Sloppy Nut Slots On New Guitar

[MikeEd]

I recently bought this 2016 LP Traditional. I put some pencil lead in the nut slots to try and make it stay in tune better. After doing that I noticed some of the slots were angled in the wrong direction. If you look at the photo you will notice the B string and especially the G string are angled in the wrong direction. The D string is angles toward the tuning peg and that is OK.

This is a new guitar covered by a warranty. Do you think I should take it back and complain about it?

 

[redcoats1976]

i think i would.if you got it from a shop with a real luthier id get a new nut installed if you like the rest of the guitar.

 

[Thundermtn]

That's weird, I thought that line were all plekked now. The truss rod cover is cracked too. If that was a nos usa guitar there's been some shenanigans, long time to sit on a hanger new.

 

[irocdave12]

Have the tuners ever been changed on the guitar?

 

[BDW60]

That’s got to be about the worst nut I’ve ever seen. Mind boggling that it could have left the factory like that.

 

[redcoats1976]

ive noticed a lot of NGD threads with guitars that are from 2016,2017.in fact my 2016 trad HP was mint when i bought it last week.by any chance are these all stamped DEMO on the back of the headstock? mine came with a 2 year warranty on everything but cosmetic issues,and we know gibson doesnt cover that anyway.although you would kind of think they would have just fixed the nut and sold it way back in 2016...

 

[JMP]

I’d take that as a great opportunity to have a pro make a custom bone nut for it. It’s worth every penny.

 

[LtDave32]

That’s got to be about the worst nut I’ve ever seen. Mind boggling that it could have left the factory like that.

I've seen a bunch of stuff that had made it out of the factory that never should have.

4.5 degree neck angle on an SG.

Neck binding that beveled on the upper outside edge for about 8 inches.

Horrible overspray and orange peel on a LP Standard.

It goes on and on.

You watch the factory videos on YT, and you wonder how anything like that above ever made it out of that environment.

Makes me think that those vids are just for show.

 

[Andrew1225]

That thing will definitely need a new nut lol

Definitely affects playability so I’d complain.

 

[MikeEd]

The shop where I got had a Traditional that I was checking out and the sales person said they had more in the warehouse. He went and grabbed the others. They had 4 or 5 of them ranging from 2016 to 2018. They acted like they were tucked away in the warehouse and just found them. I put it in layaway around September of 2021.

 

[ARandall]

The low E string slot is also too close to the edge of the board.

I'm a bit divided with the G/D slots. This nut actually falls off very quickly after the fretboard, so the string has no support. Many 3+3 angled headstock nuts do actually have straight slots, and in that scenario you have the downward kink point at the nut face, with the side kink at the back of the nut. Otherwise with a slanted nut slot, then you have both down and side kink on the face of the nut......
Which version is better I wonder???

 

[Andrew1225]

The slightly slanted nut slot should always be better for tuning on a Gibson headstock due to head angle and peg placement.

If it were a PRS then a straight slot would be better.

 

[Peter M]

I would return it or get the nut replaced under warranty.

 

[Banastre]

This is a new guitar covered by a warranty. Do you think I should take it back and complain about it?

Yes.

 

[1allspub]

Yeah, that nut is a disaster.

I love Gibson and am able to apologize away a lot of things (that I probably shouldn't) because of that love... but whenever I shop for a Gibson I *always* check the nut because it does seem to be one area that they seem disproportionately screw up. (Which makes no sense, Gibson supposedly PLEKs every guitar, and PLEKing should be basically foolproof, yet somehow..... )

 

[MikeEd]

The low E string slot is also too close to the edge of the board.

I'm a bit divided with the G/D slots. This nut actually falls off very quickly after the fretboard, so the string has no support. Many 3+3 angled headstock nuts do actually have straight slots, and in that scenario you have the downward kink point at the nut face, with the side kink at the back of the nut. Otherwise with a slanted nut slot, then you have both down and side kink on the face of the nut......
Which version is better I wonder???

That's why I am wondering if I should make an issue out of it. How much of the string do you want in contact with the nut? If it's in contact at the edge by the fretboard do you really need it to be in contact through the width of the nut?

 

[redcoats1976]

im pretty sure that would bother me.id either want another guitar or that one fixed right...that nut is an abomination.

 

[ARandall]

Return it for the Low E, and for the falloff. Looking at it again I think the middle slots are all actually sloped up, so the G has an opposite angle to what you'd want - if you're going for any angle.

 

[MikeEd]

That's weird, I thought that line were all plekked now. The truss rod cover is cracked too. If that was a nos usa guitar there's been some shenanigans, long time to sit on a hanger new.

I have discovered that this is not a Traditional as it was sold to me, it is actually a Classic. Someone changed the name plate.

 

[MikeEd]

Have the tuners ever been changed on the guitar?

They appear to be original.