A nut with a low slot (or slots) is a pain. It buzzes when you play the open string and sounds generally awful. You could replace it with a nice new nut but, sometimes you’re in a hurry or on a budget.
Enter the shim…
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Can you reverse a shim to give your guitar a forward neck angle? Should you do this? Is there a benefit. Are some builders using this secret trick to improve their guitars?
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Why do some guitars have necks that angle back towards the player while some don’t? What’s the reason for this angled neck? Do we even need it?
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Applying your own logo or design to your build or parts-caster feels fantastic. And it’s not so difficult. Say hello to the water-slide decal.
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WE’ve looked a some methods to remove a worn or broken screw. These have mostly involved gripping the screw in some way to try unscrew it from the guitar. But what if there’s just no way to grip the screw? What’s the thing we leave until the very end to try?
Check it out…
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If there’s just no grip left on the screw, it might be necessary to drill out its head in order to remove whatever it’s holding in place (a pickguard or tuner for instance). Learn how to drill worn or stripped screw heads for removal.
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Screws can get worn, corroded, and crammed with crud over the years. Removal can become challenging. Here’s the first in a series of posts with tips for removing stubborn screws.
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Word has been going around the internet recently about a cheap alternative to gauged nut files for guitar and bass. Since a proper set of nut files isn’t cheap, this is tempting. But is this alternative any good?
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Installing a pre-cut/pre-shaped nut requires a lot of patience to do well. It’s easy to hack off some bits and glue it in but, doing it well and getting a good setup… that takes time and some Buddha-like levels of patience.
Most of the nut manufacturers don’t tell you that. Go figure.
Check out how to get a great result…
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Installing a pre-cut/pre-shaped nut starts with measuring your existing nut to ensure you choose one that’s right for the job. Most of the measurements are obvious and are those that the nut manufacturers recommend in their own documentation. But… There’s one they rarely mention. And it’s important.
Check it out…
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Fender nuts usually have an arc along their bottom. This mates with a similar curve in the nut slot itself. If you’re installing a new nut, you’ll have to match this radius closely for a good fit.
Find out how…
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I’ve often hammered home the idea that players need to understand that a guitar needs to the setup for their style to prevent fret buzz. ‘As low as it can go’ isn’t as simple as it sounds and the player plays a massive part in whether a guitar buzzes.
But sometimes the guitar is to blame. And I should talk about that too…
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