Trem-Nut replacement

[crzystng]

Ya, well I was changing the strings out on my Jackson dinky and the low E string snapped the corner off the nut. I have been working with wood for a few years now and feel pretty comfortable replacing it, :smash: but am a little concerned as to what kind of glue(s) to use. Would a general 5 minute epoxy do the trick or is something more exotic used to keep them in place? BTW I did take it in and have the work appraised, my luthier said he could replace it for $150, I said I can buy another guitar for that. THX

Sorry for the double post, just thought it would get more attention here.

[zhyla]

You don't glue nuts on. The factory does it so it doesn't get lost in the store. Strings keep nuts in place. Do NOT glue it with anything strong because when it needs to be removed it just makes it more likely the wood/finish will get damaged.

[purple_hazer]

at the most use a little bit of elmers white glue diluted in a bit of water

[Patrick O)))]

Your luthier sounds like he could be a prick.

You can get a nut blank for about $10 tops and a string-space rule for even less. If you've worked with wood before it shouldn't be a problem to make a new one. Or you should be able to get a replacement part fairly easily.

Either way, nowhere NEAR $150. I'm commencing my build now I have all the parts, and the only parts that even approached that price was the hardware. Not even a 1-piece solid mahogany slab cost that much

Are you sure he didn't think you wanted a complete setup?

[zhyla]

Also the Graphtec guys sell nuts for a lot of common guitars, pre-slotted and all. All you gotta do is drop it on there and maybe sand the bottom down (or shim it up w/ paper strips) until the string height is right. This is the kinda stuff you want to be able to do on your own.

[Son of Magni]

It's perfectly normal to glue the nut in place. But white glue is usually frowned upon for instruments. Titebond original is the defacto standard for solid body guitar and bass work.

[crzystng]

I went ahead and ordered the graph tech trem nut and t arrived today. I am however a little disappointed in the overall quality of it. There is a load of flash on every corner and straight edge possible and there is a section of it where it looks like it was on a plastic tree and then twisted off leaving a chunk to be taken care of. Just more work and a reason to bitch I guess lol.
O, also the instructions actually state to use a drop of white glue, specifically "Elmer's". :rolleyes: I think I have some carpenters glue in the shop somewhere, I'll just use a dab of that instead.

One quick ? though, the "paper shims" you refer to, is that just like a piece of index card or poster board cut to length?? THX
How about using some plastic styrene instead? IDK if it would any tonal differences or not?

Here you can see the chunk that HAS to be filed before anything.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v159/crzystng/P1010527.jpg

[crzystng]

Would the styrene plastic be acceptable for shims, glued to the bottom of the nut with CA and then carpenters glue to the neck? THX

[bigtimerockboy]

don't use styrene imho.

if you can get away with it don't use anything. the nut is one of the contact points for the strings and you don't want to damp them if possible. the more solid the contact with the headstock the better.

as for gluing it's a standard to use 'superglue' in australia..the original stuff not the cheap rubbish. leave the nut for at least 12 hours. once you set it in place resist the temptation to fiddle with it (the nut you rude person........the nut on the GUITAR you even ruder person :lol: )

i have a friend who's girl'friend' launched his japanese epiphone sheraton at him from a 2nd floor balcony and snapped the headstock clean off the neck (threw a drum kit at him another time.... i was too chicken to suggest to her a career in furniture removals even though she'd break less stuff than the ones you pay for down here heheeheh).

he stuck the head back on with superglue and the guitar's been fine ever since (i'd like to urge my friend to take up writing or collecting stuffed toys...he'll live longer)

hope that's been of help.
p.s. i reconstructed an old guitar i'd mangled and thrown away by using superglue.
a standard hondo acoustic with a new bridge and saddle i glued down with superglue about a year ago.... still going strong.

[crzystng]

I ended up having to use a single piece of .25MM styrene plastic to raise the nut high enough so it would not come in contact with any of the frets. I glued and clamped the styrene to the bottom of the nut with a thick, high quality, super glue to try and make it more a solid part of the nut than a floppy unsecured shim of sorts.

As far as being able to get away without using any glue to hold the nut in place on the neck, ya, right. It would have worked if I wanted to use my playing hand to hold it in place from sliding from the string tension. So, I used a liberal amount of carpenters glue and two small C clamps I found in the wood shop, that I saved for something? (I know what it was now lol) I used some of those circular rubber based adhesive pads that go on the bottom of kitchen chairs, on the ends of the clamps so it would put even pressure on the sides/top/bottom yet not leave any indentations anywhere on the neck/nut. I am amazed just how well that actually worked out. I can’t tell any difference in sound compared to the stock nut, so I assume the styrene made a solid enough bond.

After thinking about it now I am glad that I didn't use super glue to attach the nut to the neck because one, the wood, would have been soaking the SG deep into the neck and two, if it ever has to come off again (god forbid) I am not sure how hard that would be.

After reading your story I think your friend should find a less "aggressive" partner. I mean throwing a tantrum is one thing but literally throwing objects, and those of great value, are quite another.

[zhyla]

As far as being able to get away without using any glue to hold the nut in place on the neck, ya, right.

Glad it worked out for you but I don't get your skepticism. It's very common to shim with veneer or paper and not glue anything. I've shipped several guitars this way. The string tension is far stronger than any glue bond.

[crzystng]

Glad it worked out for you but I don't get your skepticism. It's very common to shim with veneer or paper and not glue anything. I've shipped several guitars this way. The string tension is far stronger than any glue bond.

If you look close enough at the nut/neck section of the jackson guitars, you can see how there is only one string that is on a vertical axis with the strings. All of the remaining 5 strings want to pull the nut to one side. I am sure on a more standard neck system that isn't the case, but with these styles of Jacksons it is.

Here is one larger pic I found quickly on Google that shows how the strings are directed. Just take the nut lock out and replace it with a standard nut.

went looking for a bit smaller one showing the same thing, ahh fwak it find your own lol. It doesn't work on a Jackson like that, and if it does, it didn't on mine :P

[Son of Magni]

Glad it worked out for you but I don't get your skepticism. It's very common to shim with veneer or paper and not glue anything. I've shipped several guitars this way. The string tension is far stronger than any glue bond.

I for one have never had a bass where the nut falls off on the floor when I remove the strings. Do you feel there's some particular advantage to having the nut loose?

Oh and TS, could you enlarge that pic a little, I can't quite see enough detail.