Newbie DIY'er At It Again!!,,, Nuts

[zozoe]

Howdo all~ On to my experimental, dispendable nut,,, typically, when fretting the 3rd frets, how much space should there be between the 1st fret & the string above it?
Never too old to learn!! Thnx

p.s.
I've been duly corrected, & dispendable must be some combo of expendable & dispendable,,, but no luthier tips offered on the 'other' chat room,,,, lordy lord ॐ

[jeremy]

enough that the strings dont buzz but they play in tune

[Adieu]

Measure it on a guitar with a good setup

[ICTGoober]

It depends on several things, but in general - about .005 on the plain strings and .010 on the wound.... No hard and fast rules, you understand?

[Aceman]

OK - I have never heard this "fret the third fret" and then measure the string to the 1st fret deal...

Shouldn't the question be: How far should the string be to the first fret when fretting nothing?
- As in "Is the nut too high/low?"

[ICTGoober]

I check string height at the first and last fret because most guys play the whole thing.

[zozoe]

THNX all,, BUT the million dollare question is HOW to do the cut, on a slight downward angle, w/the lower side being towards the neck??

[larryguitar]

Typically, you want just enough space (when fretting the third fret) that you can strike the string downward above the first fret, and hear the slightest 'ping.' That lets you know it wasn't resting on the fret, and moved enough to strike it.

As ICTGoober noted, it also varies from plain to wound strings; I tend to leave a bit more on the low E and A, because I sometimes pretend I can play stuff like "Hot Rod Lincoln", and I'm a ham-fist.

Larry

[ehdwuld]

if anything you want the nut slot to slightly fall off to the headstock
think of a very slight ramp down

if this is reversed then the string will rest at the back of the slot and buzz on the front

if you make it perfectly flat(level) then it will have a slight buzz when played hard

Ace

this it the common way of checking nut height (fret on third fret, check clearance on first fret)

you can also measure the height of the first fret
add up some metal shims + .005-.010 of that measurement then lay those at the front of the nut, on the fretboard and file down to them
the metal will let you know when you've gone far enough

[ICTGoober]

THNX all,, BUT the million dollare question is HOW to do the cut, on a slight downward angle, w/the lower side being towards the neck??

OH. I have a large selection of razor files in 5 widths, a set of nut files, and a set of needle files. It depends on the material I'm cutting and what's needed for each specific guitar. Short, small strokes get the job done - measuring often.

[Mincer]

I've always measured on the best-playing guitar I have, and try to mimic the cut of the nut and height of the fret. I've also gone slightly less than a .009 string, and that seems to work, too.

[zozoe]

All you kind folks are the best!! & Mincer, you rock!!
thanx