nut string spacing

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nut string spacing

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Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

nut string spacing

Equally spaced strings or compensated spacing at the nut?

what are the preferences?

Andrew

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2009 4:51:36

mrMagenta

Posts: 942
Joined: Oct. 25 2006
From: Sweden

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

Hmm, Compensated for string thickness?

Great timing on this post, I'm actually making a new nut right now because I sanded my old one a bit too much when adjusting. I haven't cut the canals for the strings yet but I'm thinking of a constant string spacing of 8.2mm from string center to center (total nut width is 52mm on my guitar).

I'm also interested in how others set theirs.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2009 6:53:25

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

I use compensated spacing, mainly because I have a guide for doing so.

8,2mm equally spacing will do just fine but will be a little narrow. I would make it 8,4mm

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2009 7:49:22

mrMagenta

Posts: 942
Joined: Oct. 25 2006
From: Sweden

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

Thanks for the suggestion, Anders. I don't think this will be the last nut-bopne i'm making so i'm trying out how it will feel with at bit narrower spacing than what i used to have.

Phew! It's really easy to ruin all the work by sanding down the final height a tenth or even 5 hundreths of a mm too low, i get slight fret buzz when i play the low E string hard with the thumb, i guess that's alright though, it does that with a capo too. The string spacing became something of a hybrid.. a bit compensated spacings, ranging from 8.4 to 8.2.. i don't have very precise tools for this, but the result will do fine, i hope.. it's too late to see if i got too much string buzz because i can't play pulgar from hell at this hour.

Anyway.. if i would want to lift it up 0.1mm could it be done by placing a thin strip of something underneath, or would that be really bad for the acoustics?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2009 13:30:12

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

Glue a piece 0,5mm veneer underneath the nut, and sand it down a little bit. You´ll never be able to hear a difference. And nothing wrong with doing so.

You can also put a piece of thick paper underneath.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 5 2009 23:44:42

Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Anders,

do customer have a preference one way or the other in general ?
do you think players would know the difference by feel (if they are not told how it is spaced) ?

Andrew

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 6 2009 3:04:06

mrMagenta

Posts: 942
Joined: Oct. 25 2006
From: Sweden

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

Cool, That means i can be satisfied with the result - if it's buzzing too much i'll lift it with veneer or paper like you suggested.

If I do that with the previous bone i made, i can have one with wide string spacing and one with narrow. But after trying the new nut a little, i can't really say i feel any difference. I'm just happy to be able to play without a capo again.

i noticed is that the two bones look different, one is gray and the other is white. The white one gets all shiny when sanded with 1200 grain paper, while the other stays matte.. perhaps one of the cows was anemic.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 6 2009 8:14:34

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: nut string spacing (in reply to Andrew)

Andrew

Fortunately noone has asked me about that. I think the subject is hysterical, because we are really discussing very small things.

MrMagenta. The shiny one is the good one, but trust your ears. On the nut there´s not much you can hear. On the saddle, its best to use the shiny ones. They are the hardest and with less pores

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 6 2009 13:01:20