When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

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MaineGeezer
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When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by MaineGeezer »

Answer: when it is for a Martin guitar, apparently. I just had quite a go-round with StewMac customer service. I ordered one of StewMac's #6023-VS shaped bone nuts,
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Su ... e_Nut.html

It's listed as a 1-3/4" nut. When I received it, it was quite clearly -- to my way of thinking -- a 1-13-16" nut. It matched up perfectly with the nut on the first guitar I built, which has a 1-13/16" wide neck.

After several interchanges, the conclusion was that yes, by any sane measure it's a 1-13/16" nut, but it's called a 1-3/4" nut because it's for a Martin guitar and Martin calls it that.

Sort of like a "one by four" board actually being 3/4" x 3-1/2", I guess.

Does anybody have any comments on this? Have I got this correct now, or am I still confused?
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tippie53
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by tippie53 »

they are feeding you a line
A 1 3/4 nut at martin is 1 3/4 wide at the fretboard and the string spacing is actually less then 1 3/4
so nut width is different from string spacing
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
MaineGeezer
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by MaineGeezer »

By my reckoning, the string spacing for a 1-3/4" nut ought to be 1-1/'2" between 1st and 6th.
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tippie53
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by tippie53 »

a tad more but you are in the ball park I do about .100 so you can say within .050 is not that much more than the 1.5
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
MaineGeezer
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by MaineGeezer »

I allow 1/8" on the ends, but the main thing is, the total length of a 1-3/4" nut is 1-3/4"! It's not 1-13/16", as StewMac would have me believe.
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tippie53
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by tippie53 »

you are correct Steve
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Danl8
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by Danl8 »

MaineGeezer wrote:I allow 1/8" on the ends, but the main thing is, the total length of a 1-3/4" nut is 1-3/4"! It's not 1-13/16", as StewMac would have me believe.
1-3/4" is same as 1-12/16" or is my math wrong? Stewmac is selling this size 0.0325" bigger at 1-13/16"? Should be easy enough to bring that in to 1.75" I agree with John, Martin's 1.75" nut is exactly that when on a 1.75" neck/fingerboard.
MaineGeezer
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by MaineGeezer »

1/16 is .0625. If one takes 1/32 off each end of the 1-13/16 nut (alleged to be for a 1-3/4 fretboard), string slots 1 and 6 endup too close to the edges of a 1-3/4" fretboard to be reasonable. The string spacing is too wide for a 1-3/4 fretboard. It is, however, just right on a 1-13/16 fretboard.

I will note that StewMac's 1-11/16 Martin nut IS an 1-11/16 nut. It fits a fretboard 1-11/16 wide.I used one one my 3rd guitar build, the cutaway OM, and it was just right.

The photos show the nut I got from StewMac lined up on a true 1-3/4" nut and on a 1-13/16" nut.
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Danl8
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by Danl8 »

Got it. I didn't check the website and see that that the nut was slotted. You are right to complain to Stewmac. That is not a 1.75" nut. Have they conceded that yet?
MaineGeezer
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Re: When is a 1-3/4" nut not a 1-3/4" nut?

Post by MaineGeezer »

Not yet -- I just sent them another message about it. I told them to check with Dan Erwine. We'll see.

Yeah, if it wasn't slotted it wouldn't be that big a deal --- but I bought that one, for a higher price, so I wouldn't have to figure out the string spacing and shape the profile. It should be pretty much a drop-in proposition.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
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