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Shining Nut

G

Growly Lytes

Dec 4, 2009
1,358
13
Downunder Oz
Disclosures
Bass player
#1
Wowza,
I did some nut work the other day with some Oxy cleaner needle files & i am surprised in that it came out very good.
Now.... The height of nut has obviously been lowered & the string is sitting roughly a little over half way in. So i want to now shave off some of the top of the nut to expose the string just a little bit to have the string half in & half out .The shaving is not the problem its after` how do i get it to be nice & shiny like it was before ??I dont have a buffer or a machine to do it so can it be done by hand ?
Im thinking of leaving the nut on while i do this, will this be a problem.I did the slots with it on so i cant see why i should have to take it off but thats why im asking.
Thanks Guys.....Keep Rockin
G.L:bassist:
 
#3
it's not really that important that the top of the nut be halfway up the string. all that matters are the slots' heights and shapes.
 
#5
LINE6.... Its a Fender P-Lyte, i think though i might be wrong thats its graphite ?
Anyway Walterw says its not that important to have the string half in & out.
Its just a tiny bit more than half so i may leave it for now. the slots are nearly perfect & the string height now is near perfect too.Theres no rattling or buzzing in open notes & the action is great now.The sound is better but maybe thats just me being happy with this job but it tunes easily no sharps now.
JohnK said to use those things that ladies use to file there nails for poishing the tops of the nut so im going that route.
God when you think of the nut on a bass & how small it is but how important it is` it sorta makes it bigger than it is !!
Thanks everybody so far.
Keep Rockin Brothers.
G.L
 
#8
To shine just about anything, you just have to keep smoothing it out.

With a graphite nut, you could get the height close to where you want it, then use finer and finer grades of sandpaper until it gets close to shiny. If you wanted, you could wet sand it then use a polish on it. Eventually, it will shine.


Or if you are a hack like me, go to CVS, get some clear nail polish, mask off the areas near the nut, apply a few coats and see what happens. You could use an emory board to smooth it as you re-apply. Also, in the "Nail Care" aisle of CVS.
It's cheap, easy, fast, and would bring shine to any material that a nut would be made of.
 
#9
rojo412 said:
To shine just about anything, you just have to keep smoothing it out.

With a graphite nut, you could get the height close to where you want it, then use finer and finer grades of sandpaper until it gets close to shiny. If you wanted, you could wet sand it then use a polish on it. Eventually, it will shine.


Or if you are a hack like me, go to CVS, get some clear nail polish, mask off the areas near the nut, apply a few coats and see what happens. You could use an emory board to smooth it as you re-apply. Also, in the "Nail Care" aisle of CVS.
It's cheap, easy, fast, and would bring shine to any material that a nut would be made of.
Click to expand...
Thanks dude `see` i quess again it does matter !!
Hey Rojo do you know Tim T-Bone from Cinncinatti ? A session bass player Fender Lyte lover & a mate of mine that i havent yet met.He restores P-Lytes to even better than new ??
Back to the NUTS` well i have read that the ideal height of the string should be half in & half out right here on TB. And this is from very well respected guitar & nut makers.I will not need to file much at all so its not a big job.Though im pleased that filing the nut down for the string height has made a big change for better, i dont know why i didnt do it before. Actually i was to scared of stuffing the guitar up but if you take your time & be patient you can get results good ones too.I was going to pay a luthier to do it `Lucky i didnt its easy, just read up on how its done & ask questions before.Also you dont really need to pay for expensive files ($50-$100) & straight edges or even feelers.I saw how to do this on YT with a piece of computer paper & some Oxy needle file cleaners for about $10:bassist:
I absoutly love TB.But theres always an ***** one in the pub:hiding:
So im going to have shiny Nuts again.:hyper:
Keep Rockin.
G.L
 

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