Speaking of nuts.........

[teb]

I recently bought a set of Norman nut files, which show up from time to time new on eBay. I've been watching them come and go for a couple of years and finally decided to try them to see if they actually work as well as his testimonials claim they do. Guess what? They do. They aren't cheap, but compared to other nut file sets the price is pretty good, especially if you avoid the B.I.N. option and can find a set in regular auction format that's not getting much bidder action. I think mine were around $50. They're also pretty close to idiot-proof to use.

What you get is a small plastic pouch with a stack of little steel slabs in varying thicknesses and about 4" long by 1/2" wide. They aren't the least bit fancy, as Norman must make them himself, but you don't have to pay the type of money that the files from the luthier supply houses run. They're marked for thickness and on one section of each slab is what it basically a tiny saw blade, rather than being a real file. The teeth are rounded in cross-section on the pointy end, so they cut a nice, clean, straight-sided slot with a nicely rounded bottom.

The Test: I bought my 330/12 as a spare twelve. I waited until I found one with really nice flame (took a while), added a stereo-wired middle pickup, made new guards and basically hung it on the wall about two years ago. It very seldom got played because my fingers don't quite fit on the neck, so it's been waiting to get sent off to PW or Arnquist or someone else who could spread the string pairs out. Paul and I have formulated a Top-Secret plan with what should be an interesting way to fix the space problem, but first, I need to figure out just how deeply I want to get into this thing (paint, checkerboard, crushed pearl, etc. as well as the playing space mods) and I need to formulate some money to pay him. In the mean time, armed with my new nut files, I thought I'd take a crack at making it more playable.

I saw a deer run down the street the other day, so I grabbed a saw and waited in the bushes, figuring I'd just tackle him and saw off one antler while he was down. When he failed to return, I dug around in the boat parts in the garage, found some delrin, but didn't like the white color and then found a little scrap block of graphite/epoxy. This is epoxy resin, mixed with a healthy load of graphite powder and a little bit of super-fine glass powder to harden it a little bit. It's tough stuff and will generally withstand the hammer test. When you see "graphite" items (fishing reels, guitar nuts, etc.) they are usually some sort of similar mixture. I cut out a small strip of it and sanded it to approximate nut shape, like the old nut. I spread the string pairs out just as far as I possibly could without falling off the fret ends, marked them with small cuts from a utility knife and got out the Norman files.

I simply followed the enclosed directions while sawing the slots and setting their depth once the nut was in place on the guitar. I'd simply loosened the strings and slid them off to the sides of the fingerboard while changing nuts, so sticking them back in place and tuning up was pretty quick. It probably took all of about 20 minutes to slot the new nut and another ten to cut the blank. The result - I do have to be somewhat careful about knocking the low E off of the frets, but I seldom pick very hard on twelves and usually use a super-thin .046 mm flatpick. Bends are done toward the inside, but I can now play my spare twelve and the little files worked like a charm - just as advertised.

[jps]

Nice! That low E does look precariously Close To The Edge!

Do these come on bass sizes, too?

[libratune]

Hey, I recognize those -- they are feeler gauges with teeth added! Same thickness markings on the side. Norman had a clever idea --turn those feeler gauges into nut files.

Here's a sample gauge from StewMac -- but it only goes to .040:

Feeler Gauge.jpg

[teb]

I believe he does also offer a bass set.