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Pbassred

DIY or pay someone?

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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?

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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..?  rWNVV2D.gif

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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.

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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!

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