The strings between are at graduated heights following the fretboard radius. Double-edge Nut Files are good for this job. Take your time — it's easy to "blow a nut" at this stage! Save on Over 900 Items, Learn About Guitar Nut + Saddle Setup + Repair, Find the proper fret position with the official Stewart-MacDonald Fret Calculator, Stewart-MacDonald is PCI compliant and validated for secure e-commerce. Take the slots to their final height with all the strings on and tuned to pitch. Lay out the spacing Calipers are a big help in accurately sizing the nut. A Radius Gauge is a good template for drawing this curved line for top of the nut. Leave the strings on, to provide clamping pressure. (Besides, you shouldn't rush this!) If the saddle has two hex screws, be sure to turn them the same amount so that the saddle stays level. Choose your nut material For example, you can cut a .043" slot with a .042" file by moving it around a bit. Final-sand and contour the nut's shape using ever-finer sandpaper (220-, 320-, 400-, and all the way up to 1200 if you wish). Every guitar is different, and each saddle should be made accordingly. Now you can collapse the nut inward on itself and remove the pieces. Dan Erlewine, of Stewart-MacDonald's R&D Team, walks you through one of the key skills in any repair shop. To avoid marring the guitar, consider shaping the slots with the nut blank held in the Nut and Saddle Vise. Final-sand and contour the nut's shape using ever-finer sandpaper (220-, 320-, 400-, and all the way up to 1200 if you wish). Don't try to final-shape it yet — at this point, you want to leave yourself enough material to work with when you're fine-shaping later. Choose nut slotting files that are the same size or no more that a few thousands larger than your individual string gauges. Tremolos work well with slippery nut materials like Tusq and Black Tusq XL made by GraphTech. File the nut to the shape you've drawn. 1. File the nut to the shape you've drawn. A good measurement is .050", or about 1/16", in from the top of the beveled ends of the first fret. This way, the nut will break out of the finish on your scored lines, and chipping the finish will be kept to a minimum. Dan Erlewine, of Stewart-MacDonald's R&D Team, walks you through making and installing a new nut. Carefully square up the blank to fit the nut slot by using sandpaper on a flat surface (use double-stick tape or self-adhesive sandpaper). This quick and simple upgrade will have an amazing affect on your instruments tone, harmonic content, and playability. To carve those nice curves for each end of the saddle, I use a small spindle sander attached to my drill press (Fig. Don't try to final-shape it yet — at this point, you want to leave yourself enough material to work with when you're fine-shaping later. If you make it more of a blade edge, the string will tear through the bone and make a notch, and the windings tend to hang up as well. The starting shape of a saddle under a wound E should have a bearing surface with a radius that's greater than the windings of the string, at the very least. Work carefully up to your scribed lines with the smooth side of the Nut Shaping File. The top of the frets should project about into the middle of the bridge height. To avoid marring the guitar, consider shaping the slots with the nut blank held in the Nut and Saddle Vise. Saddle blanks: Saddle blanks have some shaping done but some shaping will need to be done as well as final fit for length, height and thickness. You can also use the saddles to adjust the intonation of your guitar. The .010" Gauged Saw is excellent for starting slots. The following figure shows the location of the hex screws. As a starting point, place the blank in the slot and trace the shape of the fretboard onto it. Looking straight down on the top of the nut, use the String Spacing Rule to find the proper spacing for the remaining four strings. Scrape out old glue residue, and make the slot square and clean without removing wood. Scrape out old glue residue, and make the slot square and clean without removing wood. The .010" Gauged Saw is excellent for starting slots. (Our frets in this example are .040" tall, so when we add .030" for string clearance we get a slot height of .070".) When the slots are well defined, but not to final depth, put the nut back in the slot and string up. The top of the nut will be shaped to follow the radius of the fretboard. To do this, cut it lengthwise (across the string slots), stopping when you're almost down to the bottom. Turn the screw clockwise to raise the saddle; turn it counter-clockwise to lower the saddle. Saddle slabs: Saddle slabs are simply a block of material that can be used to make the entire saddle (or anything else) from scratch. You usually don't have much to work with, but you at least need this much. If the saddle has two hex screws, be sure to turn them the same amount so that the saddle stays level. The strings between are at graduated heights following the fretboard radius. Follow this fine-sanding by polishing with a soft rag and polishing compound. DON'T MISS A BEAT, sign up for StewMac news, Black Friday Sale! As a starting point, place the blank in the slot and trace the shape of the fretboard onto it. Double-edge Nut Files are good for this job. Stack the feeler gauges to this combined measurement, and file the slots until the file just nicks the feeler gauges.