Installing Nut on Guitar Neck

[scamp]

When faced with this situation, I have also done what John Reid describes. It might not work if the neck is designed so that the nut sits on the headstock itself and not the neck, i.e. with an angled bottom instead of a flat bottom ("Martin-style" nuts are sold with an angled bottom for this reason.) If the slot is almost wide enough, it may be easier just to sand the nut a little thinner, like sanding a saddle to fit the slot. If you goof, another nut is cheap to buy. Bruce W.

The existing gap is only 1/8 inch. I'm a bit concerned as the nut needs to sit on the same plain as the neck ( not the headstock) and there isn't a lot of space before the flat part of the neck ends and the headstock ( not including the width of the veneer) slopes off. It looks like I can fit a nut maybe 0.2 inches wide if I just trim off the veneer. Is there a minimum nut width I should try to stay above?

[phavriluk]

This is a job that needs to be done at the right time, which in any case will always be AFTER permanently attaching the fingerboard to the neck.

Line up ten builders, get ten different processes. And ten varying answers.

For example, I sit my guitar nut on the neck's surface so that the headplate meets it at an angle and the nut butts hard against the top of the fingerboard on top of the neck in the same plane as the fingerboard. Just like the drawing pdf shows. DO NOT alter the fingerboard to accomodate the nut, adjust the fingerboard location and headplate. And don't thin down the nut, leave its thickness alone. Adjust the headplate and fingerboard locations to suit.

[Stray Feathers]

At this point, we need some more information. We need to know if the fretboard has been glued down in the right place (normally, 14th fret aligns with body joint). If so, then we need to know why there is not enough room for the nut. Is the fretboard trimmed at the "zero fret"(nut)? A photo would really help. Here is something that might help. Peter mentions that there are many ways to do things; here is what Jonathan Kinkead describes in his book. He uses a razor saw, with a squared block of wood as a guide, to cut the headstock veneer. Two things to note: 1) his nut slot laps over onto part of the veneer, and 2) he suggests using a 3/16" nut, which would give you a little more wiggle room. Bruce W.

[phavriluk]

Please do not follow the advice in the Kinkead picture. I have never seen any guitar from any source whose nut was sitting in a beveled trench cut into the headplate. None. I think Mr.Goldberg snuck in when Mr. Kinkead was sleeping. Here's where there's too many cooks in the kitchen. I, too, have Kinkead's book, it's sleeping on the shelf. I think the pdf image presented earlier is clear and shows normal practice for a nut sitting on the neck, not the headstock.

[scamp]

Here is a picture that I hope will help.
The neck has the fret board attached and is almost finished.
I probably should have attached the nut before finishing but this isn't the first thing I should have done differently.
You can see ( I hope ) that the 0.25 inch nut extends beyond the flat part of the neck into the headstock veneer.
As far as I can tell, the maximum flat area on the neck beyond the end of the fret board is about 3/16 of an inch.
So.... I think I will cut the veneer back at this distance from the fret board and shave the 1/4 inch nut down to 3/16.
I looked at a Martin guitar and the nut is about 0.23 inches and at a Taylor guitar and the nut is about 0.18 inches so I think it will be OK.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Please double check that your 14th fret is sitting at the body. Always triple check everything. I'd make sure the fretboard is the proper scale, before doing anything. Let's take 1 step at a time.

Measure from the nut end of the fretboard to the middle of the 12th fret. This distance should be 1/2 of the scale length. So, on a long scale Martin style board, with a 25.4" scale length, this measurement would read 12.7" or 12-45/64" (25.4 ÷2).

If your board doesn't measure right, you've been sent the wrong board. So, check it.

I once had a friend that had this problem (clearing my throat and looking innocent ). This is how she corrected it:

If you still have only 1/8" for the nut, after checking your scale length and board placement, this can be corrected.

You correct this by sanding or planing the fretboard surface of the neck, towards the headstock. You need to plane the whole length of the neck, from bottom to top. It will only take a very SMALL amount of sanding or planing, to lengthen the fretboard area. This won't mess up your headstock.

Mark where the proper position of the nut. Use a jack plane if you have one, otherwise use a smooth plane. Or, use sandpaper on a flat surface. Hopefully you've got a leveling board or beam. If not, harbor freight has cheap 24" levels and you can use the bottom as a leveling beam. Just stick some sandpaper on it.

