Fret jobs and nut repair

milo · Post by **milo** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 2:10 am

I've got a couple of questions related to the playability of a mid-70's Rick. One of the nut slots is worn/cut a little too deep. Can the nuts on these be built up with superglue and some shavings from another nut like the bone and Tusq nuts on other guitars can? The Rick nuts seem to be more plasticy and I don't want to mess anything up if this doesn't work well.

My second question involves fret-leveling or replacement. This same guitar has a few frets that are worn fairly flat across the top and two or three of the open position frets have fairly large dents in them. If I set the action high enough it plays okay without any noticeable buzzing but I would like it lower. Is there usually enough fret material to get one fairly substantial leveling out the frets before having to replace them? I think that even if someone couldn't take enough material off to completely eliminate the dents/ that it would play fine if the rest of the frets were leveled out.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 5:28 am

Jeff ... nuts can be repaired ... I use super glue and little pieces of a plastic pick and then when it is dry I use a dremmel tool to carve it out ... also a replacement nut is less than $5 ...

I have an 86 bass that had the frets really ground down ... the only problems with really ground down frets is the round wound strings will damage the finish on the fret board ...

also use nickel wound strings instead of steel ... nickel is a softer metal and is easier on the frets ...

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:07 am

Jeff and Jeff. 1st clean out the top nut slot with the proper size file or sand paper. Now have a small amount of Baking Soda and a thin knife or razor blade ready to use. Place the super glue in the clean slot and quickly put Baking Soda in the slot. The glue will make the Baking Soda dry instantly and very hard. Now you can renotch the top nut. You can do this same type of repair on wood by using the same type of wood dust. Example: sand a piece of Rosewood very fine and collect the dust, use the same method as repairing a top nut except use the wood dust instead od Baking Soda. Most of the time you can replace the worn frets and leave the upper ones, then level and crown them and you'll notice a great difference. There is fret material that is very hard for use with round wound strings.

milo · Post by **milo** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:31 am

Thanks Jeff and Dale,
I'm hoping to avoid replacing the nut at this point since it's a 12-string and I don't have the files to cut the highest strings. Only the "A" is affected so I'll try the superglue trick first.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:47 am

I have never bought fret files--they are ridiculously overpriced. I use "warding" files, which are made for locksmiths and cost about $12.00 for a set of 3 which will do any guitar on the planet.

I also have some X-Acto Zona saws which come in .020" thickness, which I grind down to .010" for high "E" and "B" strings. Zona saws are only about $5.00 each and are very handy. Hobby and craft stores carry them.