[J Kennedy]

Friends,

Tweaking my Strat which had a couple flaws from the factory, one of which was the cut being too deep in the nut at the low E string. Fixed now and here’s the way to go if you ever need to fine tune the nut. Works on metal and plastics. Where you might run into this is in case of a factory defect or if you are adjusting the depth of a string and cut too deep. Cutting the nut is best done with a blade from a saw plastic cutter (round needle blade type).

Use a 5 minute, good grade epoxy and a sliver of newspaper. Also needed a nail the thickness of any wound string you are adjusting and some cooking oil.

To build up the groove, precut a square of newspaper the size that will sink into the contour of the groove covering the length without going over the top after being seated. Clean the groove with alcohol or acetone and mix the epoxy. Soak the newspaper sliver in the epoxy and make sure that the piece goes translucent from being soaked. Apply the paper to the groove with a pin and quickly clean off any excess.

Have the string diameter nail slightly greased with oil and watch the original blob of epoxy to see when it becomes tack free (bulk will harden slightly ahead of the newspaper patch because of heat generated in the blob). You’ve then got about a minute to press the nail into the groove and get a channel formed. Wait too long and the epoxy will still deform but be weak. Wait about an hour before putting the string back. Use the needle blade to cut down any excess. Works great.

John