spacey
Beepster I know what it's like to start from scratch. I had to in 1990. Fortunately I
had my health...that and determination...maybe more of instinct to survive.
 
My music is nothing more than a hobby although before 1986 I was
a serious musician making a very nice supplement income. As I previously mentioned I
know it's not cheap even for the hobbyist.
 
I know that it is important for one to prioritize even when funds aren't tight and it
is very upsetting when one faces a set-back when a purchase fails, for any reason.
Not receiving satisfactory resolution is salt to the cut. The depth of the cut is what we
each evaluate and respond to.
 
I can see where my advice, although it worked for myself as a hobbyist, does not help you.
What I hope helps you is that you knowing that there are people that do understand, care and
hope you get the tools to continue and succeed.
 
I just built a lap-steel. I think it's a nice one. If it will help I'll mail it to you and you can sell it
here, there or anywhere. PM me where you'd like it to go and receive it with my best wishes Beepster.
 
 
 
 
 

Wow. That is an extremely generous offer and just brightened my day. I couldn't ask you to do that though and if I did end up with a Spacey original I certainly would not sell it. I'll be okay (I've made it this far) and I'm sure there are much more worthy causes it could go to like a charity raffle or donated to a music school for disadvantaged kids. It would be selfish of me to accept charity when so many others, especially in your own country, are hurting (I'm in Canada which did not get hit as hard as the US by the economic meltdown). The truth is if I stopped buying gear right now my finances would be tight but balanced so if I took you up on it I would be a pretty scummy human IMO.
 
Your kind words and benevolence mean more than gear or money could... seriously. Thank you. You are a good man.

Geeze Beepster!
I didn't feel sorry for you..........but that was before I learned you were in Canada!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You knows I'm kiddin'..
It wasn't charity...musicians help one another, that's all.
 
Personally I would have taken the offer and dumped the sucker for
whatever it would turn.
Sleep on it. :)

Hahaha. Yeah, it is indeed a gravy and curd covered hell but we make the best of it what with our funny pom pom hats and wearing socks during sex.
 
Gotta make your own fun, eh?
 
And thanks again. I'll mull it over but a nice guitar like that could really help a less fortunate younger fellow get a leg up. Music saved me from all sorts of dastardly things when I was a young man and if I ever get into a position to again I'd like to put some of my resources into helping others find the creative outlet for their problems like I did. I truly believe music can save lives. Cheers.

Yanno, Spacey. There is one thing that you actually could help me with that would save me some money and/or fix a problem I've been having. I have various guitars with nut issues. Some have been dropped and the nuts have been partially broken (but still usable) and my newer ones have good nuts but the slots are too deep and create buzzing despite me going through proper set up procedures.
 
I've been wanting to get the nuts replaced professionally but am hesitant to bring them into the shop to let some unknown entity mess with them (I have bad experience with repair guys before) and considering it multiple guitars it's just another chunk of money to drop on something I think I could fix myself.
 
Seeing as how they are not guitar models that have readily available precut nuts for sale (like Strats or Gibsons tend to) and that I don't have the tools or skills to cut my own I don't think full on replacements are a good idea.
 
Recently I read somewhere that fixing/raising nuts can be achieved by mixing a combination of crazy glue and baking soda, applying it in various ways for specific tasks then sanding it down to reform the nut. Have you ever done this and do you think it is a viable solution?
 
The newer guitars with the low slots merely need the nut removed, the paste applied to the bottom, dried and sanded then reglued (with wood glue of course... not the crazy glue).
 
The one older guitar however has the corner of the nut chipped off so the high E slot has been compromised so the string can slide out of the slot rather easily and the slot itself was slightly lower (I've been just putting a small piece of glossy cardboard under the string to raise it up but that deadens the string a little). I was thinking I could rebuild the chipped area by applying layers of the crazy glue/baking soda compound until it is high enough to keep the string in place while slightly raising the slot to where it should be. I do have a cheap set of chinese needle files I bought for this type of work and although they aren't actually luthier tools they work pretty well. Once I get the nut reformed I'd just use those to make sure the slot is smoothed out at the right height.
 
So basically... is this a decent plan or am I following "old wives tales for guitarists" type advice from the internet?
 
PS: I am very good with my hands for fine work like this so physical skill nor lack of patience are a problem.
 
Cheers.

And sorry for the threadjack, Bill.

I'll apologize for hyjacking too.....
 
Well Beep let me see...
To answer your question; No I've never repaired a nut, only made them.
 
If I were to improvise then I would find some bone. Seems like that wouldn't be so hard
to find.
I would make one from antler before I'd try patching one.
 
The right tools make it nice but I imagine I could make one with antler, a hacksaw, finger nail file, knife,
and a small piece of fine sanding paper.
 
You have those mooses up there don't ya?....man there's enough in one of those to supply Gibson lol.
Moosehead nuts....Bapu could really do up a t-shirt for that!

Years ago I drank so much of that they gave me a t-shirt.

We ate all the mooses in the great poutine famine of '03, antlers and all.
 
Perhaps I should learn how to properly measure for a nut and see if I can get some custom made but again that'd be some dough and who knows what the results would be. I figure the ones that basically just need to be shimmed won't be a big deal with the glue/baking soda method but you got me thinking...
 
In the posts where they were talking about this method one guy was talking about using bone dust instead of baking soda. I just happen to have a bone blank I was attempting to shape into a nut (I could have made two out of it it was so big and I was trying to widdle it down with just a file buy hand without a table vice or anything... lol) but gave up because it was taking too long. I could start hacking away at it again to generate enough dust for this purpose then continue my crude attempts at completing to use as a final product.
 
What I really need is a dremel and a pile of blanks to practice on. All these guitars have those crummy plastic factory nuts so if I got good enough at it I could do a proper job and replace them all exactly how I want. But yeah I think I definitely could use at least a table vice to hold the darned things. Trying to grip it with my hand for hours on end was not very pleasant once I tried to put it down. lol
 
Cheers, man.

Time....yes it is key. It takes me hours to build a nut but it's something
I wanted to get very good at. I imagine I will always be trying to get there.
 
If I were to attempt repair I too would use bone dust and superglue.
 
Material is choice Beep but I sure like bone. I would sure run a free ad asking
for some deer antlers...somebody will come through and just one set will keep
you busy a long time.