Epi Nut replacement on a budget w/pics

[wwit]

Hey

I have had my Epi Bonomassa LP for some time now. Great Guitar. But 1 flaw it took me a little while to figure out is why I could not get my action as low as I would like. Long story short it was the factory Corian nut. Cut far to deep.
As you can see the strings are way deep into the nut. So on that end the action was wicked low and no matter what I did with the bridge or truss rod, I couldnt tweak it to my liking.



Once I thought that I was on the right track, I quickly made up a .020 shim out of an old credit card and put it under the factory nut and wha-la!! I was able to set the bridge and had nice low action w/o fret buzz the entire length of the fretboard. Honestly I would have just left it this way, but there was a hint of a banjo-ish resonance from not glueing it all together. And I realy didnt like the ghet...er um craptacular fix with the CC shim either.

I ordered a pre-sloted bone nut from StewMac. Part Number 6012-VS which does show for Gibson. Only size difference from the Epi corian and the Gibson bone is from the fretboard to trussrod cover. The new bone nut is just slighly narrower so there is just a hint of a gap. But no worries. The strings and glue will hold it just fine against the fretboard.

Though the above worked for me, if you plan to replace your nut, make sure to order the proper one. Do your research.

Old nut in rear, new bone nut in front.



Hears where the budget part comes in. Unless your compleatly inept with tools or filty rich and cant be bothered to do this yourself, replacement nuts are very straight forward with just basic tools. My total time involved was under 30 minutes, excluding the dry time for the glue. Below are all thats needed. Replacement nut obviously. Chain saw file and gas welding tip cleaners and white glue.



The chainsaw file is cheap. It can be found at any hardware store, Lowes or HD. I think I only paid $3 for this one years ago. This type of file cuts smoothly and only takes a few light passes to match the ends. I also use it in the nut slot to clean the old glue residue left from the original nut. The tip cleaners can be found at any of the same type stores if they carry welding accesories. I think I paid $7 for that. I like elmers white glue for nuts. You dont want or need a super adhesive. Use something too heavy duty and if you need to replace again, it might remove a huge chunk of wood upon removal.

Gently clean out old glue residue with file.



Now dry fit the new bone nut. I already checked the height, but never hurts to dry fit and double check.



Here I have taped the old and new together and am gently gliding them back and forth to the the end lengths matched up. Only takes a minute of passes and checking every 4-5 just to make sure im not over doing it.



Just a minimal amount of glue is needed. The gap in the middle matches the gap where the truss rod is.



And once in place, put the strings on immediatley and tighten them up some to hold the nut in place as the glue dries. Best bet is to leave it set overnight to give the glue a good cure time.

Then its a matter of using the welding tip cleaners to clean up the string slots as needed.

So I hope this might help any of you that want or need to replace a nut. Lots of cheap plastic ones out there from the factory. Do your research and dont yell at me if you screw it up...lol...YMMV.

[Morkolo]

Nice work, did you end up rounding the edges after or did you leave them sharp? I forgot to round them the first time I did a nut and kept catching my hand in it, makes a big difference in the look and feel of the finished product.

[wwit]

Originally Posted by Morkolo

Nice work, did you end up rounding the edges after or did you leave them sharp? I forgot to round them the first time I did a nut and kept catching my hand in it, makes a big difference in the look and feel of the finished product.

I take the sharp corners off when I get the ends filed down.

I finish rounding them and cleaning slots on the guitar after the glue set. I mask it off with painters tape so I dont file off the paint by accident. I find it a lot easier to finish it on the guitar.

These pre slotted bone nuts from Stewmac are the cats meow. They are realy much easier to use then plain blanks.

[Bigneil]

good job there, a nut upgrade is so cheap and easy, and makes a real difference to the tone and the playability of your guitar if it's done right.

few months back I bought a bone blank at the music shop and put it away for a rainy day. well a rainy day came around and the nut on my old G400 was crying out for an upgrade. I don't really have the right tools for the job but I figured I would just dive in with some sandpaper and a needle file and see what happened. I hope you don't mind if I stage a mini theadjack, but I took a few of pics as I went along.









It worked out so well once the final adjustments were made, that I immediately did all my other electrics which had nasty plastic ones on.

[2themax]

Probably a dumb question but what kind of nut comes stock on an EPI LP standard - is it plastic? Mine is an 08' Great post and lots of detailed pix, very much appreciated.

[Alex Moody]

Originally Posted by 2themax

Probably a dumb question but what kind of nut comes stock on an EPI LP standard - is it plastic? Mine is an 08' Great post and lots of detailed pix, very much appreciated.

It will be plastic.

[Bigneil]

Originally Posted by 2themax

Probably a dumb question but what kind of nut comes stock on an EPI LP standard - is it plastic? Mine is an 08' Great post and lots of detailed pix, very much appreciated.

stock ones are plastic...in fact they are hollow inside too. YUCK! tone suck.

I like the bone nuts, but a lot of guys like the tusq nuts which come with the string grooves pre-cut.

P.S, I can give you a couple of really good links if you like

[Trewblue]

Very nicely done Neil. You made it look easy. I guess if you take your time and pay attention you CAN'T screw it up.

[nckcard]

Originally Posted by Bigneil

stock ones are plastic...in fact they are hollow inside too. YUCK! tone suck.

I like the bone nuts, but a lot of guys like the tusq nuts which come with the string grooves pre-cut.

P.S, I can give you a couple of really good links if you like

I would appreciate some very good links, this looks like something I'll have to do as well.

[IndianScout]

very nice work, bet that helps your guitar stay in tune much better too..

a nice lesson for you other guitar players who have tuning problems

[Bigneil]

Originally Posted by nckcard

I would appreciate some very good links, this looks like something I'll have to do as well.

OK, I Have two.

Here is my more amateur attempt in more deatail.
Dust 'n' Bones - Gibson Guitar Board

and here is a link to another tutorial which Is really good, a lot more pro than my one.
Beater Guitar Part 5 - Gibson Guitar Board

[2themax]

Hey, thanks for the great info... it will come in handy.

Max