Members Still.ill Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 for the average guitar techi live in ny though so i might consider taking it to norio imai but i heard he's expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MojoFilter Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 for the average guitar techi live in ny though so i might consider taking it to norio imai but i heard he's expensive It varies. I feel that around $60 is reasonable, and can be more or less depending on the type of guitar and the amount of labor it takes to do it cleanly. I'm referring to a hand-cut bone nut, not a pre-slotted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 My guy charges me $50 for hand cut bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 That seems high to me considering it costs about $3-10.00 for the part. Should be about $30.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 I would think that it depends on the type of guitar. A Fender is really easy where as a Gibson has always required a hell of a lot more work on my part to do. I spoke to a local tech a few years ago about doing a bone nut for me and he said that he used to charge $50 and that it wasn't worth it to him so he stopped doing them. If you've ever done one yourself you can see where the time adds up really quickly. Of course if you are a professional you are going to be faster and have all the right tools on hand, but it's still a lot more involved to do correctly than the final little product would indicate. Someone offers me $30 and I better be frickin' starving and homeless because I wouldn't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hecticone Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 Around here its like a bill. Doesn't matter how much the nut is most shops have a minimum one hour of labor the good shops are getting 75+ an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j*h Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 just had a new bone nut on my gibson lp, also had a fret level and crown and a complete set up.cost me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members webwarmiller Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 It's all labor costs. Fender bone nut blanks are 2 for $6 and that's retail. The amount of time to do a professional job is more than most people probably realize. I'm no pro, but build/setup guitars all the time. I cut a Corian nut just this morning, from a home depot sample ;-), and it takes a good bit of time to cut one 100% from scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted March 26, 2011 Members Share Posted March 26, 2011 That seems high to me considering it costs about $3-10.00 for the part. Should be about $30.00 It's like the mechanic that charges $100 to tighten a nut. $5 for turning the nut and $95 for knowing which one to tighten. $75 to $|100 for a professional made nut for a guitar? Yeah, I'd pay it. It's absolutely the first and most important step to get a guitar playing like it should and how you prefer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metalrulez Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Bill for services rendered. Turning a screw...................1.00knowing what screw to turn 99.00---------------------------------Total 100.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr. Scottie C Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Do you mean a vasectomy? or do you want all new nuts, like sack and all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 $30 for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gas Hed Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 It's like the mechanic that charges $100 to tighten a nut. $5 for turning the nut and $95 for knowing which one to tighten.$75 to $|100 for a professional made nut for a guitar? Yeah, I'd pay it. It's absolutely the first and most important step to get a guitar playing like it should and how you prefer it. Right on - nuts are under rated. I know there's a bad joke waiting on that one, but seriously they are. And I'm not so much talking about the bone tone topic, it's about playability and intonation. It's funny how you stumble on to things sometimes. I never knew how important cutting a nut "lower" is to playability and action. By strange chance, I had one put in right once and the rest is history (every guitar I buy gets a new nut cut pretty low). I just don't understand why manufacturers cut them to 0.030" or higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Right on - nuts are under rated. I know there's a bad joke waiting on that one, but seriously they are. And I'm not so much talking about the bone tone topic, it's about playability and intonation. It's funny how you stumble on to things sometimes. I never knew how important cutting a nut "lower" is to playability and action. By strange chance, I had one put in right once and the rest is history (every guitar I buy gets a new nut cut pretty low). I just don't understand why manufacturers cut them to 0.030" or higher. I think they send out their guitars "in the general ballpark", so that each guitarist can fine tune it to his individual preference. Not just inexpensive guitars either, the expensive ones as well. Every guitar needs a good set up to reach it's full potential. Some are pretty close right out of the box but most require a good tweak. I see a lot of guys gushing over guitars that have never been fine tuned and I can't help feel they're missing out on just how great those guitars can actually be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Special J Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Yup $60-100 around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 I think they send out their guitars "in the general ballpark", so that each guitarist can fine tune it to his individual preference. Not just inexpensive guitars either, the expensive ones as well. Every guitar needs a good set up to reach it's full potential. Some are pretty close right out of the box but most require a good tweak. I see a lot of guys gushing over guitars that have never been fine tuned and I can't help feel they're missing out on just how great those guitars can actually be. Agree, I think that it's easier for them to just send them out knowing that it won't buzz from being cut too low and if the buyer wants to dial it in than it's on them to do it. It's a lot easier to remove material than it is to add it. I look at it as a starting point and a failsafe type deal. Nothing sucks more than blowing a slot on a nut though. And for everyone talking about how simple it is, it's not rocket science but it can be time consuming when you start working with something like bone because it is a hard material, needs to be polished and it's a matter of measure 50 times and cut once, test fit and repeat 20 more times. If you're using plastic or something similar that's something different; they're cheap (not that bone is expensive), but they can definitely be cut a lot quicker and most times the blanks fit the slot in the neck from the get go. You're looking at probably about 2 hours to do a bone nut properly and that comes up to about $25/hr for a $50 nut job. $25/hr isn't that much today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DFB Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 I think I paid $25 installed for a bone nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeBoy Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Anything that $100 dollars are less that is done well is worth it. If you go by the value of the guitar you may not like the price. In my experience, I am better off letting a pro do it. I got no patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrbirdman Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 Anything that $100 dollars are less that is done well is worth it. If you go by the value of the guitar you may not like the price. In my experience, I am better off letting a pro do it. I got no patience. Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 50 bucks is cheap in my opinion. This is hand work we are talking about. People have to make a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Becker Guitars Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 $75-100 seems about average probably, considering the amount of time it takes and the fact that a new nut should come with setup as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted March 27, 2011 Members Share Posted March 27, 2011 I think nut material is overrated. Fender cyclovak or whatever they use is fine with me. That being said If i get a new nuts I will get bone just for S&Gs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted March 28, 2011 Members Share Posted March 28, 2011 To install a pre-slotted nut, $15 plus the cost of the nut. To install it and properly slot it correctly for the guitar... I'd think $50 plus the cost of the nut would be just about the minimum for someone that is a full-time tech. To install a bone nut from a blank and properly slot it... probably upwards of $100. It's not easy... go too far and you *should* use a new nut, not shim the one that was messed up... that means to go the 'easy does it' route which means more labor. Having said that, I've installed pre-slotted nuts on about 6 guitars and used non-guitar specific files and have had very decent results. Even at that, I wouldn't do one for $30 for a someone that wasn't a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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