my nut fell off

[notbradsohner]

so really, did you come in here to make a joke or give me a hand

Right now im playing an epiphone special II. Not that great, but I really like it for right now. While changing the strings, the nut by the headstock came off. I have never had this guitar professionaly set up or anything, but im wondering if this needs to be handled by a professional. Can I just throw some Gorilla Glue under there and put a clamp on it overnight?

 

[Light]

NOT gorila glue. That stuff is bad stuff. It expands as it drys, and it is just a mess.


Two very small drops of cyanoacrylate (Superglue) on either end of the nut (the treble and bass sides), and then make sure to line up the nut correctly. Hold it down for all of about 20 seconds, (less, really, but just to be safe, you know?) and it should be fine. There should be no need to clamp it.


OR, you could just take it down to your local professional guitar repair shop, and get have them do it when they set it up. If that guitar has never had a good setup, there is about a 99.999999% chance that the nut (at least) is not right, which means it is harder to play than it has to be, and your intonation in the lower possitions is not what it should be.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Lambo]

Light has a way of making light (excuse the play on words) of just about every guitar repair but he can do that because he's a pro. Your best bet is to follow the OR part of his post. Take it to a pro and have them repair the nut while they set it up. I had my Epiphone Les Paul Custom set up by a pro and that is the best $35 I have ever spent! I thought it played well and sounded great before the set-up; my only regret is that I didn't have it done sooner.

 

[hungovermorning]

That whole proper intonation thing is entirely underrated. Get your main guitar set up twice a year and it'll be soooooooo much better. If you do go ahead and do the nut repair make absolute sure it dries for a very long time or it'll slide. Also, for the future, consider getting a bone nut. They rule.

 

[Crash ©]

Ok... I gotta ask.. Is there REALLY any reason the nut needs to be glued in place..?? If ya change the strings one at a time like you're supposed to the nut isn't gonna move on ya unless you hit it with something...

--
Rob

 

[Light]

Ok... I gotta ask.. Is there REALLY any reason the nut needs to be glued in place..?? If ya change the strings one at a time like you're supposed to the nut isn't gonna move on ya unless you hit it with something...

--
Rob

There is no need to remove the strings one at a time, but even if you do you still want the nut glued in place. It can move laterally pretty easily, and it can even rock back and forth. It is just better to have it glued down.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[jfrog]

There is no need to remove the strings one at a time,
Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

That's the answer to a question I was going to ask. I read somewhere recently that you're supposed to replace the strings one at a time....and I'd been doing it "wrong" all these years.

 

[notbradsohner]

Light, how much can I expect to pay for a set up? What do you charge?

 

[Crash ©]

For it is so written in the Bible of Washburn, Page 2, Section 1, Subsection 4:

Strings should be replaced one at a time to maintain equal bridge and neck tension at all times.

Read somewhere there's about 140lbs of tension on the neck of a guitar from the strings.. I'd guess there's about that much equal tension having to pull back the other way or else the strings would tear a guitar apart.. Just don't seem to healthy for be continually unbalancing that load, then putting it back and causing the neck to flex back and forth over and over..

Maybe I'm just being anal, but I don't think I'll be in err by being on the side of caution with this...

--
Rob

 

[Light]

For it is so written in the Bible of Washburn, Page 2, Section 1, Subsection 4:

Strings should be replaced one at a time to maintain equal bridge and neck tension at all times.

Read somewhere there's about 140lbs of tension on the neck of a guitar from the strings.. I'd guess there's about that much equal tension having to pull back the other way or else the strings would tear a guitar apart.. Just don't seem to healthy for be continually unbalancing that load, then putting it back and causing the neck to flex back and forth over and over..

Maybe I'm just being anal, but I don't think I'll be in err by being on the side of caution with this...

--
Rob

Yeah, it's not an issue in reality though. I've never seen a guitar damaged from having the strings OFF. I don't really know where that one started, but a lot of the manufacturers seem to have heard it. But in 35 years, we've never seen a guitar damaged by a LACK of string tension. We've seen literally THOUSANDS which were damaged BY string tension, but never the other way around. Now, changing strings one at a time will not cause any problems, but neither will changing them all at once. Besides, changing them one at a time doesn't allow you the opportunity to clean the fingerboard.

The only actual advantage I see to changing them one at a time is on TOM/Stop Tailpiece guitars or Arch top guitars. It keeps the bridge and tailpiece from falling off of the former, and it helps to maintain the intonation on the later. With the archtops, it is an actual issue, but with the TOM/Stop Tailpiece it is just a convenence thing. But on most guitars, it really doesn't matter much. It can be a little bit of a pain with a Floyd Rose, but even there it doesn't cause any setup issues, though it is MUCH easier to tune it if you never take all the tension off of it.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Clive Hugh]

I find replacing strings one at a time on strats is the way to go for retuning, it simply makes it quicker. Plus I tend to lose the bits I cut off so one step at a time is tidier for me too. And less chance of standing on a cut off string as I never wear shoes unless I have to.