roller nut width

[Old Cane]

Does anybody have one of those strats with a roller nut that they can measure the slot on? My boss is talking about replacing it with bone and I forgot to bring my calipers when he had it here at work. It doesn't look Martin wide but it does look wider than 1/8th inch.

Thanks.

[Wally]

Old Cane, I don't have that measurement for you, but one needs to be aware
that when replacing a roller nut with bone that the 'witness' point for a roller nut is not in line with the fretboard edge of the slot. IT is set back toward the headstock a bit. IF you build the nut to fit the slot and establish the witness pint at the fret-side of the slot, your intonation will be negatively affected. IT provides an interesting situation, right? The width of the slot may be of little concern. Either the slot needs to be filled and recut, the witness point of the nut established away from the fret-side of the board with some tricky bone shaping, or you can shim the fret-side of the slot enough to yield a correct measurement from the witness point to the first fret.

[Old Cane]

Yikes. Ok, he's not dead set on it. Thanks for the tip. I don't have it here to measure. Sounds to me like more trouble than it's worth on a MIM.

[Wally]

Imho, there is nothing wrong with that roller nut. IF one thinks about it a bit, the strings are resting on metal for open notes...just as they are when fretting. THe biggest problem I have ever encountered is that sometimes there can be a rattle. A tiny drop of machine oil in the right place takes care of that. Jeff Beck does amazing things with roller nut Strats.