Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

jalguitarman

jalguitarman

Junior Member
Hello all.

I just had a lot of work done on my PRS SE Bernie Marsden. I am talking top notch replacement parts. Emerson Custom electronics, Gibson Deluxe Vintage tuners, new high quality switch, Bare Knuckle "The Mule" pick ups, and a bone nut to replace the plastic one. I even had the a selector rig put on that give it a Les Paul vibe. The only thing still stock left on it are the frets, the jack and the bridge, and the bridge is soon to be replaced, with a Schroder stop tail fully intonatable bridge. I have had a lot of buzzing on the low E since I brought it home last week. I didn't notice it when I played it at Guitar Center where I had it worked on probably because the amp was full on gain. I have only heard the low E through distortion for the most part as most of my clean playing is higher voiced chords with a lot of Delay.

The Tech at GC had the pick up ring pointing the wrong direction which I noticed a day later. I rehearse my parts for church unplugged on my guitars as I hate dragging my amp around and for consideration of my upstairs neighbor, so this low E buzzing drives me nuts!! The Night before last I decided to flip the pick up ring myself and of course I had to pull the pick up and flip it since it was installed backwards in the ring. So i tried adjusting the bridge height, and the truss rod but I can't stop the Low E from buzzing. It is buzzing bad enough that it keeps the fretted notes (on the low E) from sustaining as long as they could. It didn't buzz before I had this work done.

In my efforts to try to fix this problem, I also noticed a gap between the new nut and the fretboard. Is this normal to see after a nut has been replaced or am I correct in thinking this was the symptoms of a poor job on the replacement nut? Also worth noting: The new nut will pop over ever so slightly if you push on it. I didn't think the nut was supposed to move from side to side. What do you all think here? Should the nut really be this way?
 

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Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

Your "luthier" has a serious lack of skills. Go back and ask for a refund, then ask around for a guy with a good reputation.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

Specifically, no the nut should not move around when you push it, and there shouldn't be a gap. Given the pics, I'd be deeply suspicious of the GC "Tech" having the ability to cleanly cut string slots. Refund and take it to someone who knows what they're doing.


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Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

You were rightfully expecting reasonably decent results from the "tech", but you DID take it to Guitar Center so you have to take a little of the blame for the bad result. At least now you know better.

Is the buzzing only on open "E" or does it buzz at other frets as well? If it's only on open "E" then the nut was slotted too deep. If it's only on the lower half of the fretboard, the rod may need slight loosening. If it's all the way up the fretboard (or nearly so), then the bridge is set too low on that side. It may also be a combination of those problems.

No the nut should not move. But that's a good thing at this point considering it isn't tight against the fretboard...it can easily be positioned correctly. It should have a spot of glue under it to, then, keep it from moving.

The pup mounting ring being backwards is an easy mistake to make (for a 4 year old).

Looks like your GC "tech" really knows his stuff, huh?
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

Let's put it this way.... if the tech was any good at all, would he be working at the ****tiest music store in town?
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

When you take it back, and you should take it back ... ask the "tech" if that would have been acceptable to him on his own guitar. Better yet, I'd just skip the "tech" and go straight to the store manager. That "tech" wouldn't get a second chance on one of my cheap imports.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

Yup, refund time!

Go buy the right size TUSQ nut, grab some sandpaper and go nuts (pun fully intended) until you have the right height. It will be 1000x better than this.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

GuitarDoc said:
You were rightfully expecting reasonably decent results from the "tech", but you DID take it to Guitar Center so you have to take a little of the blame for the bad result. At least now you know better.

Is the buzzing only on open "E" or does it buzz at other frets as well? If it's only on open "E" then the nut was slotted too deep. If it's only on the lower half of the fretboard, the rod may need slight loosening. If it's all the way up the fretboard (or nearly so), then the bridge is set too low on that side. It may also be a combination of those problems.

No the nut should not move. But that's a good thing at this point considering it isn't tight against the fretboard...it can easily be positioned correctly. It should have a spot of glue under it to, then, keep it from moving.

The pup mounting ring being backwards is an easy mistake to make (for a 4 year old).

Looks like your GC "tech" really knows his stuff, huh?
Click to expand...
In my defense the guy has done ok with other small jobs but I would have thought he would have done better. I thought of taking it back to let him fix it but I would be afraid of it being messed up worse. Anyone can have an off day but there seems to be too much off at once. He said he was swamped with work. He said that because he forgot to call me to let me know he was done with my guitar.

