Most new guitars arrive from the factory with the nut just hardly playable. Older guitars might have the nut filed or worn down so much that fret buzz cannot be eliminated by neck or string height adjustment. If you have a new guitar, or you are replacing the nut with a new one, here is another technique to file and adjust the nut material to make your guitar play just like the professionals guitars play.
Prior to adjusting anything, make certain your guitar is strung up properly and that your neck is straight and not bowed or warped. If your neck is bowed, you initially need to adjust the truss rod. If your neck is warped, it will require a much more extensive repair. For the lowest possible action or to avoid fret buzz all across your finger board, it may be necessary to have your frets leveled and crowned very first.
You will need a set of nut files (readily available from Stewart MacDonald), along with a good set of feeler gauges as well. Various grades of sandpaper are very useful too.
Fret each string individually, beginning with the High E, between the second and third fret, make use of your feeler gauge to check the quantity of space between the bottom of the string and the first fret. You should have approximately .005" of space between each one, with the string hardly touching the second fret. If this measurement is close or dead on, then move on to the next string right up to the Low E string. You may wish to record the gap on a scrap piece of paper as you move across the fret board, to see the nut slot's height with regards to the fret board as you do so.
For most players, a string height (also known in guitar slang as "action") of 3/64" of an inch is regarded as normal. Some players choose a higher sting height for example 4/64" of an inch although players which tend to have a light touch and would like the fastest action possible make an effort to lower the action as close as possible to 2/64" which in many case's is extremely hard to setup and maintain without fret buzzing somewhere on the finger board.
Of course, you can use the traditional method to set your string height in relation to the nut, by using multiple feeler gauges below the nut, and filing down to the factory depth and width. Nevertheless, I've found this technique to provide a better and much more consistent feel whilst playing near the nut.
Prior to adjusting anything, make certain your guitar is strung up properly and that your neck is straight and not bowed or warped. If your neck is bowed, you initially need to adjust the truss rod. If your neck is warped, it will require a much more extensive repair. For the lowest possible action or to avoid fret buzz all across your finger board, it may be necessary to have your frets leveled and crowned very first.
You will need a set of nut files (readily available from Stewart MacDonald), along with a good set of feeler gauges as well. Various grades of sandpaper are very useful too.
Fret each string individually, beginning with the High E, between the second and third fret, make use of your feeler gauge to check the quantity of space between the bottom of the string and the first fret. You should have approximately .005" of space between each one, with the string hardly touching the second fret. If this measurement is close or dead on, then move on to the next string right up to the Low E string. You may wish to record the gap on a scrap piece of paper as you move across the fret board, to see the nut slot's height with regards to the fret board as you do so.
For most players, a string height (also known in guitar slang as "action") of 3/64" of an inch is regarded as normal. Some players choose a higher sting height for example 4/64" of an inch although players which tend to have a light touch and would like the fastest action possible make an effort to lower the action as close as possible to 2/64" which in many case's is extremely hard to setup and maintain without fret buzzing somewhere on the finger board.
Of course, you can use the traditional method to set your string height in relation to the nut, by using multiple feeler gauges below the nut, and filing down to the factory depth and width. Nevertheless, I've found this technique to provide a better and much more consistent feel whilst playing near the nut.
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