nut slotting trick

[oldwave maker]

Learned this from Bryan Kimsey who got it from Dude- a reworked dental tool to move mandostring out of slot to file it lower. I've wasted a million hours with the ol' pegwinder....doh!

[sunburst]

I'll try to get a picture, I have a typewriter (remember those?) repair tool that I use to lift strings during set up.

[MikeEdgerton]

Or you could buy this string lifter (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for:_Nuts_and_saddles/String_Lifter.html) from Stewmac.

[sunburst]

The Stewmac tool works on the wrong side of the nut. Although it is softer material than metal, anything much harder than a finger risks bending or kinking the string slightly, and the string is then no longer true and intonation can suffer. I like to be able to lift the strings behind the nut so any kinks are not in the vibrating portion of the string.

[Mario Proulx]

I've been using the StewMac lifter thing since the day it first appeared in their catalog. simple, cheap, and works great, plus it works by leverage, so it's easy on your hand/wrist. I've never had it put a kink in a string.

[bryce]

I put a small handle on a banjo tension hook. Had to thin the hook itself a little. David

[Rolfe]

As the "inventor" of the string lifter thing, it should work fine on both sides of the nut. The original design was a one-piece hook made out of a scrap of graphite-epoxy truss bar. It must have been cheaper and easier to make it StewMac's way. They have been confused about one thing: it was not intended to lever the string up; that may leave a mark on the fingerboard. It is intended to aid in lifting the string. I've been using the original and then the StewMac version for decades without damage to strings or my fingernails.

[MikeB]

These comments about leverage and leaving marks on the fingerboard suggest you use this tool with the string under full tension. Is that right? Doesn't seem like that much trouble to loosen the string...but then, you guys are pros and probably do it much more often than the rest of us....is that it?

[thistle3585]

I don't use it under full tension, but enough tension that I can't get my fingers under the string to pull them up. The other benefit, in my opinion, is you are less likely to chip the corner of the string slot because the string comes straight up and out instead of at an angle.

[sunburst]

Mike, yes I slot nuts with the strings under full tension. Loosening and re-tightening the string as many times as it takes to get the nut slot right involves a lot of time (see Bill's comment about wasted hours with the ol' peg winder) and often results in broken strings. If the string is not at full tension there's a chance that the height will be slightly higher at the first fret. (Strings bend over the nut, so they are slightly elevated from dead straight where they leave the leading edge of the nut. The amount of tension may affect how much elevation there is.)
In short, it is a serious time saver and string saver to be able to lift a string out of the nut slot, file the slot a little, put the string back in the slot, check the height again, repeat as necessary to get the string height exactly right.

One can simply lift the string in the middle with a couple of fingers, slide the fingers up toward the nut and lift the string out of the slot, but many of us prefer a tool for lifting the strings. It's easier on the fingers.

[Rolfe]

Hey, John, actually the bad part of doing the slots with the strings not at full tension is that the nut slots will usually be too low, not too high, when you later bring the strings up to tension. Lowering the tension makes the string bend higher as they leave the nut creating more distance between the string and the frets, and that makes you think you need to cut the slot deeper. If you do cut them deeper, you enter disasterville and have to fill and refile the slots or, better, make a new nut. Anyway, I use feeler gauges with the strings at full tension to check for the correct height over the first fret.

[sunburst]

Rolfe, I thought that was what I said...I think...

[DougC]

I'm not sure I should start a new thread, but are Jazz Mando J11 strings a bit thinner than average? They seem to sit low in the nut slots of my Collings MT. If I do consider making a new nut, what kind of glue, if any is usually used in fitting a nut? Is it easy to remove the nut?

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm not sure I should start a new thread, but are Jazz Mando J11 strings a bit thinner than average? They seem to sit low in the nut slots of my Collings MT. If I do consider making a new nut, what kind of glue, if any is usually used in fitting a nut? Is it easy to remove the nut?

Take a look at this (http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Setup/NewNut/newnut1.html) article on Frank Ford's www.frets.com.

[sunburst]

I think I've removed a couple of Collings nuts and I don't remember any problem with them. If there had been a problem I'd probably remember it.
But you don't need to replace the nut as long as the string height above the frets is good. The strings riding low in the slots is not a problem. The nut can be surfaced down until the slots are not so deep, or frankly, there's no problem with leaving them as they are.

[DougC]

I really was not thinking of changing the nut. But I did want to know how it is done. The strings, esp. the A and E strings are very close to the fingerboard fret. I wonder if the neck has moved because of less tension from the strings? I noticed more 'rattle' of the strings hitting frets when I changed the strings. I raised the bridge and thought there was little difference. I lowered the bridge. Another thing happened, there seems to be a lot of overtones from other strings the whole time. Could it be the particular set of strings? I'm gonna change to GHS silk & bronze tomorrow.

[Rolfe]

Rolfe, I thought that was what I said...I think...

Yeah, you probably did, and I misread. This business about filing nuts makes me nuts anyway.