As for the buzzing, it is mostly the low E. The A buzzes slightly but not like the Low E. So I am thinking it's an issue with the nut. I had 10'a on it but had him set it up with 9.5's. But that should not cause the massive buzzing on the Low E.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

I am going to take it to a guy in St.Louis who knows his stuff. He is expensive and I live about 25 miles farther from St. Louis than I used to but this guy is the best in the area. I guess maybe I should have went there or J. Gravity to begin with. I honestly thought that with the stuff this guy has done right that he would do a good job. I suspect that what may have happened was that guy at GC rushed through it. But how do I know? I would like to offer the guy a chance to make it right but I am not sure if it was a rush job or lack of skills, and I am not willing to take the risk with this guitar. I would think that GC would hire competent techs knowing that that if the tech services they offer are sub-standard, that it could hurt them severely. But who knows ?
 
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Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

I would think that GC would hire Compatent techs knowing that that if the tech services they offer are sub-standard, that it could hurt them severely. But who knows ?
Click to expand...

Did you read my post above? I KNOW!
GC (aka Ninth Circle of Hell Music) only cares about one thing - the sale!
They don't give a crap about service after the sale.
Don't be naive.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

ICTGoober said:
Did you read my post above? I KNOW!
GC (aka Ninth Circle of Hell Music) only cares about one thing - the sale!
They don't give a crap about service after the sale.
Don't be naive.
Click to expand...
I did read your post and I understand. I guess I expect people do business the old fashioned way. I am guessing you have had some bad experiences with GC?
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

I played a strat I bought in a small store in st. Louis in the late nineties for years
Great place Though a bit small

Hole in the corner of a strip mall

May have been just outside in St Charles

Can't remember the name of the store
It was on the case. Dang it
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

I am guessing you have had some bad experiences with GC?
Click to expand...

I haven't had any bad experiences because I've been doing repairs for big music stores over 39 years, but the dork at the local one is providing me lots of work - fixing the stuff he butched up. So feel sorry for the poor saps who think he's great because it's GC.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

I had one experience with guitar center techs. A few years ago I ordered a used evh special. It was nice ivory color made in Japan and the neck had some flame on it. But when you moved the guitar you could hear something making noise in the neck. I took it straight in their tech said it was fine I told him I didn't think so that it sounded like the truss rod was broke. He argued with me and my wife for half an hour.
Finally the manager came out told him to take the neck off and show me it was fine. As soon as the neck was off the whole truss rod fell out the end. He called fender their response was the truss rod was broke lol. So he proceeds to try to get a new neck under warranty for a used guitar. The fender guy said no and hung up on him. Now they are not allowed to work on fender stuff there.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

jalguitarman said:
I am going to take it to a guy in St.Louis who knows his stuff. He is expensive and I live about 25 miles farther from St. Louis than I used to but this guy is the best in the area. I guess maybe I should have went there or J. Gravity to begin with. I honestly thought that with the stuff this guy has done right that he would do a good job. I suspect that what may have happened was that guy at GC rushed through it. But how do I know? I would like to offer the guy a chance to make it right but I am not sure if it was a rush job or lack of skills, and I am not willing to take the risk with this guitar. I would think that GC would hire competent techs knowing that that if the tech services they offer are sub-standard, that it could hurt them severely. But who knows ?
Click to expand...

"Rushing through it" is no excuse for poor quality. Lack of skill, lack of pride in your work, lack of caring for the customer, lack of ethics ...IS.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

The important part here is to get a refund. Go straight to the manager. No guitar nut should move, and no nut should be spaced away from the fingerboard like that. The fact that he also installed one pickup ring backwards is just another sign that this was not good work done well. If the manager will only refund for the nut and nut install, that's okay.
Then take it to someone who knows what they are doing. 25 years ago I had a bone nut made by Virgil Lay (of Lay's Music, in Akron, OH - they were right down the road from me then and they were open late!). It took him about 10 minutes total. It's been on the guitar ever since with no problems at all. No buzzing, no tuning issues, and NO moving around.

Since then I have made two or three nuts myself. None of them look quite as neat as Virgil's, but they all also stay in tune and stay put on the guitar. The person who did your work either really just doesn't know what they are doing or they really did rush through the job. Either way, it is not right.

BTW, I assume you are having tuning/intonation problems? Moving the nut away from the fingerboard like that increases the distance to the frets, which should make it impossible to get the guitar in tune correctly? I assume he forgot to glue it down at all, which means it will probably just fall off when you take off the strings.
 
Re: Nut replacement issue. (Pics)

Someone I know told me about the guy who did the work and apparently he is just not qualified to be a guitar tech even though he went to school for it. I seen pics of an SG fretboard where he was trying to polish the frets and somehow burnt up the inlays. The guy is nice as can be but he is quite obviously not qualified.
 
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