REPAIR

[Stephen Silva]

BUILD UP BONE NUT SLOT: I have a new high end baritone guitar that is amazing, but the second string nut slot is just a tad too deep. I am getting a tiny amount of buzz on the open string when it is plucked with moderate force. I would like to try to build-up that string slot without changing the other (5). I prefer to not make a new nut without first trying to do something with this one. QUESTION: Has anyone had success with filling a nut string slot with a mixture of bone powder and some type of adhesive bonding agent?

[Aaron Helt]

Baking soda and ca glue. But I’ve found it to be a stop gap/temp solution. Never lasted that long for me.

[David King]

Dental composite is what you want along with the blue light source to cure it. Try your dentist first then Ebay. It has a short shelf life so dentists are often having to dump out old stock especially of the lesser used shades. That said I've never tried it and I probably wouldn't bother either. I generally build up a few layers of CA on the bottom of the nut and recut all the high string slots.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Baking soda and CA is easy to do and easy to re do as necessary. Bone and CA might hold up longer.
You could file a wider slot and fit a piece of bone into it and recut the string slot. It's more work but could last as long as the rest of the slots.

[Bob Gramann]

I’ve been doing the dental composite with eBay stuff for a couple of years. So far, it seems permanent. It sure is easier than remaking the nut. My experience with the CA plus anything fills in the nut slots is that they are very temporary (but useful when you only have a minute).

[Steven Smith]

I’ve been doing the dental composite with eBay stuff for a couple of years. So far, it seems permanent. It sure is easier than remaking the nut. My experience with the CA plus anything fills in the nut slots is that they are very temporary (but useful when you only have a minute).

I've also been using dental composite for over a year since I got a kit in one of the MIMF auctions here (Thanks Matt!). I used it on one of my daily players over a year ago thinking I would go back and make a new nut; I play a lot and change strings every few weeks but so far have not needed to replace the nut and I cut the nut slots very low. Before I got the dental composite kit my low cost save was to CA a 0.020" bone shim to the bottom of the nut and then recut the slots. The shims are available from LMI and also good for raising saddles. I consider either method to be a permanent repair and a good way to save my clients some money. I feel the baking soda and CA method has it's place too but is only a temporary solution.

[Mark Wybierala]

I've yet to try the dental composite but it sounds very cool. I either elevate the entire nut with a shim and recut all slots or I use a 4-corner file, cut a vee, and use CA to bond a donor vee shaped insert.

[Carl Dickinson]

I asked my dentist and she gave me a UV light and charger. They change out those tools fairly often. Got some resin on Ebay cheap. It was past the expiration date but doesn't seem to matter. Works great for me.

[Alan Carruth]

Another way is to use the baking soda and CA to build up the nut from the bottom, and then file the other slots down. Use tape to make a dam around the bottom of the nut, spread on a layer of CA, and put on some baking soda. Allow that to harden, and sand/file it down level. It's visible, of course, but a lot more durable than building up the low slot.