great video - as always! i recommend to permanently check if the fretted AND open-string notes are both in tune - that's how i determine my slot heights...
This is a great series and some great info is found here. I personally have experience shimming floyd Rose nuts and they can be a serious pain in the ass. I recommend stew mac's shims...they custom make them for floyd rose nuts made out of brass. They come with three thicker shims and three thinner shims and I had the most success using these shims. You can make your own though....just find an old feeler gauge set you no longer want and use tin snips to cut them. You can even drill holes in them but this often causes the shim to bow so you have to be really careful.
3:22 somethings you don’t wanna learn the hard way!!! I raised my locking nut with few strips of aluminum tape with the paper backing still on. I do play 10-52 or 60 for drop tuning so I needed a bit more clearance for the string to vibrate around 👍🏽
hey Kris, thanks for this video. I have a question. when I follow the 1st fret action guidelines of Stewmac, they recommend .011" (0,28 mm) clearance between the unfretted high E and the 1st fret, and .014" (0,35 mm) between the B and the 1st fret, .016" on the G. However, I noticed that the clearance between string and 1st fret when fretted on the third is then much lower than the minimum 0,13 mm you recommend in the video.
Hi, I've just bought a HB SC500 and a HB35+ and at some point would like to replace the nut with either a bone or Teflon one. Do Thomann supply pre-cut ones for these guitars?
Nut files are pretty expensive, that's the main problem for me. I used a little sandpaper on a thinner string to make the low e string slot wider for a 56 gauge string once. It worked but I would not want to do it like that for all strings.
You're right, special tools are never cheap, especially quality tools. Good thing is, you buy quality nut files once and you can use them for many many years on as many guitars as you want. :) I'm happy your improvised filing method worked out for you. It sounds pretty risky though... :D Next time you could maybe visit a luthier /guitar tech, what do you think? //cheers, Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses The slot for the E string was already pretty close and it wasn't a super expensive guitar (Ltd ec-256) so it wasn't a problem but for more difficult adjustments I'd have taken it to a luthier. Maybe some day I'll buy nut files but at the moment I don't really need them and I already have most tools I need for regular maintenance :)
Thanks Chris ~ always learning with you. My strings don't move when I do the test yet the guitar never buzzes and I'm able to bend to 2 steps ~ its an SG special. is there anything I should be aware of
For shits & giggles I took every string on a MIM Strat down to 0.10mm & the low E is the only one clanging & buzzing. Raising that slot back up while watching this video. Thanks. BTW, lowering them did not help me play faster so I'll keep playing really loud. 😁
Kris thanks my semi acoustic must be "grabbing strings" it doesn't stay in tune and if you tune it and leave it the timing goes up not down Time to find my but files Great series
A slightly angled nut slot for the D and the G strings is ideal on guitars with 3L-3R headstocks. This way the break angle is lighter behind the nut. That's tricky though, because factory nuts are mostly filed parallel so you'd have to swap them and make a new one. If you have the tools, go for it. If not, it's gonna be expensive because you need quite some tools to make a new nut from the scratch. In that case it's better asking a guitar tech /luthier to do the job. //cheers, Kris
hey Kris, thanks a lot for this helpful Series. I bought a used Thunderbird. Ist had really thick strings on it and I think I have to work on the nut. Are the measures for Bass Nuts the same as for Guitar? Greets
Hey Ludger, bass strings need a little more space between the string and the top of the first fret (if you do the test I've shown in this video). Check out Episode 50 where I level the frets of my bass. After the leveling I check and file the nut, you can see it pretty good how much that space should be. Good luck! //Kris
Question when I buy a bridge for my Les Paul brass could you switch the saddles before they leave your shop because I’m having a hard time trying to take out the saddles and putting them back in pls help
Hi, this is a subject you should contact our customer service about. They can tell you what is possible and how to proceed with your order. You will find the email address on thomann.de Cheers //Kris
thanks, tuned my mustang whole step down tuning and the F (G in standard) string does not play in tune up on top, this looks like will basically do that job, I already adjusted everything else, now just need the files :( Really wanna learn to play machine gun :)
Hello Kris? Whats your opinion between genuine bone nut and graphtech tusq? Is it worth going for true bone? Another thing, is there any "easy" solution for nut slot, that is too deep? I have second hand guitar, that have good nut, but D string has just too deep slot and it drive me crazy, I just folded piece of paper there and it kinda work, until I do bend or vibrato and the tuning goes away. Yo, and great video of course ;)
Hey, I like both, but for different styles of guitars. Both will be perfect and will give you the same tuning stability and both are self lubricating. It's more about the feel and looks for me. I like bone on traditional style guitars and Graph Tech on more modern guitars. //cheers buddy, Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses thank you Kris ;) and any "easy fix" to nut, that is too deep? Or is the easiest thing to buy pre made Graphtech and drop it in?
