Filing nut slots - cost effective tools for the job

YellowLedBetterMan

Need to lower the nut slots on one of my guitars as fretting the first and second frets of the low E string bends it out of tune. My brothers new guitar is having similar issues.

I've seen that proper nut files from StewMac and Hosco and the like are ridiculous expensive. Is there a cheaper way?

And if no, what do I go for? If I will have to drop £70+ on a set, what will work best and last longest.

FelineGuitars

The Hosco ones seem to be the best. 

If not going to use over and over then just visit a tech with tools and have them do it as it may work out cheaper.

YellowLedBetterMan

FelineGuitars said:

The Hosco ones seem to be the best. 

If not going to use over and over then just visit a tech with tools and have them do it as it may work out cheaper.

I may as well buy the tools. For the nearest tech to look at the two guitars I've mentioned, they'll want £25 per guitar. May as well learn how to do it myself.

EDIT - When you say the Hosco ones, do you mean the double edged ones or the gauged ones?

thermionic

I would say that £100 for a set of specialist tools that will allow to do a very useful yet specific job for many years to come is not expensive and in fact quite reasonable. It’s not like you’re buying a set of crappy screwdrivers from Lidl. I will probably invest in a Hosco set myself in the near future.

Devil#20

I've just been through this same thing. I took receipt of my Hosco set from G&W guitars and woods from Portugal on Saturday morning. These...

https://guitarsandwoods.com/Tool/Type-of-Tools/Files/Nut-Files?product_id=2802

With current exchange rates it comes to about £115 and there are 11 files. You can the same files here in the UK for about £135+ but they are only 10 files in all the one's I've seen. They are missing the .050 file. They are great quality and cut really cleanly and precisely. There are cheaper files out there I suppose but if you're going to do a job then do it properly. Cheap tools are false economy, especially if you're going to use them a few times. I've used G&W before and their tools are great quality. I ordered a few other things at the same time. I didn't get charged import duty on the order which was shipped by UPS. 

chickenbonejohn

I slot nuts pretty regularly (in the region of one guitar a week) and use a set of 10 Hosco gauged files. Trying to do it with needle files or burner tip cleaners is pretty hopeless compared with the proper tools.

roberty

£25 per guitar to get the nut sorted is reasonable and imo should be factored into the cost of any new guitar, as more often than not (nut?) they will need it or at least be improved by it

I've been tempted to learn how to do it myself but the tools, the time and the practice it would take make it borderline uneconomical for me

It's good to have a good relationship with a good local tech anyway. The guy who does mine is great, I've learnt a lot from him over the years just from him explaining what he's done and why

YellowLedBetterMan

Also worth mentioning, the only tech who is somewhat local is also pretty bad and I've had one too many negative experiences with him.

Hence why in recent weeks I've also asked about a simple soldering station and who else to go to for a refret.

I won't name and shame because I'm not that petty, and fwiw I think the rest of the staff at this establishment are fantastic. Just the one bloke who ruins it.

Anyway. Hosco double sided files then? £79 sound about right?

FelineGuitars

I meant and like the double sided ones with the slight V taper.

I never regret owning good tools - especially as I like tools and am in a position to give them a fair bit of use.

Its a bit like the expense of owning a car if you only ever use it to go to Tescos and back twice a month vs just getting a taxi when you need to make a journey

elstoof

Buy cheap buy twice

YellowLedBetterMan

FelineGuitars said:

I meant and like the double sided ones with the slight V taper.

I never regret owning good tools - especially as I like tools and am in a position to give them a fair bit of use.

Its a bit like the expense of owning a car if you only ever use it to go to Tescos and back twice a month vs just getting a taxi when you need to make a journey

The way I'm looking at it is I currently have 2 guitars which need it doing and another which would maybe benefit from it. A trip to the local dodgy tech is going to cost £75, and its a coinflip whether it will be better or worse than it is now.

Plus I can almost guarantee I will buy more guitars in the future. I mean, who can say with any semblance of certainty that they aren't going to buy more guitars - you'd just be lying to yourself.

