Improved sound, playability and intonation are all benefits of a properly cut, well fitted nut. String height, spacing and nut material all play important roles in producing a nut that, together with a good setup, will allow the instrument to perform at it's peak.

This page deals with repairing relatively minor flaws, wear or damage done to an existing nut before the decision is made to fully replace it, either as a matter of economics or a preference in keeping an instrument as original as possible. In upcoming pages I'll go into more detail on how to properly remove an old nut, prep the slot and install a new one. With a little patience and the right tools, you'll be able to handle nut work like a pro!

It's important to mention that before doing any work on your instrument, it should be on a stable bench of some sort, under lots of light and have a reasonable setup to begin with.

Flaws. Overhangs, excessive top material and sharp edges are usually cosmetic in nature and fairly easy to remedy.

First, remove the strings or position them out of the way to provide free access to the nut area. Make sure the nut is securely in place to begin with. If it isn't, gently pull it out, put a couple small drops of white glue on the bottom and reset it. Lining it up squarely, you might find the overhang's gone - that's a good thing.

Throw the strings back on to apply pressure and let it set for a few hours. Once the glue's cured and the nut's rigidly in place again, it's off to the next step. Mask around the nut using a low-tack masking or painter's tape to prevent damage to the surrounding area, especially lacquered fingerboards. In the case of an overhang, use a small, fine-cutting file and carefully remove excess material until the nut ends are flush with the neck. Check your work often.Some types of plastic can clear much faster than other nut materials, such as bone, and you can wind up scratching or gouging the neck finish.

With excessive top material, which can feel uncomfortable especially around the edges, you can use a flat file that's a little more course to bring the material down to an acceptable level. Be cautious of the surrounding area - one bad slip and you're into neck refinishing.

Without getting into exact string height just yet, let's say an acceptable level is when there's a little room, say the width of a plain G string, from the top of the string in the slot to the top of the nut.

I'll go into more accurate specs on this in the future so stay tuned.

Next, with your fine file, trim up the corners so they're smooth with the curve of the neck and remove any scratches from rough filing. To finish up, polish the nut starting with 400, then 600, and lastly 1000 grit sandpapers. Sand lightly around the corners and that takes care of the problem with sharp edges. Remember, different materials produce different results so take it easy.

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Wear. As guitar nuts age, they can feel quite comfortable but the slots can become low enough to cause an irritating buzz on the open strings and produce a loss in tone. It's pretty easy to determine which ones are the culprits, they're the ones that buzzzz when you give them a good open pluck and sometimes you can actually see them riding the first fret. Usually it's only one or two strings which show these symptoms and to keep things simple, we'll deal with rebuilding string height on a limited level.

We'll need some crazy glue, some powdered nut material or filings (preferably of the same composition as the nut itself) and something to cut the slots with. A fine-toothed hacksaw blade ground down to the right thickness will do, as will an X-acto sawblade.

After identifying the bad slots, get the strings out of the way, mask off the work area and using one of the cutting blades, carefully clean out the old slots exposing new material.

What follows next is somewhat of a trade secret but it's a pretty basic principal, it's like body filler for nuts! Have a small flat-ended tool handy, like a jewelers screwdriver, and all the other materials you'll need laid out for quick access.

Put a tiny drop of crazy glue in the freshly cleaned slot, careful not to let it run. Immediately scoop up a fair bit of filler material and drop it in the glue. Compact it into the glue by rolling the shaft of the small screwdriver in the slot - try to work quickly because this stuff sets up fast! Follow the same procedure for each worn slot. Give the filler a couple of minutes to set up then carefully remove any excess material by either filing or scraping it away.

Now that you've got a newly rebuilt nut-slot, it's time to cut it to the right depth.

There's lots of ways to do this and it can be a little tricky. The most important thing to remember is if you go too low, you'll have to start over. I've developed my own particular ways of determining when the slots are deep enough through years of experience and, as I said earlier, I'll go into more detail as this page is updated.

After the slot's been filled you should still be able to see where it originally was.

Take your slot cutting tool and make sure there's at least enough of a groove to grab the string tuned near to pitch. Loosen the string off a bit and move it out of the way. Carefully work the slot deeper until the string, near pitch again, seems to be sitting at the right level. This is really going to be a matter of feel or intuition for now until you gain a little more experience and information. When you're satisfied with the results, polish up the nut, put a little bit of Teflon oil or pencil lead in the slots for lubrication, tune the instrument up to pitch and away you go!

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Damage. Once again we'll deal with cosmetic elements because if the nut isn't structurally sound, it must be replaced.

Things like small chips that don't affect the integrity of the nut aren't much of a problem whereas cracks, severe chips and missing chunks will warrant a total replacement.

Minor chips can be filled and buffed out using the methods described above. Don't forget the masking tape! Build up the damaged area using successive applications of glue and filler until the material is slightly above the contour you want to recreate. Level it out with a fine file and polish it up. You might find small pits and or discoloration when your finished but at least the nut is uniform again - and it's a relatively fast, economic alternative to installing a new one!

As a final comment, the intention of this page is to give do-it-yourselfers a kick-start in basic guitar repair and, for those of you not interested in working on your own instruments, a little help in spotting quality work when you need it. Stay in touch and stay informed!