Making your own nuts?

gogofast

Addicted Member
I have recently started to restore a 83 Dan Smith era two knob Strat. It was badly covered in smoke stink and took me a while to get it out of the wood.

Basically sanded the entire neck and then coated it with tung oil. Same thing for body. All the usual methods failed to get the stink out, but the sun really helped the most.

Getting the smell out was only the beginning. This guitar had cracked nut plus many other things to fix. So, first thing I did was to replace it with Graph Tech TUSQ, but while fitting it, I broke it in half. So I ordered another one, but the string spacing was all wrong. Realized that this particular neck has much wider spacing between treble side strings. I couldn't find any nut to fit right. So only thing left to do was make my own. I have never done this before.

I am using a real ivory piece which came off of 19th century pencil case I had. It was badly damaged beyond repair, so I saved some of the larger pieces for something like this.

Here's the broken piece.
IMG_2925.jpg


Pieces of ivory.
IMG_2926.jpg


After about an hour of cutting, grinding, and measuring, here's a rough cut.
IMG_2928.jpg


Final fitting. I made a mistake of taking too much off the bass side, but looks like it'll still work.
IMG_2929.jpg

IMG_2930.jpg


Here's a video of how the guitar sounds. This was before the nut replacement.
https://youtu.be/19sbs72rD3k

I made small cuts on the nut to rest the strings and measure the spacing, but am still waiting for the proper nut file set to arrive.

Here are some questions:

1. Anyone else make your own nuts? I'd appreciate some tricks and tips. Also, I'm pretty new to setting up my own guitars. I took a class, but still a noob, so any sort of old tricks would be much appreciated.

2. Anyone use ivory nut? How does it compare to other materials? Difference in tone, sustain, and etc?
 
I have LSR roller nuts on my two and won't comment on materials, but might suggest http://www.tdpri.com/forum/index.php for an additional source since were of great help to me with a DIY guitar project in the past.

This is an awesome reuse of ivory bits that might normally be thrown away :thmbsp:
 
I have LSR roller nuts on my two and won't comment on materials, but might suggest http://www.tdpri.com/forum/index.php for an additional source since were of great help to me with a DIY guitar project in the past.

This is an awesome reuse of ivory bits that might normally be thrown away :thmbsp:

Thank you, and that website looks very nice. I'll check it out.

Just FYI, the material you're using appears to be bone and not ivory.
It was part of a larger antique lot I purchased years ago at a very reputable auction company. At that time, a test was done to see if they were real ivory, and they were. It was a broken pencil case made of ivory with sterling silver trims and hardware. Anyways, it wouldn't make much difference for this application for me.
 
Ivory has been used for the nut, the bone and the entire bridge on guitars for a long time. It was a great material for these purposes long before plastics and graphite became available.

I would make sure to review the current laws pertaining to it's use though. Even if you are in the clear, which I believe you are, few materials elicit a stronger reaction in people as when you tell them something is made of ivory.

Having said that, it does make a very nice nut material and is relatively easy to work with, though it can become brittle over time under certain circumstances. Density can also be a concern as it can vary somewhat on natural materials. Just take your time cutting it to fit and removing material as you shape it. Like all nut materials it is unforgiving if you remove too much (though you can shim up to a point).

Make sure to pay attention to where you cut the string slots as to where the string contacts the nut. It can make intonating the guitar a bit of a headache, depending to how sensitive your ear is to intonation up the neck (more of a concern on acoustic guitars with a fixed bridge saddle). The string slot bottom should be slightly angled downward toward the headstock.
 
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Ivory has been used for the nut, the bone and the entire bridge on guitars for a long time. It was a great material for these purposes long before plastics and graphite became available.

I would make sure to review the current laws pertaining to it's use though. Even if you are in the clear, which I believe you are, few materials elicit a stronger reaction in people as when you tell them something is made of ivory.

Having said that, it does make a very nice nut material and is relatively easy to work with, though it can become brittle over time under certain circumstances. Density can also be a concern as it can vary somewhat on natural materials. Just take your time cutting it to fit and removing material as you shape it. Like all nut materials it is unforgiving if you remove too much (though you can shim up to a point).

Make sure to pay attention to where you cut the string slots as to where the string contacts the nut. It can make intonating the guitar a bit of a headache, depending to how sensitive your ear is to intonation up the neck (more of a concern on acoustic guitars with a fixed bridge saddle). The string slot bottom should be slightly angled downward toward the headstock.

Thank you for all your inputs. Yes, I am aware of using ivory being such a sensitive topic. These pieces came from something that was made and imported to US well before the banned timeline. I'm quite certain that for personal repurpose use, it's fine.

Good tip about the angle toward the headstock. I can see how this material needs extra care when filing string slots. The first one, I cut the high string slots too wide. I should've waited for proper filing tools to arrive.
 
I have a set of needle files I've had for years. Don't even remember where I got them but they have proven invaluable for all kinds of guitar related work. Mine are a set of 8 in different profiles.
 
I have a set of needle files I've had for years. Don't even remember where I got them but they have proven invaluable for all kinds of guitar related work. Mine are a set of 8 in different profiles.

The one I've ordered looks like what welders use to clean/file torch tips. I'll see if it works fine since it was sold as guitar nut file. Investing in more proper and expensive tools might be in order since I do constantly adjust 3-4 guitars.
 
The one I've ordered looks like what welders use to clean/file torch tips. I'll see if it works fine since it was sold as guitar nut file. Investing in more proper and expensive tools might be in order since I do constantly adjust 3-4 guitars.

I usually don't have to adjust my guitars (4 strats, 2 les pauls, 1 1963 Danolectro, 2 acoustics) too often in the drier climate of AZ. But having lived in NYC for a number of years...yeah I get it.

Bench costs being what they are these days, a good set of tools will be invaluable for maintaining your guitars and is a must for regular players. Stew Mac will have almost everything you need. I would also recommend, if you can find a copy, Dan Erlewine's fantastic book, "The Guitar Player Repair Guide". Great resource for doing your own work. He used to do a column for Guitar Player back in the 80s and 90s.
 
Just be aware, being so close to the Canadian border as you are, if you ever take it across either way you may get all sorts of grief proving it's not ivory, or not banned.

Just something to be aware of.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
 
So, the wire file set that I ordered is garbage.

DO NOT order them if anyone is thinking about it. I can't imagine any of 200+ people who had bought them from ebay are happy with it.
 
As has been mentioned before by HankHandy I also think that the material used
is not ivory but bone.
See:http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-Ivory-from-Bone
http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-Tell...r-Not-Includes-Pics-/10000000010311348/g.html

Being bone renders the whole crossing borders and having it impounded argument mute.

It is however something to be aware of when dealing with instrument another items made of or containing organic materials as ivory is not the only stuff/material that is banned or has restrictions.

See:http://americanorchestras.org/advoc...-material/ivory-ban-impact-on-orchestras.html

some good news:http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...travel-rules-for-instruments-with-ivory/?_r=0

And one more :http://www.spectator.co.uk/life/lon...y-may-lead-to-increased-killing-of-elephants/

Regards F.
 
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