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I need a new nut

HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
edited October 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
My SG needs a new nut...everytime I bend on the D string, even if its a minor bend it snaps off the nut...

Is putting a new nut on something I can do or no?
2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
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Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    not without files etc. to get it done right, best just to let a pro do it. maybe it doesn't need replacement.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    let a pro do it, and check out Earvana nuts.

    And Big Bends Nut Sauce.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
    There's another indent right on the indent the D string is supposed to lay, and it's not deep, so it always rests on that and it just flings off...

    How much do you think this will cost me? 50$?
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
  • ianvomsaalianvomsaal Posts: 1,224
    If you're seriously thinking about getting a new nut anyway, I'd suggest maybe slotting the nut a bit deeper on your SG - it might work for you. I'd say don't go very much deeper than you already have, but a touch deeper might be just enough to work - Cheers . . .

    - Ian C.T. vom Saal
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  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
    ianvomsaal wrote:
    If you're seriously thinking about getting a new nut anyway, I'd suggest maybe slotting the nut on your SG a bit deeper - it might work for you. I'd say don't go very much deeper than you already have, but a touch deeper might be just enough to work - Cheers . . .

    - Ian C.T. vom Saal

    It doesn't matter, there's another groove next to it that it just falls on
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
  • KELLYS LEASHKELLYS LEASH Posts: 184
    I let my mate borrow my Bass so she could take it to practice for a few months she brought it back with the top nut cracked... with no apology... :(
    29/05/00 -Wembley
    20/04/06 - The Astoria alley crew + got to shake Ed's hand
    25/04/06 -Jools Show + got Mike's autograph
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    27/08/06- 07/09/06- 09/09/06-13/09/06-17/09/06-13/06/07-18/06/07
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  • Rhinocerous SurpriseRhinocerous Surprise Posts: 4,423
    Call me immature, deride me all you want....


    ...But I read the thread title and laughed my ass off:D

    Okay, continue on with your mature, intelligent conversation. I'll keep quiet in the corner...
    Smokey Robinson constantly looks like he's trying to act natural after being accused of farting.
  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    Call Lance Armstrong.....he knows where to get new ones.
  • likepilateihaveadoglikepilateihaveadog Posts: 1,083
    my buddy had a strat with essentially the same problem...
    they said $80 for a new blank nut, files, labor, installation...

    so, in that ballpark.
    Teamwork. Rawk. Pwnage. Infinite Possibilities. YIELD. Hells yeah.
  • JofZJofZ Posts: 1,276
    Don't attempt this one on your own. You'll regret it, trust me!
    With that being said, a nut replacement is common and should be an easy job for any qualified/reputable shop. The material to replace the stock nut with is just as confusing. You can use bone, corian, graphite or brass. Any shop that installs a brass nut should be closed down :)
    Go with bone, and you'll spend $100 including a new set-up.
    Your guitar will play better then it ever did!
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  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
    shit i dont have that type of cash...guess im keeping my strat for a while so i can play
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    HailHailVitalogy wrote:
    shit i dont have that type of cash...guess im keeping my strat for a while so i can play

    Well, all of the above answers are true.

    It sounds like you DO need a new nut. It's a tough job for a beginner, because it's precise to cut the slots in the new nut.

    There IS however a possiblity here!

    It sounds like you have a chipped edge on the edge of the d string slot. A quick and dirty way to get through the show, so to speak, is this:

    Ok, get some masking tape, baking soda and super glue.
    Take the masking tape and tape off the wood on either side of the nut, and all around so what you are about to do next doesn't leak all over and make you very mad at me! :D

    Mark the exact center of the nut slot with a pencil, below the slot and on the tape on the fretboard next to the nut for future reference.

    Take the tape and make a little dam right at the d string nut slot so there are little tiny walls like a mold, and keep the top of the tape even with the top of the nut.

    In the little reservoir you just made,,,, put some baking soda and pack it lightly into the slot and the chipped part, to even with the top of the nut.

    Take the super glue and soak the baking soda with it.
    That will harden up really fast and make a new surface that you can use to make a new slot

    You can file a new slot if you have a tiny file,,, or at least get it started. Use the pencil line where the old slot was to start the new one.

    Peel off the tape

    If you don't have a file, but have a lot of time,,,, use a D string and just work it back and forth like a saw and create a new slot. The string will cut the right size slot if you keep it in line with the neck.
    Whatever you do, you keep the file or string parallel to the headstock for the proper pitch of the slot.

    File it until it's about as deep as the A string.

    There you go, new slot!

    Maybe, but if it doesn't work, you haven't really done damage to your guitar,,,,,

    AS LONG AS YOU DIDN"T DUMP SUPER GLUE ALL OVER!!!! :D

    You can get a preshaped bone nut from Stewart McDonald that gets you close, but you still have to reshape it and cut the slots and that's a challenge. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/White_Bone_Nuts.html #6011 or 6012
    I do it in a half hour or so, but I've done hundreds of them. It's a job you would want to try on a beater guitar first!

    Like they said up there, it'll probably be $50 - 100 bucks. Probably nearer $100 out on the island.
    Ask a shop what they would charge for a bone nut, or micarta or corian on an SG and they would know, because that's a common repair job.

    I've done that baking soda trick quite a few times. That also works where you need to fill a screw hole right next to where you want to drill another. Pack it with baking soda and drip a litte super glue in there. :cool:
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,135
    Wow, that was pretty amazing

    I actually had the idea of doing something like that, now I know WHAT to do and HOW to do it :D

    Thanks man! I'm going to try it when I have some time this week, what do I have to lose? It could be a temporary fix for a month or 2....but I have to save up $6 for new guitar strings to do it...haha...
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore
  • comical_imbalancecomical_imbalance Posts: 42
    who's pearljam comes through with the goods...
    again!

    this guy is a champion, seriously.
  • ianvomsaalianvomsaal Posts: 1,224
    Most guitar stores carry pre-slotted replacement nuts for Fender's and Gibson's that aren't very inexpensive.
    Why not just get a pre-slotted nut and put it on the guitar yourself, it's not difficult (you can even temporarily put it on without glue, string up your guitar to see if it works, then just loosen your strings, take it off, then put a little bit of glue on the bottom to keep it in place and reset it).

    I mean both TUSQ and Graph Tech even make slotted nuts with 1-11/16", 1-3/8", 1-13/32" string spread (you can almost always find slotted nuts for Fender's and Gibson's), and none of them should cost you more than $10-bucks (and that's expensive when most of them sell for under $6.50).

    Dude just do some looking - even if you find it online and have to pay for shipping (what would that cost, the price of a stamp - a guitar nut doesn't weigh anything) - Cheers . . .

    - Ian C.T. vom Saal
    ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
    <b><font color="red">CONTACT ME HERE</font>: www.myspace.com/ianvomsaal</b>
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  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Haha,, that's too simple! :D I forgot about them.

    I'm about to make an order to Stew Mac for a bunch of stuff, as I suddenly have a pile of guitars to work on.

    These are the Graph Tech.
    http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/Graph_Tech_Nuts.html

    The risk with getting these is that if it's cut too deep then it won't work. depending on what strings you use, you may need to file the slot to fit. If you're using 9's sometimes they buzz. These are great for tremolos as are the Tusq. I like the Tusq better for non trems, but for major string bending, which I seem to do anymore.

    http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/Tusq_Nuts.html

    I don't see the slotted one for Gibson, though. I never bought a slotted one of these. I always just file them.

    If you want me to get you one,,, I can throw it in this shipment and then mail it up to ya for cost + 39 cents. The envelope is free today and today only!
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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