tippie53 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:35 am
on nuts do not use a ramp you want to think roller not ramp. The reason for this is simple , steel strings don't bend at a given point that takes a while for a string to settle in so use a simple curve to the bottom of the nut slot . The more you do this the better t you get at it.
I do use nut files and you don't want the string too tight so if you can keep in about .005 over size your good. I also bugle flare the back of the nut slot a little. It is all about lead in of the strings. Sharp corners and guitar strings are not happy.
I use the tuner post at a focal point for creating the arc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82JDqAbY-dU&t=16s
Just wanted to say to John that now that push has come to shove and it's time to do a real set-up on this project, I reflected on your advice (and my past experience trying to do the job with homemade tools) and ordered some proper nut files today. Feels like I've crossed some sort of imaginary line, lol.
Probably also means waiting a week or two until I get them before anything else gets done on this project (which is not exactly an up side, but oh well... doing things right always feels better in the end).
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
I finally did discover what caused my confusion over string spacing in this very old thread, and thought I should update in the hope of helping other newbies building StewMac Dreadnought kits. As others have noted, there are some conflicting instructions between the paper instructions they send and the included video, and if you follow the wrong one you may end up with a slight mismatch between the string spacing on the pre-slotted nut they now ship with their kits and the neck you are going to mount it on.
Their pre-slotted nut they sent with my kit had the correct string spacing for a 1 11/16" neck and (according to their customer service folks) was supposed to initially be a little wider than the neck at either end. The paper instructions sent with the kit say to cut the fretboard to 1 11/16" at the small end and shape the neck itself to match. All good so far. But the video says to just flip the fretboard over, drop the neck as shipped on it, mark the edges and cut. If you do that you end up with a 1 3/4" neck, that the 1 11/16" nut happens to fit perfectly on with no filing of the ends. It still plays fine, but you end up with a finished guitar that has both E strings a bit further in from the edges of the neck than you might ideally want.
I figured this out for my 2nd StewMac dread build, and this time cut the fretboard/neck properly for the narrow string spacing. Onwards!
PS - The nut sent with the OM kit had the correct string spacing for a 1 3/4" neck, which is what the OM kit is supposed to have. So it works out fine just following the instructions.
Thanks for the update. I like how you figured out the reason behind the problem. Yea, minor inaccuracies in instructions are “the devil” and have frustrated me many times. Keep on pushing!
Sometimes it makes more sense to me to make the right part, as opposed to using something that came out of the box, just because it came out of the box. Matching a one-off fingerboard and neck to a generic replacement part seems backwards to me. We build these things because we want OUR OWN design details. Giving up string spacing in order to use a generic kit inclusion seems to me to be going farther than I'd like in kit-land, especially seeing bone nut blanks cost a buck each.
phavriluk wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 11:15 am
Sometimes it makes more sense to me to make the right part, as opposed to using something that came out of the box, just because it came out of the box.
Thank you, and yes (in retrospect) I agree. What's even weirder is that both the paper instructions and video that come with their kits assume that you are going to make your own nut from a blank, and give details of how to do it correctly. But they don't include a nut blank with the kit any more, they send you one of these semi-finished jobs instead. Which is fine, but causes confusion... :-)