My Telecaster got hit in the nuts.

March 21, 2006 8:15 AM

How stupid would I be to try to DIY a nut-replacement on a Telecaster?

I'm not incredibly experienced with guitar repair, but I've done some really basic stuff before, and years of messing with bikes have given me the sense that I can fix most stuff if I'm willing to put in the time.

How tough would it be to put a new nut in? So far, my searches for replacement parts have only coughed up nuts without grooves for the strings-- I don't know if I'm not looking in the right place, or if cutting grooves is a standard part of the process, or what. Are pre-grooved nuts available? If not, how difficult is it to groove them?

I could take it into a shop and get everything replaced for about $55, and that's an option; but it's always fun (and horizon-expanding) to do your own work, and anyway, this is a backup guitar, and if I can save money on it, I'd be happy.

posted by COBRA! to sports, hobbies, & recreation (7 comments total)

Different process, sure, but similar experience: I replaced the old wooden bridge on an old Silvertone (via Harmony, I believe) hollowbody with a Gibson tune-a-matic.

All of the new bridges I found were sold with the saddles ungrooved, so I had to groove my new bridge myself -- a similar process to grooving a nut.

The local vintage guitar repair shop told me to use a small triangular jeweler's file to create the grooves, filing for a longer time (and thus a deeper depth) for the heavier gauge strings.

I did, and it came out just fine. I would imagine that you would do the exact same for the nut.

Now glueing the nut, on the other hand...I would assume wood glue, but somebody who has actually done a nut replacement may have a better suggestion.
posted by kaseijin at 8:20 AM on March 21, 2006

The material the nut is made of and the shape of the grooves will have an effect, to some degree, on your tone (all subjective, of course). Additionally, you'll really want to be precise with the groove depth in order to maintain the correct string height.

I say go for it. It'll be a cool learning experience. I did this to one of my basses years ago, and studied setups at the same time. No more trips to a luthier and I've learned to tweak things so they're "just right." It's a good understanding to have.
posted by peewee at 8:34 AM on March 21, 2006

Complete Guitar Repair is invaluable for learning how to do this and many other routine tasks.
posted by plinth at 8:43 AM on March 21, 2006

When I got my first guitar, I spent hours reading the amazing wealth of stuff at Frets.com. There's a full walkthrough of making a nut, checking the action, setting the action, spacing the slots, and even a whole whack of nut designs. Surely reading through these and checking out the pictures will give you a good idea of how difficult it is - although the site can make things look a lot easier than they are.
posted by pocams at 8:47 AM on March 21, 2006

Pre-grooved nuts are totally available. Check stewmac.com. You can also buy a set of nut files if you want to do it yourself; the string spacing is a little tricky, requiring something like 1 minute of planning ahead with a pencil.

Get a cow bone or a TUSQ nut, and glue it in lightly, with just a light smear of Elmer's glue or wood glue diluted to 1/3 or 1/4 strength with water. The strings will mostly hold it in place; you just want the very slightest glue joint to keep it from sliding without impairing coupling to the body. Bear in mind that the nut is one of only two places where the vibrating string contacts the vibrating wood of the guitar.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:15 AM on March 21, 2006

Wow. Thanks for all of the info, everybody. I think I'm going to give it a go.

The bad news: I've got a show on Friday night, and probably won't have time to get this done before then, so the backup tele will have to have a capo on the first fret for the night. But I'm looking forward to doing some work this weekend.
posted by COBRA! at 9:52 AM on March 21, 2006

If you want any other help regarding 'caster matters. I can reccomend the forums a t TDPRI. They helped me many times when I was building my own tele.
posted by gergtreble at 6:52 PM on March 21, 2006