Pbassred Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) I still occasionally play the partscaster I built 40 years ago. I'm confident to do truss rods and set action. I've never paid someone else. On the other hand, how do I know if I've been doing it right? I've just taken on 2 new guitars: casino (used) and squire tele. I think they could both do with polishing up of the nut slots to make tuning more precise. I can buy files or take it to a repairer. Thoughts? Edited March 8 by Pbassred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 47 minutes ago, Pbassred said: I still occasionally play the partscaster I built 40 years ago. I'm confident to do truss rods and set action. I've never paid someone else. On the other hand, how do I know if I've been doing it right? I've just taken on 2 new guitars: casino (used) and squire tele. I think they could both do with polishing up of the nut slots to make tuning more precise. I can buy files or take it to a repairer. Thoughts? Proper nut files are extraordinarily expensive, and the cheaper ones not really good at all for that job. If it's just to get rid of the 'jerking' of the string over the nut when tuning, a light sprinkle of graphite powder does a fine job. Some folk get the graphite from quality pencil lead, but it's easy enough to obtain. Amazon propose various versions, as a little flaçon of 50ml for 9€86, or a 1 litre tub for 10€10, and everything in between. Try that first, if unsmooth tuning is the issue..? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 22 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Proper nut files are extraordinarily expensive, They really are, especially for an only one or two time use. However, if the nut is already cut to the right height, you could simply wrap a piece of light grit paper (1000 should be abrasive enough) around a string (best to use the adjacent, thinner string for this - for instance, the A string for the E slot) and give it a straight pull through. This should remove any snags and then you can add some graphite as Dad suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 wow, I didnt know you could get graphite powder like that. Just bought some as my strings do stick in the nut when using the trem. I'll see if there's any improvement 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Gregory Partner Posted August 16 Share Posted August 16 Not much difficult but I always had stuff done by professionals, we buy expensive instruments and I don't want to ruin them by saving a couple of bucks and DIYing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham50 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 @Pbassred be interested to know what you decided to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbassred Posted September 18 Author Share Posted September 18 On 10/09/2024 at 17:39, Graham50 said: @Pbassred be interested to know what you decided to do? I bought the files. I couldn't bring myself to pay someone else to customise a guitar to suit me, while having to explain what that is. Then getting the knowing looks of "that isn't stock". So I bought them, did it and its fine. Subsiquently, I have bought a cheap Yamaha acoustic who's string height would have been appropriate for an aircraft carrier deck. I used the files to turn that into the most playable guitar I own! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham50 Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 You gained a skill, perhaps in the future you can help sort out a friends guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
