Nut replacement. Help!

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Nut replacement. Help!

Hello friends!

I´m going to need to replace the nut on my ESP Snakebyte. The low E string slot was cut a bit lower, making it buzzin when I play the string open. I was planning to get a pre cut nut on stewmac and then send it to a tech to do the job. However, I don´t have a clue which nut to buy.  Looking at the pictures, the nut on my guitar is the same shape of the one on the bottom of the item picutre. It has this kind of 1/4 circle shape on the sides.

Could you guys give me a help?

 

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Nuts_and_Saddles/Slotted_Unbleached_Bone_Nut.html

 

Pushead

Just take the guitar to your tech.  He'll either have or order what is right for the guitar.

Typically, I'd stay away from a pre-made nut.  Your tech will have the tools and should have the experience to make a correctly sized and spaced nut for the guitar.  There are three reputable luthiers by me, $35 USD is the going price.  There's no point in spending $20 after shipping to buy a nut that might save you $10 on the job.

Eduardo M.

Thanks Pushead, you´re right.

 I´ll let the tech do the whole thing.

I´m a bit afraid to this to the guitar. I heard about the CA glue and baking soda trick. The problem I have its only with the Low E. Do you think its better try this method, or the best case scenario it´s go for a nut replacement? The thing that bugs me its the lacquer finish on the edge of the fretboard. I dont know if all ESP models has it, but on my guitar the neck lacquer finish goes on the sides of the fretboard and nut. I guess this will make a lot easier to chip the finish when removing it. I´ll be very pissed if it happens.

I never had to  change anything on my guitars. Is the nut replacing a normal situation for any luthier?

Pushead

A reputable tech won't have an issue.  Ask other musicians in your area for someone they recommend.

In the 20-somesuch years I've been playing, I've had the nuts replaced on 10 or so guitars.  Sometimes they break, sometimes they wear down, and sometimes they're just crap from the factory. It's not a big deal.

Eduardo M.

Have you ever replaced a nut on a ESP guitar?

I have a tech I can trus to do this job. I´ll give him a call next week. I know he´s not working until 01/05/15. 

 

I was reading about nut action around the web and I found this trick with baking soda and CA glue to fill nut slots that was cutted too low. Should I give it a try before going for something more complex like replacing the nut? Does it affect something with the strings like returning to pitch after bending and things like that?

Pushead

Yes an ESP and two LTDs.  It happens.

Try the baking soda, but $35 for a complete fix and not a work around seems the better decision in my world.

Eduardo M.

I put a very little piece of paper inside the nut slot, just to raise the string a little bit to see what happens, and the problem was solved. So the problem is the nut slot depth.

My only concern about replacing the nut is the possibility to chip the finish aoround it. The nut has lacquer all around it and I don´t know if this can make it risky to remove the nut without chipping the finish. 

I noticed James Hetfield has a lot of this buzzing thing when playing live, just like my guitar. I don´t have much experiences with guitars and I don´t know anyone who plays here in my area ( ppl around here just dont give a damn about guitars), so I never know what is normal and what is not regarding guitars. Could you please just listen to the track I uploaded in my soundcloud profile? Its the Enter Sandman track, live by Metallica. Ah the intro of the song you can hear James´s guitar sound buzzing on open and freted notes. Thats exactly what happens to my guitar.

I can control the buzz if I pluck the strings very soflty, thats what I try to do when I´m playing clean without distortion.

I like a to have a low string action on my guitars, around 1.3mm on Low E   and   1.0mm on High E at 12th fret.

All my guitar has a buzzing sound. But my ESP buzzes a lot more than the others.

 

So, please check the song and tell me what to you think.

Don´t bother checking the other tracks I recorded. It was recorded with Iphone, so its just crap! lol

Thank you!

Link:

https://soundcloud.com/edumiguel

Pushead

The guitar shouldn't have the string buzz like that.  But a lot of people put up with a bit of string buzz in order to have lower string action.

I'd still take the guitar to a tech in your area for a complete setup and talk with him about your concerns with the nut.  See if he has any recommendations for you.

Eduardo M.

Thanks!

I'll take it to a tech next week. 

I was thinking about about the string buzz. The buzz sound goes through the amp when I play clean.  Does it affect the sound when I play with distortion? I never noticed anything but i was wondering about it. 

 

 

Pushead

Sure it does.  But it gets lost in the noise of the rest of the distortion.

Eduardo M.

But its possible to actually hear any negative effect from the buzzind sound while playing with distortion? 

Christopher B.

What kind of graph tech nut for replacement on a esp ltd te 200?

Best regards,

Big boogie ‍♂️

 

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