Replace nut and setup.

[lerceon]

Hi all,
My pacifica 112's nut broke and I was wonder where's a good place to have it replaced together with doing a setup (intonation and lowering the action).

I'm using it to play clean only, more jazz/blues (whatever pitiful bits of it I try to make out of it... )

Thanks.

 

[kaiwenny]

You can try going to Standard Value and have Mike to setup for you.

 

[RyanZ]

Standard Value http://www.standardvalue.com.sg/index.php?s=nut

 

[subversion]

Mike also does nut replacement at an affordable rate

if you play clean & utilizes the neck pickup more often, a nut (preferably bone) replacement is highly recommended.

 

[Phil]

Hi Sub,

With regards to your post above mine,

Can you explain why;

bone nut + neck pup = more mojo

So interesting, I've never linked the two before.

 

[subversion]

the neck pickup manifests the instrument's neck properties/resonance more than the bridge pickup- if you wanna hear tonal difference between fretboard wood (eg: maple vs rosewood), you can do so via this resource. the nut is a part of the guitars neck which contributes to resonance simply because it comes into contact with the strings & the neck itself. i've had the opportunity to hear a metal & non-metal nut in use in the same guitar & the ouput was markedly different.

bone is an organic material which is inherently brighter than an average plastic (or its derivitives) nut; you can drop a bone nut & a plastic nut on the floor to hear the difference. however, this inherent tonal property is not going to be obvious if one plays with excessive drive/distortion.

i had Mike installed a bone nut in my Ibanez SZR520:

some other comments here if you can spare the time:http://theguitaraddict.blogspot.com/2008/12/nut.html

 

[Phil]

Thanks for the reply. It makes sense now.

Mike does do good work, he replaced the nut on my guitar too.

Have you tried TUSQ? Man-made ivory, without the inherent problems of the real thing yet retaining all the tonal characteristics of ivony/bone.

 

[subversion]

tusq- not yet. i'm happy with the default nuts of my instruments, just that, for the SZ520, i was itching to hear something different... but my Fende bass may get a nut make-over soon

 

[taypeng81]

sorry to hijack this thread.. i dont want to start another thread on the same topic. i just collected my strat back from a shop for installing a nut and setup

when i went down to the shop to collect the strat, there was fret buzz on every string...if it was a minor buzz that didnt come thru the amplifier i wouldn't mind. but the buzzing started on the 2nd fret and it rings aloud (the ringing/buzzing sound when the string hits the frets).

when i quizzed the tech, he said fret buzz was normal. if i wanted to remove the buzz, i have to either raise the action or do a fret dress. i didn't refute his expert opinion (and i dont mean this sarcastically). i just took my strat home.

what im really puzzled was his statement - fret buzz is normal because its a fretted instrument. does anyone have any experience with this? my expectation of paying money to someone to do a setup for me would mean the guitar comes back in good playing condition... or was i expecting too much?

 

[gsonique]

..am no expert but i see a problem ...
A Strat nut is 'slimmer' and easy to over 'file' compared to the rest.

There are "tricks" praticed by pro's to get best fit and this usually comes with many years of experince filling nut to suit guitar/customer.

Now looking at another scenario...if your neck was removed from body and kept for days without string tention...it goes belly up on you and may need truss rod tweaking.

 

[ShredCow]

what im really puzzled was his statement - fret buzz is normal because its a fretted instrument. does anyone have any experience with this? my expectation of paying money to someone to do a setup for me would mean the guitar comes back in good playing condition... or was i expecting too much?

Metal strings, metal frets - if your strings NEVER touch the frets, you'll never have any rattle. But seriously... if its a low action setup... metal strings, metal frets... a little hard to avoid rattle right?

And when the rattle gets really bad - fret buzz and you will hear it thru the amp.

I play with low action and .09 strings... add a floyd rose for even looser tension and you get the picture? My guitar has fret rattle. No fret buzz.

So in your case - if it comes out of the amp - I'd go back to the Tech and ask him to re-do it till there's no buzz being amplified thru the amp. Of course, be practical - don't judge using ham-fisted slugging if you're a light picker, don't use a 1 cm thick pick if you use .88 mm picks.

