The old 'sticky nut' problem...

[gubu]

You know when your strings keep catching at the nut slots, usually right at the point of being perfectly tuned? Or they'll catch when tuning and then slip again when you're playing?

 

Craig mentioned a lube you can buy in a recent HC newsletter but here is my little solution to the problem:-

 

Get a thin-nibbed propelling pencil and rub the nib into the nut slots. Start with the widest slots first and by the time you get to the thinner slots, the nib will be thin enough to get into those ones too. Do it nice and gentle so as not to break the nib off in a slot. And clean off the excess as you go.

 

Pencil graphite is a great dry lubricant. No more 'sticky nut'! I've been doing it every string change on a guitar that had a particularly troublesome nut and it works like a charm.

 

[Grant Harding]

Tried and true! Brian Setzer is just one that I've read has been doing that forever. I prefer guitar grease from Stewmac, but just because it's not as messy.

[gitnoob]

I've tried the graphite trick in the past, but I prefer to simply widen the slot if it's binding. You can use a wound string with the appropriate gauge as a nut slot file.

[Freeman Keller]

I'm with 'noob. I use the next larger nut file for the gauge of string and the file is slightly vee'd. If I only have the file in that size I rock it slightly or sometimes put some 800 grit wet and dry paper around the file and take a couple of passes. Round the break side so it goes directly towards the tuner post and polish the nut when you are done. Don't need no stinkin' lube

[gubu]

Well, I didn't want to screw with the fine setup of my luthier by going too deep/wide with a file, and the sticky nut is solved!

[baldbloke]

 

Well, I didn't want to screw with the fine setup of my luthier by going too deep/wide with a file, and the sticky nut is solved!

 

 

+1.

A bit of graphite can't cause any harm. It's practically fail safe. But a file in the wrong hands (my hands:facepalm:) could possibly cause a problem greater than the original. I've only had to use graphite once for a sticky b string but I knew I couldn't knacker the setup on my precious git.

[lz4005]

Pencil leads have clay and other abrasives added in. Get a tube of pure graphite powder at the hardware store or locksmith. Works twice as good as pencil lead and after you lube the nut of every guitar you own you can squirt the rest into all your door locks and case latches and they'll work like they're brand new.

[guitarcapo]

Another trick is to just take a slightly rusty string of a slightly higher guage and run it back and forth, taut, into the slot. It will create a prefectly smooth round slot that will not catch. Pretty simple to do between string changes. Try it.

[recordingtrack1]

I use powdered graphite mixed with a little bit of machine oil until it makes a kind of paste. I do it on all my guitars. Some people will tell you a properly cut nut doesn't need it. That's cool. When you play a lot of live gigs, it's best to not take a chance on picking up a guitar to suddenly find it out of tune. Also, it helps reduce breakage.

[DeepEnd]

I used to use what appears to be powdered Teflon, purchased from a local hardware store (white in color, billed as a "modern high tech lubricant," no indication what it's made of). However, I've found that 80/20 strings don't have that problem nearly to the extent that phosphor bronze strings do. I can't explain it and neither can anyone I've asked but it works.