PT-6643-00 on SE McCarty 594

[jreising326]

First PRS Guitar and first post. I really love this guitar but put some locking Gotoh Tuners and tried to replace the Stock Nut w/ the Tusq partnumber above. When I sanded the first nut down, I noticed it was "tilted" towards the headstock. I assumed maybe I didn't sand it properly and ordered a second one, and this time sanded it right up against a second block to keep it square. Still though it is angled and the action is still high despite sanding it to 7.2mm like the stock one. I'm a relative newbie but have installed Graphtechs on several other of my guitars and never experienced anything like this. I gently filed the neck to remove old glue, but maybe there still is some there? I was able to "square it up" with the fret board and crazy glue it in place but there is a small gap on the headstock side or "Top" of the nut. Before doing any more sanding on the Nut or filing the slot I figured I better seek some advice here. Is this nut perhaps cut for 9's instead of 10's? Tone sounds good other than the high action, but not sure I like having that gap there, it's just about enough to get a thumbnail under from the side of the headstock/neck. Thanks in advance!

 

[Wakester]

It could be the depth of cut for each string is different from the original nut. (Cut shallower) the slots may need to be cut deeper, or continue to sand down the total height of the nut until you get a level that works. You could also need to use a finer grade sand paper and sand along the length of the nut and not the width to get it level again.

 

[jreising326]

Just to report back, I removed the nut and used a small needle file to remove the "new" glue, which was just 2 small drops, but under that there was still some glue causing the tilt. I gently filed that down until smooth and nut is level. Action is still a little high, but much better. Didn't glue it in this time as I will play it/measure it tonight and decide how much further I need to file or sand as Wakester suggests. Just FYI the original glue appears to be clear and will result in white dust on the small file, which much more gentle and finer to work with than they one I used previously. $2 at Harbor Freight and all is looking better now. Thanks Wakester!

 

[JasonE]

You need to file the nut slots to get the strings matched up with the radius of the fretboard. The manufacturer of the nut has no idea what the fretboard radius is of the guitar a customer will install the nut on. You can do this by stringing the guitar up and using some feeler gages to see how high the strings are at the first fret. You will need nut slot files to get them to the right height and width for your guitar and strings. The nut slots also need to be filed correctly, meaning that they are typically flat on the fretboard side and angle downward a bit on the headstock side to create a break angle. Making a new nut is in the deep end of the pool of guitar setup work. If you get it wrong it will affect how the strings ring, or don't ring, as well as the playability of the guitar.