Putting nut on ALLPARTS NECK questions

I have a couple all parts tele necks and am finding that the nut slot is narrower than the nuts I have. Is it best to just sand down the nuts? Or remove wood from the neck to widen the slot?

I have had one nut break by the 4th string slot, I'm thinking due to being weakened by being sanded to be narrower.

If one removes wood, it should be removed from the headstock side ? Doing so from the neck side will permanently mess with the scale length and intonation-correct?

How wide is the nut? How wide is the slot? If the nut is too wide to begin with, I would sand down. However, if the slot is unnecessarily narrow, I would fix the slot. Depending on how close they are, it might not matter which method you choose.

You are correct in assuming that, should wood removal be necessary, you should remove wood from the headstock side of the nut slot.

Thanks, that was fast. I was wondering if this is common with allparts necks and if there is a standard practice way to deal with it.

I always sand the nut. Maybe you did something wrong at the bottom of the nut. I needs to rest entirely on the neck (same radius).

You could mike the slot and the nut...Std Fender is 1/8" .125....I would sand the Nut myself.

Nut blanks are what, $3-$8 max? Necks are...a lot more than that. I'd say it's a no brainer. Sand the nut.

Unless you do it RIGHT, widening the slot can be a disaster. Rub the nut back and forth on some 320-grit sandpaper until it fits. Done!!! :idea:

Thanks all. A Consensus!

Do allparts nuts fit their necks? I will probably get a precut nut with a neck for the purposes of pre-finish setup / routing / drilling. There isn't much detail about nut dimensions (other than width).

Will BN-0206-000 - Slotted Bone Nut (http://www.allparts.com/Slotted-Bone-Nut-p/bn-0206-000.htm)
fit "perfectly" into one of their TMO - Replacement Neck for Telecaster (http://www.allparts.com/Replacement-Neck-for-Telecaster-p/tmo.htm)?

Unfortunately allparts do not have that much details on some of their parts. For example their machine heads diameters. Their necks tend to have 0.340" (11/32) tuner holes which AFAIK are vintage size, however they don't have diameters for some of the various tuners they sell.

Does anyone have any experience with which allparts-sold tuners fit well into allparts necks? Particularly Gotoh 6-in-line Vintage Keys (http://www.allparts.com/Gotoh-6-in-line-Vintage-Keys-Nickel-p/tk-0880-001.htm) - are they 11/32 or the same as the other Gotohs (13/32 & 11/32) [- measurements from Warmoth not allparts], although looking at the diagram for the Vintage Gotohs it seems they are straight ie 8.8 / 0.340 / 11/32" ?

I wish there was more standardization and less switching between millimeters, inches (decimal) & inches (fractions).

Thanks.

Again, You want to have a Bone nut that is custom fit to "your" neck and body......From the nut down the finger board to the bridge.........Get the nut work and fret work setup to your playing style and getting the setup right.......Thats the key to a great guitar.....Never gonna get there with a "one size fit all" nut..........

Lots of little details in setup stage of a guitar.......always learning and taking notes.

Find a good tech. and soak it up.

Again, You want to have a Bone nut that is custom fit to "your" neck and body......From the nut down the finger board to the bridge.........Get the nut work and fret work setup to your playing style and getting the setup right.......Thats the key to a great guitar.....Never gonna get there with a "one size fit all" nut..........


Thank for the reply, but ..

I will probably get a precut nut with a neck for the purposes of pre-finish setup / routing / drilling...
[other meanderings]
.... Thanks.

I realize a precut nut isnt going to "cut it" [bad pun], but I thought I explained the purpose of the nut purchase, it isn't for the final setup - just a placeholder.

Perhaps you were replying to the OP, if so apologies.

AllParts necks have been great, but I do find that (or so it would seem) their measurements are metric, and I think this is also the case with the nut slots. I found out about the tuner hole spacing when I built my Tele. I used Fender F-tuners, which are a critical fit, and I had to trim the cases a hair to fit side-by-side. Klusons fit perfectly because of their more forgiving mounting pattern. So my guess is that the nut slot is an even 3mm, make is a couple of 1000th's narrower than a true 1/8" slot and nut.