In my eyes its a case of "teach a man to fish" or whatever. Getting the right tools and learning how to do it now will inevitably save me money in the long run.

tanihhiavlt

Last couple of guitars, I took to Feline. It ain't local, but the work is far better than mine...

I've made guitars, modded guitars, read Erlwine and Kamimoto - I understand not giving it to a naff tech but in time I've learned to accept I'm not much better than a naff tech

Unless it's electrics, I can solder well (and on things with f-holes)... I'm a southpaw and it foxes many (Jonathan and his team get lefty electrics)... but for nuts, bridges, intonation... figure out how many times you'll get it wrong before making do with the results

SteveRobinson

elstoof said:

Buy cheap buy twice

I buy the gauged files from Stewmac and I'm on my fourth set.

elstoof

Buy cheap buy 8 times

Devil#20

roberty said:

£25 per guitar to get the nut sorted is reasonable and imo should be factored into the cost of any new guitar, as more often than not (nut?) they will need it or at least be improved by it

I've been tempted to learn how to do it myself but the tools, the time and the practice it would take make it borderline uneconomical for me

It's good to have a good relationship with a good local tech anyway. The guy who does mine is great, I've learnt a lot from him over the years just from him explaining what he's done and why

I've only done the one guitar since I got my files and as long as you take your time and don't go at it like a bull in a china shop it's not at all difficult. After fret levelling, re-crowning and polishing the relatively cheap Tanglewood acoustic I have that had been buzzing in various places it became unplayable due to the high nut slots. Couldn't barre the first fret and fretting single strings was pulling it out of tune. It's great now and given me the confidence to tackle other guitars without worrying I'm going to bugger them up. Cutting the nut was the easiest bit of the setup. I followed the method suggested by @FelineGuitars in my thread on the subject. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/240817/nut-surgery#latest ;

Keefy

I bought a set of StewMac files some years ago and they have paid for themselves many times over. I first used them on a cheap Vintage LP copy and a bitsa Tele, after which I felt happy working on my other (more expensive) guitars.

I too use the feeler gauge method, which I found in Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide.

FelineGuitars

Keefy said:

I too use the feeler gauge method, which I found in Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide.

Yup - Dan was my source of info (on so many things)

BillDL

I use the Hosco double-edged set with the rubber handles like this:

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/products/230/hosco-double-edged-nut-slotting-files-electric-guitar-set/

BEWARE of sub-standard files on eBay and Amazon that are made to look like those Hosco ones but are not.  They don't usually say "Hosco" on the handles, so they aren't counterfeits, but they often come up in searches for Hosco files.

I also have one of the files in 0.010 thickness as mentioned by @Devil#20 earlier:

https://guitarsandwoods.com/Tool/Type-of-Tools/Files/Nut-Files?product_id=2802

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/products/184/hosco-gauged-nut-slotting-files-set-of-10/

I find that the 0.010 in the set with the rubber handles cuts marginally too wide for 10s, so I often to use the skinny and very flexible one for the high E string, the red-handled 0.010 file for the B, sometimes the blue-handled 0.013 on the G string slot, and then the rest as normal.  I don't use feeler gauges or Groovbar depth gauges, but instead just go very slowly with frequent checks using fell and also fretting at the 3rd fret and tapping the string down onto the 1st fret.

Tip:  If you aren't going to use feeler gauges or other depth stops, buy a spare pre-slotted bone or Tusq nut in the right dimensions and string spacing before you start your first job.  It's quite easy to go too deep until you are practiced at doing this.  You will get one for about £5 to £7.

roberty

@Keefy @Devil#20 maybe I'll give it a go one day. The idea of it being permanent frightens me off. I have slightly lowered a slot before with a bit of sandpaper wrapped around a string, that worked well

Jonathangus

On a related topic - are nut files the best thing to use for slotting Tunomatic saddles?

Keefy

roberty said:

@Keefy @Devil#20 maybe I'll give it a go one day. The idea of it being permanent frightens me off. I have slightly lowered a slot before with a bit of sandpaper wrapped around a string, that worked well

Rob, you're more than welcome to bring some guitars over to Swindon and use my nut files under my (in-)expert supervision. Obvs you will need your passport...