slotted, simulated bone nuts
 
#11
cerokilik said:
I recently obtained a Epiphone EB-3 but have hit a brick wall, the previous owner changed the nut to a lefty rather then standard. I've looked at guitarcenter's website and called local guitar shops to get quotes/see if they have a standard but that isn't one for a fender. sadly my only option it seems is either paying to have a blank carved or to carve it myself. carving it myself would be cheaper but how difficult would it be?... paying to have it carved would probably be easier but it'd be a punch in the wallet 110 was the cheapest 225 was most expensive plus the price of the blank so $230.

so.... how difficult is it or should I leave it to a professional?
Click to expand...

Well, here's another way to approach the problem. One of my Squier J basses needed a new nut. The old one had broken at the edge by the G string. Realizing that one way or the other, I was going to have a new nut installed, I decided to try it myself. So, I bought a nut blank and some sandpaper and a set of small files from Home Depot. I used to old nut as a template and cut, sanded, and grooved the new nut to the exact same size. I cleaned the nut cavity in the neck and put a drop of super glue in and installed the new nut. It works GREAT! I've had no problems.
You could do the same thing. All you have to do is reverse the string grooves to make it a right handed nut. What you need is a lot of patience. I did not use any power tools to shape the new nut. Get a couple of different grits of sandpaper 100, 200, and 400. I'm do not consider myself a luthier at all. But, what I just described worked for me. The nut blank was about five or six dollars.
 
#12
cerokilik said:
I recently obtained a Epiphone EB-3 but have hit a brick wall, the previous owner changed the nut to a lefty rather then standard. I've looked at guitarcenter's website and called local guitar shops to get quotes/see if they have a standard but that isn't one for a fender. sadly my only option it seems is either paying to have a blank carved or to carve it myself. carving it myself would be cheaper but how difficult would it be?... paying to have it carved would probably be easier but it'd be a punch in the wallet 110 was the cheapest 225 was most expensive plus the price of the blank so $230.

so.... how difficult is it or should I leave it to a professional?
Click to expand...

Those are absolutely insane quotes!
 

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