Nut leveling?

Nathan Odell · Post by **Nathan Odell** » 10 Dec 2021 7:46 pm

Hi folks,
Rookie here. If I just rest my tone bar on the strings, the lowest/thickest two buzz and don't make a pure tone or ring out. The rest do just fine.

It seems counterintuitive to me that the thickest strings would sit lowest. Is this an issue? Does the nut need to be filed/leveled? Or is this just a "push down harder and work around it" issue?

I've noticed it's especially problematic when doing reverse slants, since the thumb being on the back of the tone bar means it's not really in a position to push down.

Any words of wisdom on this?

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 10 Dec 2021 8:49 pm

Rest a straight edge across all the strings at the nut. There should be no rocking, no string higher or lower than the others, all should be level. (The fatter strings could actually be higher than the skinny ones as long as the size differences are incremental so that the bar will rest evenly on all strings with the same downward pressure.)

Otherwise some strings will buzz. Carefully file each nut slot for the strings that are too high.

If just one or two strings are too low, small drops of superglue in the groove can be slowly built up to allow the strings to sit higher -AFTER THE GLUE IS COMPLETELY DRY- if needed the super glue can be gently filed back down if the string sits too high ...

Robert Allen · Post by **Robert Allen** » 10 Dec 2021 9:10 pm

Super glue and baking soda can fill a nut slot quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slCMkvEfK_U

Phillip Hermans · Post by **Phillip Hermans** » 11 Dec 2021 12:23 pm

Wow that super-glue technique is a cool trick!

Brian Evans · Post by **Brian Evans** » 11 Dec 2021 12:48 pm

In my experience (limited to be sure) the lowest strings are the hardest to get to ring clean. Just laying the bar on them with it's weight will not do it, they have too much mass to overcome. You need to press down on the bar to get those strings to sound clean. Anything past the third fret, your nut would have to be pretty bad to really affect playing those strings. I find this effect is worse with strings too thin a gauge for the tuning I'm using.

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 11 Dec 2021 12:55 pm

Brian is right about the lowest strings... and in reality you need to apply slight downward pressure on the bar to have all strings produce a pure tone. This will also depend upon the size and weight of the bar. (Some heavy bars that I have don't need any extra pressure even at the 1st fret)