Going nuts with nuts …

[John A.]

So, I had my D’Angelico EX-DC refretted around a year and half ago, and was mostly happy with the outcome. But there was one weird effect that I found a bit annoying - somehow the high E developed a tendency to slip off the side of the board. There was also a slightly metallic tone to the high E string that I couldn’t quite get rid of with action and relief adjustments.

I couldn’t figure out why. Its the same nut and bridge, and the frets look perfect. I got to the point of assuming it was something with my technique and the new fret geometry somehow not quite getting along. I finally decided to get to the bottom of it today.

I looked very closely at the nut and noticed that it’s actually very slightly proud of the neck on the treble side, and very slightly indented on the bass side. Aha! When the luthier did the refret, he must have taken the nut off, and then put it back slightly off center.

I took the nut off, scraped away some old glue, and refit it carefully with both sides flush (and much less glue). No more slipping, and the metallic tone is gone. It’s amazing how much difference this tiny adjustment made.

The top picture is before, bottom is after. The difference is actually more evident in person, but you can see it to a degree in the pictures.

[Gitterbug]

It's amazing how much difference a fraction of a millimeter can make. I have a G&L Legacy from Indonesia. Otherwise perfect, actually super, but too rounded fret ends. Needs a refret or at least recrowning. Fortunately, I only use it for cab testing.

[AllanAllen]

Funny, my GL Legacy had fret ends too proud and the high e would get caught on them. Had to file them down with the wife's nail file.

Of course it only happened when I was on stage and nervous, I play nice and soft at home.

[deacon Mark]

Having your nuts in place is of the utmost importance. Never overlook where and how your nuts sit in relation to all else.

Kidding aside John you discovered little things make a huge difference. When I make a new nut for a guitar it takes awhile. It is not complicated but requires full attention to get things centered.

[John A.]

Funny, my GL Legacy had fret ends too proud and the high e would get caught on them. Had to file them down with the wife's nail file.

Of course it only happened when I was on stage and nervous, I play nice and soft at home.

I've had that ("fret sprout" and/or sharp fret corners) with a couple of guitars. Learning to fix that was kind of my point of entry into doing some of my own fret work (leveling and crowning, but not refretting).

[John A.]

It's amazing how much difference a fraction of a millimeter can make. I have a G&L Legacy from Indonesia. Otherwise perfect, actually super, but too rounded fret ends. Needs a refret or at least recrowning. Fortunately, I only use it for cab testing.

I was afraid I might need to do something drastic like that in this case. Dodged that bullet.

[Dennis D]

My '50's L-7 - acoustic - had a 'head-scratcher' intermittent buzz...........It took a year for me to discover a hairline crack in the nut.......And I do mean hairline.....I'm pretty sure it was the original nut....I spotted it using a daylight reading lamp and even then the crack was barely visible and only at a certain angle...

Bottom line - nut replaced, no more buzz - intermittent or otherwise.....

Good luck !

[John A.]

It's amazing how much difference a fraction of a millimeter can make. I have a G&L Legacy from Indonesia. Otherwise perfect, actually super, but too rounded fret ends. Needs a refret or at least recrowning. Fortunately, I only use it for cab testing.

It's probably worth getting the frets leveled and crowned. Or maybe check the nut .

[Spook410]

I had an intonation issue I couldn't figure out. In the end there was a nut slot just a bit higher than the strings around it. You would think it would be noticed playing but not so much.

[deacon Mark]

On my my 1949 Dangelico NY it has a 1 5/8 inch width neck. I can negotiate it fine but a few years ago I got to thinking about making another nut but using the string spacing of a typical 1 11/16 nut. I looked at the width and took some measurements to see if I had any fudge factor that might allow this. I was pretty sure I could do it since I had done it on another guitar. So sure enough, I carved a new bone nut and wow.....the small difference made a huge difference. The guitar played even better and let me tell you it played great before and now it was absolutely perfect. Interesting note on this D'a, is that it has one of the earliest adjustable truss rods. I have owned the guitar for almost 39 years and have never touched the truss rod or made any adjustment to it. The action stays the same all the time uncanny as little difference do come and go with most guitars with season changes.

[John A.]

On my my 1949 Dangelico NY it has a 1 5/8 inch width neck. I can negotiate it fine but a few years ago I got to thinking about making another nut but using the string spacing of a typical 1 11/16 nut. I looked at the width and took some measurements to see if I had any fudge factor that might allow this. I was pretty sure I could do it since I had done it on another guitar. So sure enough, I carved a new bone nut and wow.....the small difference made a huge difference. The guitar played even better and let me tell you it played great before and now it was absolutely perfect.

Interesting that there was enough room for this. On some (e.g., maybe guitars with binding nibs or bevels on the fret that start further inboard?) maybe it wouldn't work? It seem like the tiniest difference, but it definitely feels a lot different (I had a guitar with a 1-5/8" nut, and I never understood why I found it relatively hard it to play until I measured the nut and realized it was narrower than my other guitars).

Interesting note on this D'a, is that it has one of the earliest adjustable truss rods. I have owned the guitar for almost 39 years and have never touched the truss rod or made any adjustment to it. The action stays the same all the time uncanny as little difference do come and go with most guitars with season changes.

So you're saying John D'Angelico made pretty good guitars? Amazing. I hadn't hear that before (my D'A is Korean semi-hollow, not the real thing, but it's pretty good, too.)