Pbassred Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) I still occasionally play the partscaster I built 40 years ago. I'm confident to do truss rods and set action. I've never paid someone else. On the other hand, how do I know if I've been doing it right? I've just taken on 2 new guitars: casino (used) and squire tele. I think they could both do with polishing up of the nut slots to make tuning more precise. I can buy files or take it to a repairer. Thoughts? Edited March 8 by Pbassred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 47 minutes ago, Pbassred said: I still occasionally play the partscaster I built 40 years ago. I'm confident to do truss rods and set action. I've never paid someone else. On the other hand, how do I know if I've been doing it right? I've just taken on 2 new guitars: casino (used) and squire tele. I think they could both do with polishing up of the nut slots to make tuning more precise. I can buy files or take it to a repairer. Thoughts? Proper nut files are extraordinarily expensive, and the cheaper ones not really good at all for that job. If it's just to get rid of the 'jerking' of the string over the nut when tuning, a light sprinkle of graphite powder does a fine job. Some folk get the graphite from quality pencil lead, but it's easy enough to obtain. Amazon propose various versions, as a little flaçon of 50ml for 9€86, or a 1 litre tub for 10€10, and everything in between. Try that first, if unsmooth tuning is the issue..? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 22 minutes ago, Dad3353 said: Proper nut files are extraordinarily expensive, They really are, especially for an only one or two time use. However, if the nut is already cut to the right height, you could simply wrap a piece of light grit paper (1000 should be abrasive enough) around a string (best to use the adjacent, thinner string for this - for instance, the A string for the E slot) and give it a straight pull through. This should remove any snags and then you can add some graphite as Dad suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
