Tom Wright
Jan-29-2011, 9:25pm
I invested in a set of nut-slotting files from StewMac and a few blanks, and generated a good nut for my Ryder, (after a few tries). Issues that have annoyed me for years are history. Among them are uneven spacing and intonation difficulties.
Especially the latter is very satisfying. I found it really hard to find a bridge adjustment that satisfied both upper and lower frets, ended up adding compensation at the nut, even to adding a full zero fret. Mostly it seemed that the first couple of frets played sharp, making agreement between octaves and fourths impossible.
I had already found some slight improvement after noticing the G string sitting high, and lowering it. But I could not even get a perfectly-tuned interval between open A and E to stay in tune on the first fret, without dramatic leaning onto the E and away from the A. It was that when both are a little high off the first fret, I squeeze harder and the A goes more sharp than the E, since it is lower tension.
So getting all the strings just barely high enough, with clearance (~.010") just a notch higher than from one fret to the next, allows me to tune without harsh tempering of fifths. My octaves are good, and I can zero in on good tuning instantly by ear, without lots of trial and error to find a tempering scheme that works.
I used Micarta, and have no complaints about tone. And I did not have to make repeated trips to a shop to get it just right. The total cost was about $100 including needle files I got for more general use, and I can now customize and replace nuts for my Weber and my expected Buchanan 10-string, and can replace a worn out nut on my Ryder in the future, or when I replace the frets and have to either shim up or make a new nut.
It's all about patience, so as to not go too far in shaping or slotting, wasting a blank. I'm tempted to ask Buchanan to glue the nut on my 10-string very slightly, so I can tinker after it arrives. My electric was already kind of beat up, and I had less compunction about risking its finish. As it turned out, the nut popped out easily but there are those that don't.
Especially the latter is very satisfying. I found it really hard to find a bridge adjustment that satisfied both upper and lower frets, ended up adding compensation at the nut, even to adding a full zero fret. Mostly it seemed that the first couple of frets played sharp, making agreement between octaves and fourths impossible.
I had already found some slight improvement after noticing the G string sitting high, and lowering it. But I could not even get a perfectly-tuned interval between open A and E to stay in tune on the first fret, without dramatic leaning onto the E and away from the A. It was that when both are a little high off the first fret, I squeeze harder and the A goes more sharp than the E, since it is lower tension.
So getting all the strings just barely high enough, with clearance (~.010") just a notch higher than from one fret to the next, allows me to tune without harsh tempering of fifths. My octaves are good, and I can zero in on good tuning instantly by ear, without lots of trial and error to find a tempering scheme that works.
I used Micarta, and have no complaints about tone. And I did not have to make repeated trips to a shop to get it just right. The total cost was about $100 including needle files I got for more general use, and I can now customize and replace nuts for my Weber and my expected Buchanan 10-string, and can replace a worn out nut on my Ryder in the future, or when I replace the frets and have to either shim up or make a new nut.
It's all about patience, so as to not go too far in shaping or slotting, wasting a blank. I'm tempted to ask Buchanan to glue the nut on my 10-string very slightly, so I can tinker after it arrives. My electric was already kind of beat up, and I had less compunction about risking its finish. As it turned out, the nut popped out easily but there are those that don't.