@@stanislavmigra I guess by now you replaced the nut yourself? I saw at the stewmac video's that they use a nut repair paste for these things. For me it was cheaper to replace the entire nut, in my case for a real bone one and it did the trick. Tusq is also an option if you like a more crispy sound on your guitar. Mine is a ES-335 Guitar which i prefered to use bone nut instead.
@@ClaudioAraya I did it another way. I removed the nut, put bit of wood under and did all the slots bit deeper. I was thinking, that its waste to ditch perfectly functional nut with lots of material to work with
I recently bought sc1000 and the website says the nut is 43mm, I ordered a tusq nut of the same dimension and found it was big. I checked the nut width on my guitar and it’s 41.9-42mm I don’t know why this misinformation?
Hey Ariel, I measured 0.15mm on this bass, which has a pretty low action. As with all other measurements, you just need a little more space for the strings on basses. Not a lot more though. //cheers, Kris
Beware: One extra swipe with a nut file and you'll be replacing the nut. I found out the hard way with a brass nut on a bass. I barely scuffed it with the file and had to buy a new nut.
Remove the nut and sand from the bottom if wholesale lowering is required. If you screw up, you can then shim it if you go too low. On top, stroke/replace string/tune/measure, stroke/replace string/tune/measure. Slow going, but easier than swapping in a new nut because you ruined the old one.
I've been playing my guitars with a relative high action for the past 30 years. Now I'm experimenting with lower action, but I notice some string "slap" noises after lower the action, isn't fret buzz. Can you play a lower action guitar accoustic only (electric guitar)? Without an amp? I just need to hear this to know if what I'm experiencing is normal. Kris, amazing content! You guys at Thomman make my quarantine days a little better! By the way, I really like the pedalboard's brand / genre chanlenge videos. Also a fan, and subscriber, of your channel.
Thanks so much! :) If the string slaps against the frets due to the lower action you could try a thicker string gauge. Fun fact: 10 gauge strings with a high action feel like 11 gauge strings with a way lower action. And what's the benefit of that? Thicker strings tend to move around less and vibrate less wildly, because they are stiffer than thinner strings when tuned to the same pitch. Simple but important advice: always test if you have annoying noises with new strings. After a few weeks strings start to vibrate with a bigger amplitude because of wearing out. More amplitude - more noises and fret buzz too. //cheers, Kris
Hey Patrick, if the nut is too low, you have to try to fill it up or even swap it. I will make a video on how to do that in this series. Stay tuned! :) //cheers, Kris
Hey, it should be, yes. My recommended order of setting up a guitar / bass is: 1. neck relief 2. nut 3. bridge setup. If you look at our Gutiar Tech Tips playlist, you'll find these three videos in the right order. Cheers! //Kris
It's pretty much the same thing on steel string acoustics too. Just leave a bit more space between the string and the first fret, especially if you tend to pick / strum the strings hard. The string gauge and material (bronze vs nickel) doesn't change anything. It's all about the playing style that matters. Cheers //Kris
Hey, it's a bit of both. These guitars are our "video studio guitars". We play them, we love them and we always have them in the main studio. Due to the lockdown I couldn't get other guitars for these episodes, so I went with these babies. :) But yes, it's also important to know, that most brand-new guitar can be tweaked a little. Well maybe not hand-made custom shop guitars... Those should come with an exceptional factory setup. ;) //cheers, Kris
Hi, I’m getting a lot of sitar buzz on my low E string on the locking nut. I’ve never done any repairs of this kind before , is there a simple fix or do I have to take my guitar to the shop. Thank you in advance.
