How to Handle the Nut During Fret Work
I recently had a question from a new luthier in Brazil and thought I’d address it here.
“Do I have to lower the nut slots after leveling all the frets? It stands to reason that i would have to, but I never see nobody talk about it.”
It’s a great question and they’re right: it’s not something that I remember seeing addressed too often. So let’s remedy that.
The answer is yes.
Well, it’s perhaps better to say that you should always check the nut slot height after a fret level to determine whether you should lower the slots.
This extra bit of nuance is because nut slots can wear just as well as the frets. It may well be that, by the time someone gets the guitar to level frets, the nut is already too low. In fact, it’s not unheard off for a fret level to ‘save’ a nut that’s already a little low. That happens now and then.
In most cases, though, you should expect to check — and probably lower — the nut slots after a fret level.
I’ll go a little further and say that, in an ideal world, you should expect to perform a full setup after a fret level. I actually build the cost of a setup into my fret level pricing.
It makes sense. The changes in height and shape of pre and post-levelled frets are small but they can definitely impact an instrument’s setup. I’ll want to assess/address nut slot height, intonation, and action. I’ll also want to re-set the neck relief as it will have been straightened for the levelling process.
An added bonus of a full setup after levelling is that the instrument can then leave my workshop playing its best. No point in having wonderfully levelled frets if the rest of the setup isn’t optimal.
Essentially, I don’t want to level a guitar without then setting it up.
And what do I do with a nut during a refret?
It depends a little on how worn the frets are and how high the nut is but, for the most part, it makes good sense to assume the nut will be too low after a refret.
Think about it. The nut will likely have worn along with the frets (or it’ll have been lowered during some earlier setup to more closely match somewhat worn frets). Fresh new frets will be higher than the existing, worn ones so the nut will probably be too low.
A replacement nut is typically the best course of action here (and don’t be surprised if your repair person advises you budget for nut work as part of a refret). If budget or vintage issues force the issue, you could consider one of the methods of reusing the original nut but I definitely recommend a replacement if at all possible.
Oh, and you should definitely setup again after a refret. I don’t consider it optional. Just do it.
This article written by Gerry Hayes and first published at hazeguitars.com
