adjusting the nut

M

mikey@thecave

New member
I think we have allready talked about this.But if i lower the strings a tad in the nut by making the grooves deeper will it effect the intonation
 
mikey@thecave said:
I think we have allready talked about this.But if i lower the strings a tad in the nut by making the grooves deeper will it effect the intonation
Click to expand...

No, but be really careful. A tiny change in the depth of the nut slots can make a big change in the action on the first fret and if you go too far, open strings will buzz and rattle.
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb here (knowing that Muttley and Light are lurking, ready to smite) and say that, no, it won't, because you are neither changing the string length between the nut and the bridge by deepening the slots, nor are you inducing enough change in string angle to change the string length (OK, technically you are but it's so small that you won't need to adjust the intonation. Probably. :D)
 
Why do you want to lower the nut slots? If your close to a good setup then you need to be careful you don't introduce some buzzing on open strings. If you have a bad setup you have intonation problems already.. Which is it? Need input..,
 
its a Jay Turser Resonator electric with a acoustic type bridge.
I would like to lower the action in the guitar .I feel it could go down a bit even in the open chod position
 
mikey@thecave said:
its a Jay Turser Resonator electric with a acoustic type bridge.
I would like to lower the action in the guitar .I feel it could go down a bit even in the open chod position
Click to expand...

:confused:
why would you want to lower the action on an instrument that is played with a slide?
 
mikey@thecave said:
But if i lower the strings a tad in the nut by making the grooves deeper will it effect the intonation
Click to expand...



Yes it can, though mostly just in the first couple of positions, and ONLY if the slots are already too high. But you need to be extremely careful, because (as Muttley said) if you go to low (and we're talking a difference of about .001") the open strings will start buzzing like a mofo, and then you need to either shim up the nut or make a new one. Either way, it's a pain in the behind.

If you are having intonation problems higher up on the fingerboard, the nut is not the issue. it's right further up the neck, but not in the first two or three positions, then it might be a nut issue. But seriously, don't go messing with the nut randomly, as it is really easy to fuck up (I still go to far from time to time, if I let my mind slip for a moment - and I've probably done thousands of them).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
By the way, the reason the height of the nut slots effects intonation is because, that close to the nut, when you push down on the string, if the nut slots are too high, you are stretching the string more than if it was set right, and it can cause problems up to the third or fourth fret. Not everyone can hear it (hell, some people have never noticed that their `70's Martin's are can't play in tune), but many can (I sure can). It drives me nuts when they are wrong, because I play chords all over the neck, and if I get the open chords in tune, the higher position chords are fucked up.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top