If you do this, do it carefully, from BOTTOM TO TOP ONLY. Do not go back and forth. Use a square along the surface to ensure you're staying absolutely flat. You need the surface dead flat to glue the fretboard.

I hope I still have a photo of doing this. If so, I'll post it. Also just an FYI. The area between the headstock plate and fretboard form your nut slot. No further slotting is needed.

[scamp]

Please double check that your 14th fret is sitting at the body. Always triple check everything. I'd make sure the fretboard is the proper scale, before doing anything. Let's take 1 step at a time.

Measure from the nut end of the fretboard to the middle of the 12th fret. This distance should be 1/2 of the scale length. So, on a long scale Martin style board, with a 25.4" scale length, this measurement would read 12.7" or 12-45/64" (25.4 ÷2).

If your board doesn't measure right, you've been sent the wrong board. So, check it.

I once had a friend that had this problem (clearing my throat and looking innocent :lol: ). This is how she corrected it:

If you still have only 1/8" for the nut, after checking your scale length and board placement, this can be corrected.

You correct this by sanding or planing the fretboard surface of the neck, towards the headstock. You need to plane the whole length of the neck, from bottom to top. It will only take a very SMALL amount of sanding or planing, to lengthen the fretboard area. This won't mess up your headstock.

Mark where the proper position of the nut. Use a jack plane if you have one, otherwise use a smooth plane. Or, use sandpaper on a flat surface. Hopefully you've got a leveling board or beam. If not, harbor freight has cheap 24" levels and you can use the bottom as a leveling beam. Just stick some sandpaper on it.

If you do this, do it carefully, from BOTTOM TO TOP ONLY. Do not go back and forth. Use a square along the surface to ensure you're staying absolutely flat. You need the surface dead flat to glue the fretboard.

I hope I still have a photo of doing this. If so, I'll post it. Also just an FYI. The area between the headstock plate and fretboard form your nut slot. No further slotting is needed.

Diane

Thanks for the feedback but I don't think I need to do anything this radical.
At this point the fretboard is already glued to the neck so it's not an opinion anyway.
If you look at the picture I posted I think I can trim back the headstock veneer and get a 3/16 inch nut in there.
The kit I'm building had a matched neck and fretboard which I already attached.
It's just that they extended the headstock veneer too far and now there is just a 1/8 inch gap.
BWT...I did check the fretboard and it's fine.

[phavriluk]

Who said building guitars was easy, or even straightforward? OP is dealing with a nut installation whose ambiguity is driven by installing a fingerboard without being told up front that locating the fingerboard is influenced by the nut's thickness, the nut being the last part installed on the guitar? I suspect nobody told him and that's not a need that comes readily to mind on a first project. There's a large workload of anticipating the future implications of a step that needs doing right now.

(Changing metaphors here: I think guitar kits are more closely related to stick-and-tissue model airplanes, piles of raw materials with a few shaped parts, than to plastic kit shake-the-box model airplanes ready to glue together.)

[Diane Kauffmds]

Diane

Thanks for the feedback but I don't think I need to do anything this radical.
At this point the fretboard is already glued to the neck so it's not an opinion anyway.
If you look at the picture I posted I think I can trim back the headstock veneer and get a 3/16 inch nut in there.
The kit I'm building had a matched neck and fretboard which I already attached.
It's just that they extended the headstock veneer too far and now there is just a 1/8 inch gap.
BWT...I did check the fretboard and it's fine.

You'll be fine. Although it would be my last choice, I've seen a lot of 1/8" nuts. 3/16" will be just fine.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Who said building guitars was easy, or even straightforward? OP is dealing with a nut installation whose ambiguity is driven by installing a fingerboard without being told up front that locating the fingerboard is influenced by the nut's thickness, the nut being the last part installed on the guitar? I suspect nobody told him and that's not a need that comes readily to mind on a first project. There's a large workload of anticipating the future implications of a step that needs doing right now.

(Changing metaphors here: I think guitar kits are more closely related to stick-and-tissue model airplanes, piles of raw materials with a few shaped parts, than to plastic kit shake-the-box model airplanes ready to glue together.)

Peter, we all learn as we build. I studied methods, had books, videos, all I could find, to guide me. I even made a build checklist, with everything listed in order. I made plenty of mistakes.

If I've learned anything, it's that there's always an element of "the unforeseen". Mistakes are great teachers. They happen, we learn, and move on.