Paper Shim

[Strado Len]

Question for luthiers/repairmen:

I just had a partial refret done on my handmade F mandolin, and the repairman used sandpaper to shim the pearl nut. Doesn't the use of this material affect the sound of the nut? Should I have a new nut made?

Thanks.

[Scotti Adams]

..thats the silliest thing Ive ever heard.....I would be taken your axe back to that repairman...thats not good business....Iwouldnt accept that and yes...definently..it will effect the sound..

[sunburst]

A new nut would be good, but a shim can probably be acceptable. Sandpaper wouldn't be my choice for shim material tho. Something hard would be much better asthetically, and would probably sound better.
If you get a new nut that's not pearl, you might want to save the old one for when the frets are milled later end it's tall enough again.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I agree with sunburst that a shim can be acceptable and could even be preferred on an instrument such as a Loar where preserving the original nut comes into play. But, I can't even imagine using sandpaper. I've used about everything for quick fixes, but none have been anything less than hardwood, or brass or stainless steel shim stock

[Scotti Adams]

..by all means shimming is okay...but sand paper?....thats the point I was trying to make.

[Michael H Geimer]

I've had my nut shimmed, and it was a great decision. Afterwards, most all of the relief was taken out of the neck. I've ended up with a low, consistent action that plays almost like an electric.

Of course, I could probably get a little more volume by raising it all up a tad, but I'm getting plenty of tone as is.

But yeah .. sandpaper?

- Benig

I just hope I don't bust a nut ! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[arrowmandolin]

I use bone that is the cutoff waste from oversized blanks.
Superglued on to the bottom of the existing nut,then reshaped quickly with a file, it's hard to even see the seam. I assume that pearl would work the same, but the glue joint would be more apparent.

Yahoo for superglues.

[Luthier Vandross]

Shims for mandolins are commonly made of paper, if they are very thin. Once glue is flowed onto the substrate, it's as hard as a rock, or at least harder than the wood underneath it.

If it looks like it needs more than a tiny bit, I also glue on bone, and reshape. Paper is 'ok', not like .060 thick though.. ;) glue, glue...

I need to get some web space to run a series of pictures of how I put Wayne Fanning's F-5 neck back together. hehe.


M