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nut filing question
- Thread starter bassdog
- Start date
Turnaround
Commercial User
OK, this has to be a joke. First a hot knife to melt grooves, and now a serrated paring knife.
As someone who makes nuts for all manner of stringed instruments almost daily 
, I should probably comment on this...
1. No such thing as a "drop in replacement". Period.
They always need fitting.
2. Plastic sucks. Bone is fantastic, brass is great but is time consuming, and ebony is nice and warm.
3. Proper tools are crucial. I tried years ago (when I first started working on instruments) to make a nut at home without a belt/disc sander, slot files or bastard files. It was rough, took forever and was unsatisfactory.
At the very least, you can modify exixting nuts if they are too low or are chewed up.
For plastic nuts, here is a trick I have used many times:
Apply superglue to the areas that you want filled, then put baking soda or cornstarch over the super glue. The more powder the better, as it is what is doing the filling. Then you can use the drill bit method mentioned previously.
, I should probably comment on this...1. No such thing as a "drop in replacement". Period.
They always need fitting.
2. Plastic sucks. Bone is fantastic, brass is great but is time consuming, and ebony is nice and warm.
3. Proper tools are crucial. I tried years ago (when I first started working on instruments) to make a nut at home without a belt/disc sander, slot files or bastard files. It was rough, took forever and was unsatisfactory.
At the very least, you can modify exixting nuts if they are too low or are chewed up.
For plastic nuts, here is a trick I have used many times:
Apply superglue to the areas that you want filled, then put baking soda or cornstarch over the super glue. The more powder the better, as it is what is doing the filling. Then you can use the drill bit method mentioned previously.
I was just suggesting stuff that was around house to shave down an existing nut groove. But what I use is a precision razor saw by Testor or by X-ACTO. It's really used for cutting wood and plastic for model rc planes and trains but it works great on plastic or bone nuts.
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. 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.
they have brass nuts for the pbass in stock:
Link Removed
