Tele nut height?

What is the ideal bone nut height for a tele with a 7.25 radius?

Thanks!

That really depends on the depth of the slot in the neck, into which the nut fits.
Obviously enough height is required to provide a sensible margin, above the level of the fingerboard, to accommodate both the depth of the thickest string, and enough clearance over the first fret.

The more crucial measurement is the depth of the string slots, cut into the nut.

Once shaped and fitted, with string slots correctly cut, it is possible to give the nut a final dressing. It is at this point I would dial in its desired final height and also remove any sharp edges.

What matters in "nut height" is simply where the string rests in relation to the plane of the frets. An ideal height is typically dead even, to perhaps .001" or .002" above the fret plane, but there's no universal ideal dimensions that can be given for the piece of bone itself.

What matters in "nut height" is simply where the string rests in relation to the plane of the frets. An ideal height is typically dead even, to perhaps .001" or .002" above the fret plane, but there's no universal ideal dimensions that can be given for the piece of bone itself.

:confused:

Perhaps I mistunderstood, but if the string height at the nut is "dead even" with the fret plane, the strings will buzz and sound horrible. A typical string height at the nut is .010" - .012" from the top of the first fret to the bottom of the string.

.001" or .002" is just too small to measure accurately.

I'm a Tele nut and I'm 5' 11".

The way you check it is press and hold the string at the third fret.
There should be just a tiny gap between the first fret and the string.

You can measure it, but I do it by just pressing the string down at the first fret and see how far it goes down, then cut the net so the distance the stings go down is about the same on all the strings.

I learned this from Frank Ford.

He has great info here: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenSetup/NutAction/nutaction.html

He is a genius!

Actually, now that I think about it. I remember sending Frank an email and actually telling him he was a genius.....

Perhaps I mistunderstood, but if the string height at the nut is "dead even" with the fret plane, the strings will buzz and sound horrible. A typical string height at the nut is .010" - .012" from the top of the first fret to the bottom of the string.

David's right- we've had this exact same discussion on a dozen other forums and I agree with him there, too. :)

What you're thinking of- and I know because I had the same confusion for awhile- would result from slots that are cut BELOW fret height. That's not what David is saying. The correct nut height is the height of the frets and the saddles take care of action off the 1st fret and all the others.

Try this- put a capo on the 2nd fret. Play. All is good, yeah? Should be, because the capo is doing the work of your finger! Move the capo back to the 1st fret. Play. Now move the capo to...well, take it off. How high should the nut slots be? Same height as the frets. Imagine a zero fret parked directly under the fret, for instance. The "hair over" is to allow for nut wear and to help prevent back buzzes.

When you do it the Frank Ford way, you are setting the nut slot height to just a hair above the fret height. Try it- fret behind the 1st and in front of the 3rd. How much room over the 2nd? None. Now scoot your finger back so that you're on the nut and in front of the 2nd. How much clearance at the 1st? Should be "none" or just a hair over.

A way to directly measure the height is to fret the 1st fret and measure the clearance of each string over the 2nd fret. Add .002-.004" to this and set the nut slots so that the string clears the 1st fret by that amount.

My Nut Page (http://www.bryankimsey.com/nuts/index.htm)

I'm a Tele nut and I'm 5' 11".

Thank God I wasn't drinking anything.....:lol:

Very informative

Thank you gentlemen!

:confused:

Perhaps I mistunderstood, but if the string height at the nut is "dead even" with the fret plane, the strings will buzz and sound horrible. A typical string height at the nut is .010" - .012" from the top of the first fret to the bottom of the string.

.001" or .002" is just too small to measure accurately.

The first fret on a well dressed board will be dead even with the plane of the frets, and there's no reason for the bottom of the nut slot to be any different (in most cases, though there are exceptions for different setup preferences).

And by many methods recommended, yes, .001" or .002" is too tight for many to accurately measure. If you know how to do it though, I am quite confident in saying that I can set the height very accurately to within .0005". It may sound like an extraordinary claim, but once you really see how it's done in person you can understand how it works. Not easy to train or explain in any briefly summarized terms on a forum post unfortunately, but it is a very real and achievable goal.

There is a strong tendency for many to assume measurements are always more accurate when they come from a tool such as indicators, gauge stock, micrometers, etc., but this is often a false sense of comfort. There are a lot of tricks to specialty trades which can actually increase accuracy of sensitive measurements by not corrupting the status of the materials with mechanical tooling. With proper knowledge and skill, machinists can detect discrepancies of 10-25 millionths of an inch, and do so more accurately "by eye" than with mechanical measuring tools. Granted, using the term "by eye" is somewhat unfair, because it does not mean they have superhuman abilities that can spot such miniscule differences. Rather, it means they know how to look for certain signs according a certain technique, just as there are special techniques of viewing to accurately appraise a nut height.

So while claims of .0005" to .001" tolerances may seem a bit extreme on the surface, with a bit of training and experience it can become easily apparent just how achievable and practical it is.

The first fret on a well dressed board will be dead even with the plane of the frets, and there's no reason for the bottom of the nut slot to be any different (in most cases, though there are exceptions for different setup preferences).

And by many methods recommended, yes, .001" or .002" is too tight for many to accurately measure. If you know how to do it though, I am quite confident in saying that I can set the height very accurately to within .0005". It may sound like an extraordinary claim, but once you really see how it's done in person you can understand how it works. Not easy to train or explain in any briefly summarized terms on a forum post unfortunately, but it is a very real and achievable goal.

There is a strong tendency for many to assume measurements are always more accurate when they come from a tool such as indicators, gauge stock, micrometers, etc., but this is often a false sense of comfort. There are a lot of tricks to specialty trades which can actually increase accuracy of sensitive measurements by not corrupting the status of the materials with mechanical tooling. With proper knowledge and skill, machinists can detect discrepancies of 10-25 millionths of an inch, and do so more accurately "by eye" than with mechanical measuring tools. Granted, using the term "by eye" is somewhat unfair, because it does not mean they have superhuman abilities that can spot such miniscule differences. Rather, it means they know how to look for certain signs according a certain technique, just as there are special techniques of viewing to accurately appraise a nut height.

So while claims of .0005" to .001" tolerances may seem a bit extreme on the surface, with a bit of training and experience it can become easily apparent just how achievable and practical it is.

Quite right David. If you do something (the correct way) for long enough, you can't help but develop a feel for it.

I have never felt the need to use feeler gauges etc. when adjusting set-up parameters.