Modifying a nut to fit fatter strings

[Fade]

The stock nut on my PRS won't fit the strings I want to be running, so I figure I'll give the required modification a go myself. After all, the worst case scenario is that I mess it up and have to take it in to have it professionally done, which is the other possibility anyway, so why not take the opportunity to learn how to do it myself. I am curious about the best way to go about it to avoid deepening the groove and keeping everything lined up correctly. Anyone have any advise?

[Zaphod B]

Originally Posted by Fade

Anyone have any advise?

Yes, plenty, but nothing to do with your nut.

Carry on, Muttley or Light will be along shortly.

[muttley600]

What gauge strings are you going from and what do you want on instead? Your main problem is that to do a good job you need the right tools for this one and the most important would be nut files of the right gauge. You can fudge it with other stuff but it won't be ideal. Let us know what gauge your talking about first. I have gone over this in the past so maybe do a search..

[Fade]

Originally Posted by muttley600

What gauge strings are you going from and what do you want on instead? Your main problem is that to do a good job you need the right tools for this one and the most important would be nut files of the right gauge. You can fudge it with other stuff but it won't be ideal. Let us know what gauge your talking about first. I have gone over this in the past so maybe do a search..

I believe that PRS's ship with 46-09's on them. I currently have a set of 48-10 on it and the strings are super tight in the nut (creating much tuning havoc). I would like to go to significantly fatter, but I am not 100% sure where I will end up. I like my strings to feel fairly tight, but the highest my band ever really tunes is C. More often we are in B. So I'm thinking I will end up at 54-11 or 56-12 or something like that. I'll check the search too to see if I can find anything. Cheers.

[muttley600]

You'll definitely want to make a decision about the gauge before you do any work on the nut. From the sound of it your going quite heavy 12-53 is a standard light set for acoustic. Your likely to need some work done on the neck relief and setup for intonation as well so factor that in.

Your real problem is that once you have decided on your gauge a decent tech will be able to adapt the nut fairly easily and quickly. If you mess it up he or she has to cut a new one which is a fair bit more expensive. Your call..

I'm all in favour of people learning this stuff and I'm happy to advise but if this is your main axe consider carefully before you start out. It's unlikely you'll cause any major damage to the guitar but you could end up spending more than you bargained for if you mess it up. My advice as always. Practice on junkers first untill you are confident.

Good luck

[ermghoti]

In addition, if this is a one-shot deal, a set of real fret files will cost as much as having a tech do it properly.

[Roguetitan]

Originally Posted by Fade

The stock nut on my PRS won't fit the strings I want to be running, so I figure I'll give the required modification a go myself. After all, the worst case scenario is that I mess it up and have to take it in to have it professionally done, which is the other possibility anyway, so why not take the opportunity to learn how to do it myself. I am curious about the best way to go about it to avoid deepening the groove and keeping everything lined up correctly. Anyone have any advise?

just make sure you have the right sized nut files and you should do fine
Just make sure not to take too much material off of the seat of the groove.

[Roguetitan]

Originally Posted by ermghoti

In addition, if this is a one-shot deal, a set of real fret files will cost as much as having a tech do it properly.

Er.. Um... You mean Nut files?

I know what you mean But ya you can get a good set from Warmoth for 70 bucks Or a better set from Luthiers Mercantile for 90 bucks.
Or you can buy from stewmac for about the same price as LM.

but you are right either way it will cost about the same to have it done as it would to buy a set of files.