So bad that manufacturers leave nuts high to avoid the cost of labour setting up an instrument properly. This is done to cut costs on fretwork. If they set it up high, it negates the fret job. How are you suppose to test and check a guitar in the shop if it needs setting up first
Very good presentation by Thomann, so why did my SC550ii PAF arrive 5 weeks ago with every string at the nut so badly set that every note at the first fret was so sharp the guitar is unplayable. Not everyone has specialist nut slotting files!!! When I contacted Thomann they simply said return the guitar which I do not want to do for a problem that when I find a local luther I can get fixed. The quality control at Thomann is very poor.("THOMANN QUALITY SERVICE-checked by 2562"), whoever this quality controller is he needs a lesson from you. My guitar remains unplayable!! Kind regards, John Renshaw, Spain.
Hey John, I'm sorry to hear that. Occasionally you'll find poor setups on all kinds of guitars in every price range, not only on Harley Bentons. It shouldn't happen, clearly, but thanks to the crazy demand and the speed everything has to happen in order to get the instruments to the customers, it's sometimes inevitable. That's why it's important to have a customer friendly customer service that offers to fix / replace the faulty guitar if there's an issue. That's why they offered you to send the guitar back for the setup. I highly recommend getting a fret-end file and nut files because in the long term you save a lot of money and frustration with maintaining and setting up your guitars. Take care! //Kris
Too bad there is no tips on actually widening the nut slot for thicker strings...say 12-56 on a 25.5" fender scale for drop b.. or maybe some alternatives such as jewel files, lighter tip files (I believe thats what theyre called) not everyone can blow $80.00+ on nut files.
@@everready19373 I wound up just getting a new nut and sanding off the bottom of the nut to get it down to where it needed to be rather than file out each slot. New nut costed $11. Nut file set is $300.
Not a big fame of the nut shape in this video. The resting bed isn't long enough. Due to the shape of the nut, the slot will wear out faster and runs a greater risk of binding (this can cause tuning and string bending problems, even act as a wedge to split vintage or older bone.) The back angle should be taken from the tuning machine, not the head stock angle. Lots of in the ball park info though. Entertaining 😄
Hey, from the next episode you will see more basses, we made sure of that. You do exactly the same thing on a bass as what I showed here on a guitar. You just need nut files for basses. I put those on the gear list too in the description box. //cheers, Kris
Hi, Thomann is a retailer, not a guitar manufacturer or a distribution. Guitar brands do their own QC or they let their distribution companies take care of that before they ship their products to Thomann. The only exceptions here are Harley Benton, Chapman Guitars, Solar and very few other brands that get QC'd here at Thomann. Those will get checked here since in those cases Thomann is the distribution too, not only the retailer. A nut with a factory setup is not a fault, it's just a generic setup. Those who don't like super low string action will have an awesome experience already. Those who want to lower the action can visit a guitar tech and "personalise" that setup or watch Guitar Tech Tips and take care of that fine-tuning themselves. :) Cheers //Kris
Hey, this is a little more complicated actually. First of all it's a matter of taste. Guitar companies will not file the nut to the lowest possible height because if the new owner of the guitar wants the strings a little higher it's too late. Having to swap the nut right after buying a new guitar would be a way bigger issue and is unacceptable. And second of all you barely have to improve the factory nut setup on expensive guitars that get QC'd by actual guitar techs / luthiers. This nut improvement subject is mostly a relevant when we're talking about factory produced guitars. Cheers //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses I don't agree with you. You're a store with products to sell. So you'll make people believe they need to buy all kinds of after market nonsense. You guys should just offer your customers a free guitar set-up with each purchase, that'd be more honorable of ya & it'd permanently solve this problem too. Also, I've purchased Gibson USA & Gibson Custom Shop models which required a professional setup. Even Jackson USA models too. No, there's no excuse for it. All guitars are expensive. A so called cheap guitar for 300 bucks is a lot of money to spend in this post lockdown world for many many people.
@loki-thegodofmischief3288 I agree they are probably just afraid of the strings buzzing and ensuring that they don't. when I see all these videos comparing guitars and talking about how the action is good on this one and not on that one. I laugh becausethe same exact model guitar can have 13 different actions at 13 different f****** stores. Lmao. That was the case with my Martin guitar.
