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nut filing question

#4
The standard makeshift tool is an undersized drill bit and sandpaper.

Real tools cost real money. They last a very long time. Thereby saving money. Or making money for a tech. Actually, for a player (as opposed to a tech), they will last a lifetime. Leave the cheap tools on eBay alone and buy the real deal.
 
#6
use a knife to mark the slot centers. use a small saw or pocket knife saw and a nail file would work. it just takes too long. If you can get the proper tools go for it. I cant where I live so I have to improvise. I used the above and sandpaper to file my brass nut from a block. used a wood saw :D
 
#7
I found a set of (about 20) mini rotary files that fix into an electric drill chuck for about £4.50 I just put a piece of masking tape around the shaft so I can grip them at the correct angle, and do it by hand nice and slowly. I was just thinking about paying the £80 or so for the nut files proper (3) when I found them in the local hardware shop. They may be cheapo quality, but they work, and you can find exactly the size you want - no name on them I'm afraid, but worth looking out for something similar where you live. They don't have to be perfect quality unless you do an awful lot of nut work, which most non-luthiers don't.
 
#8
Does anyone know where I can buy a brass nut for my Squier P-Bass? A while back, I bought some DR DDT's (heavy) and I ended up grinding the **** outta my nut :crying:. All the other abrasive strings I bought after those didn't help any. I know brass is a soft metal, but metal beats plastic/nylon any day, IMO.
 
#9
Clinks said:
Does anyone know where I can buy a brass nut for my Squier P-Bass? A while back, I bought some DR DDT's (heavy) and I ended up grinding the **** outta my nut :crying:. All the other abrasive strings I bought after those didn't help any. I know brass is a soft metal, but metal beats plastic/nylon any day, IMO.
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Try looking on ebay.

If you're thinking you're going to find the mythical, "drop-in replacement nut", think again.
 
#13
darius8 said:
Well, OP did ask for "anything" besides actual nut files. It does work BTW. ;)
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No, it doesn't. Nut work is precision work. Feeler gauges, expensive ground files, and time consuming toil. A thousandth too much and it's time to start over. The hot knife solution is anything but precise. Best left for minute of barn door accuracy.
 
#14
202dy said:
No, it doesn't. Nut work is precision work. Feeler gauges, expensive ground files, and time consuming toil. A thousandth too much and it's time to start over. The hot knife solution is anything but precise. Best left for minute of barn door accuracy.
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If someone can't tell the difference, I suppose it's fine for them...
 
#16
Heres a way to monitor your progress on the cheap. With the bass strung up and tuned. Use a pen or thin marker and marker a line on the nut, directly under the string resting in the nut groove, on both sides of the nut. Now just shave off enough to where you removed the pen mark. This will incremently lower the groove by about 0.5 mm at a time.
Remember, this is on the cheap. But the best way to get it done is to take the bass to an expert if you want it done right the first time.
 
#19
*IF* a nut has to be slotted in an, "emergency", situation as described, drill bits & sandpaper will suffice.

This hot knife trick, is just plain stupid.
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Thank you.
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It also presupposes that the nut is being replaced by a cheap plastic nut--why even bother?

I've seen posts where people claim they've slotted nuts with a Dremel; I can't even address that.
 

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