Members slapthefunkyfour Posted October 30, 2007 Members Share Posted October 30, 2007 I'm gonna file the nut on my bass, and I went to www.stewmac.com to look for fret files, but they didn't have any in the string guage I use. Are you supposed to use the same guage file as the strings you use? Are you supposed to go a bit bigger? Where should I look for nut files?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 30, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 30, 2007 You want to use the size of the gauge string you will be using or slightly oversized. One of the first nuts I cut I used a 0.090 for A string and then strung it up with a 0.080 string. Buzz city. One way of ways to deal with this is to be very careful when using slightly oversized files not to widen the slots any further than the minimum and then to use the next lowest size file to do the very bottom of the slot. You create a tapered effect that will hold the string snugly in place. However, this makes it slightly trickier to get the string height positioned exactly where you'd like it (I typically shoot for 0.010" above the 1st fret). Another technique is to use a slightly undersized file and rock it side to side as you file to slightly enlarge the slot. All of this is fairly imprecise. Nut making is an art, as a result it can be a pain in the ass. There are lots of easy ways to get a nut that "works." It is special when you get the perfect nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slapthefunkyfour Posted October 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2007 You want to use the size of the gauge string you will be using or slightly oversized. One of the first nuts I cut I used a 0.090 for A string and then strung it up with a 0.080 string. Buzz city. One way of ways to deal with this is to be very careful when using slightly oversized files not to widen the slots any further than the minimum and then to use the next lowest size file to do the very bottom of the slot. You create a tapered effect that will hold the string snugly in place. However, this makes it slightly trickier to get the string height positioned exactly where you'd like it (I typically shoot for 0.010" above the 1st fret). Another technique is to use a slightly undersized file and rock it side to side as you file to slightly enlarge the slot. All of this is fairly imprecise. Nut making is an art, as a result it can be a pain in the ass. There are lots of easy ways to get a nut that "works." It is special when you get the perfect nut. Wow, thanks. I guess I'm gonna have to save for a while to get me a whole set of files. I thought I could get away with just buying 4. Now it seems that I will need at least 8 different ones. Well, maybe not, stewmac has the double sided ones. I'll get a few cheap plastic nuts to practice on first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 30, 2007 Moderators Share Posted October 30, 2007 Wow, thanks. I guess I'm gonna have to save for a while to get me a whole set of files. I thought I could get away with just buying 4. Now it seems that I will need at least 8 different ones. Well, maybe not, stewmac has the double sided ones. I'll get a few cheap plastic nuts to practice on first. I use the double sided Stew Mac ones and also have a few singles from these. files They used to sell a 0.130 that was really useful for low B strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dDigitalPimp Posted October 30, 2007 Members Share Posted October 30, 2007 It is special when you get the perfect nut. thats what she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slapthefunkyfour Posted October 30, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2007 thats what she said.Whoooeeee!!!That never gets old.:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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