When my 3-year old granddaughter was last over, she knocked my self-built acoustic off its stand. I didn't notice at the time, but it chipped a smidge off the bass end of the bone nut. Now the bottom E doesn't sit right in the slot.
I tried a new nut, but it's too damn small - it doesn't go high enough over the fretboard, and all the strings rub on the first fret. So I put a shim under it, and now the back of the nut doesn't sit under the headstock veneer, and even when I glue it, it falls forward the moment I try to tighten the strings.
So I bought a new bone blank to shape, and it's too narrow for the slot, and even if I file it down to the right height/shape, it will leave a big gap between the back of the nut and the start of the headstock.
I have no bloody idea what to do next.
Is it possible to somehow use some shaving dust from the new bone blank to rebuild the bit that chipped off the old nut, the one that fitted perfectly? It would look odd, because the old nut is, indeed, old (9 years) and thus quite beige, whereas the new bone blank is white as paper, but frankly, I don't care now, because it's all I can think of to solve the problem, as no one seems to sell a nut as large as the one that chipped.
Any better ideas?
If you must have sex with a frog, wear a condom. If you want the frog to have fun, rib it.
Comments
Anything else is a bit of a bodge really, although various methods can be made to work.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Filling a Low Nut Slot with Baking Soda and Superglue — Haze Guitars
Generally, folks use it to raise a low slot, but I've used it in the past for exactly what you've described. It is pretty instant though (you drip the thin CA onto the pile of baking powder and it goes instantly rockhard - you can't mix it and apply it) and so you need to create a card channel to hold the powder in place on the nut for long enough to drip the CA onto it. Then you use a needle file or dremel to remove the excess.
But what size is the nut? I have a bone blank here 6mm x 10mm x 55mm I can pop in the post if it is a better size. It was a spare blank I got when I was building the Guitar Bouzouki and so have no planned use for it.
To use his terminology, the baking powder trick is the 'bit of a bodge' approach, and the me sending you the blank in the post may possibly be the 'you need a bone blank the right size' approach.
pm me if it is the right size
I could get a new one from Stewmac, but they're 30 quid by the time I add in postage and duty.
I'll keep looking.
The baking powder and CA glue trick will work well, it's better than the word bodge implies
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