Is it graph tech? I have installed 4 graph tech nuts and all where thick. I think it is by design - that way you can sand it to the exact point where it just fits very snuggly. Sanding them is quite easy.

You can save a few bucks here:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Gotoh_Tuners/Gotoh_Vintage-style_Oval_Knob_Tuners_6-In-Line.html

My Gotoh Kluson copies were a pretty good but not perfect match for the peg head holes in my Allparts TMNF-V. The bushings were an interference fit, so I reamed the holes slightly to eliminate the risk of splitting the headstock.

I used the Tusc nut (#4750) here:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/String_nuts/Tusq_Nuts.html

That needed some sanding all around, but it worked. The radius is correct, as is the string spacing. The slot depth is not right. The slots have to be dressed after the nut is installed if you want optimum playability. Worth taking it to a pro IMO - Mellecaster did mine.

Good luck, and welcome to TDPRI.

Thanks Ricky D

Thank for the reply, but ..



I realize a precut nut isnt going to "cut it" [bad pun], but I thought I explained the purpose of the nut purchase, it isn't for the final setup - just a placeholder.

Perhaps you were replying to the OP, if so apologies.

Yep. OP.....But same reason I won't do a whole lot to necks that I ship other than pretty up the frets after tint and/or clear coat........Best to do nut work at final setup. Lots of things come into play at this stage.

I called a local tech the other day: $57 for a bone nut install; $20 more if he had to put on new strings that he supplied. I ordered 3 nut files and some more cheap nuts from Stew Mac that day.

I just mention that I have tried putting notches on feeler guages and the cheap welding files sold as nut files on ebay.

I have some of the stew mac tusq nuts with the little tab on the bottom and a (I think) 7.25" radius. I sanded the nut (on the headstock side) to fit the slot, and filed off the tab on the bottom so the nut fits the radius of the neck slot, and used the appropriate stew mac files for the first three slots and a combo of the largest stew mac file and the other files to bring the 3 fat string slots down where they need to be. I used a feeler guage and eye to judge the cut depth on the slots.

Success! The intonation needs to be fine tuned and probably the string height as well, and I'm going to wait to glue the nut in.

I spent about the same on tools as having a shop do it, and now I know how, so when the body and parts that are coming I'm good to go.

Thanks, for all the advice.

If it was only one nut, and I didnt know I was going to need it done again real soon, I might have just taken the guitar in to the tech. But, this stuff is rocket science--I have taught myself to do setups, plenty of pickup changes and wiring, and built several amp kits, and trouble shot and repaired my old amps--if one is careful, studies up, has close to the correct tools, it can be done.

Next up: does any one have experience with doing their own fret levels? What is the consensus--is this best left to the pros? Or doable with a reasonable investment in tools and time?

I did my first level and crown a couple of months ago, following the instructions in Erlwine's book to the T, and had perfect results. It isn't rocket science, but it does require patience, concentration, and judgment.

FWIW- it is quite normal to have to "massage" nuts (oh baby! :lol: ) and tuner holes and the like (as well as pickguards and neck slots) to get everything to fit properly. It's not really a big deal and is just part of the process. In fact, I like it that way so that everything is a good, tight fit.

I constantly tell people that none of this is rocket-science, but you need to acquire the touch, the knowledge of what you are doing and why, as well as the proper tools. All of these factors combine to create good, repeatable results.

... Next up: does any one have experience with doing their own fret levels? What is the consensus--is this best left to the pros? Or doable with a reasonable investment in tools and time?

I have done one neck, and it turned out very well. I worked very slowly, and very gently.

I used an old 18" level as the backing for the abrasive, some 600 grit aluminum oxide paper, and some spray adhesive. A sharpy to color the frets (you grind until you can see a silver line on every fret).

I used this to crown the frets: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/Three-in-one_Fret_File.html Color the frets again so you can gauge your progress.

You can do it.

Here's some info:

Ron Kirn sells an inexpensive pamphlet on set-up that's worth its weight in gold. Contact through his web site: http://www.ronkirn.com/ Strongly recommended.

Rob Distefano's web site has a short how-to-do-it under INFO from his home page: http://www.frettech.com/ His technique for creating fall-away in the upper frets is really easy.