 

[KayCee]

Shredcow, thanks for that. It essentially summed up what I was going to say. I was the one who worked on that 'fret buzz' guitar and through the amp it sounded fine - that was my point at the shop. The neck also had a vintage style truss rod (no shrink wrap around it) which would 'rattle' when you hit the low strings. Either way, this is not heard from the amp as I tried it extensively. I suggested to raise the action because if you dig in really hard with the pick you will hear some fret rattle like Shredcow has pointed out. If its fret buzz, the note would be dead and not ring out properly/at all. Another thing to note is the action of the guitar is considered low: 3/64" (1.19mm) and 1/8" (1.59mm) on the treble and bass side respectively.

Taypeng, if you want to alter your setup I'd gladly do it for you but bear in mind the things I just said. I'm not some voodoo artiste that can setup a fretted instrument without some 'fret rattle'. Not being an a**, just managing expectations.

KC

 

[taypeng81]

yes, i agree..i wasnt expecting no rattle, in fact i know its normal when the action is low. i've played with other strats with low action and noticed some buzzing.
but the rattling was on mine was such that it was...unbearable/unplayable...

hey kaycee, pls dont take this the wrong way. im not trying to be anal about this buzzing but when i went back to play, the buzzing (correction - rattling) was up to the first fret...i adjusted the action slightly and its better.

the purpose of my question is as you have pointed out - to manage my own expectations. thanks for the clarification

 

[Whitestrat]

but the rattling was on mine was such that it was...unbearable/unplayable...

anyway i did raise the action slightly on my own and it took most the rattling out. at that point, when the tech made that statement, what went through my mind was "you mean this is amount of rattling is normal?" you know what i mean?

There's a lot of factors that lead to a string buzz. Low action is only one of it. Low string tension that comes from the lack of string trees which possibly gives a wider vibrating amplitude is one. A not so straight neck (and I don't mean lightly bowed) is another. Worse still, uneven frets, or lagi jialat, popped out frets are equally bad when playing fretted notes.

When you say you have buzz, are you referring to open strings? or fretted notes?

Raising that one string's action should never be a compromise. A well dressed fret level or a well sorted out neck should technically be able to handle strings set at the correct radius level. Even a 7.25" radius neck.

My Silhouette Specials have painfully low action, with some string buzz, but no dead spots. And the strings are at the correct radiused heights. A consistent 1.5mm from the 22nd fret for all 6 strings. Plays like a dream.

 

[ShredCow]

That's the thing ain't it?

The customer's touch is different from the tech's touch... and what works with Hands Set A might not work with Hands Set B.

I've had my own guitar played by a tech in front of me - no buzz - then I play, there's buzz!

taypeng81, what I do to avoid such situations - because I dislike having to return to the tech to get things redone - is to just sit and play for say 10 mins at the shop. A-OK = usually A-OK then.

 

[taypeng81]

i should make a correction - i should be using the term "rattling" not "buzzing" as buzzing = no sound. mine was rattling - strings were hitting the frets, causing a "piack" sound haha...

 

[gsonique]

Best to bring it back to KC ..... no point rambling about it here.
You know as a tech sometimes i am lost to all the customer preferances ...so give some slack buddy. These things are made of wood and the elements are not mercifull either,,,things can go either way you know...
Go have some coffee/beer with KC and get it done proper to your fancy.

KC ...why so low ?
For me there is no thumb rule for settings as guitar music is not sports!
Yup ..may have to do rework sometimes ...but hey custom tweak is achieved ...now that is priceless.
This way, i keep away corksniffers too...
Set it to rock ...imo.

 

[ShredCow]

My Silhouette Specials have painfully low action, with some string buzz, but no dead spots. And the strings are at the correct radiused heights. A consistent 1.5mm from the 22nd fret for all 6 strings. Plays like a dream.

Actually, I gotta add... your guitars have quite a stiff string tension. You use .10s right? They feel rather stiff to me... and I think that helps in the reducing rattle/buzz with the low action you have.

 

[Whitestrat]

mine was rattling - strings were hitting the frets, causing a "piack" sound haha...

I LOVE that "piak" sound!!!!:mrgreen:

 

[gsonique]

A consistent 1.5mm from the 22nd fret for all 6 strings. Plays like a dream.

For me that sucks as i can't dig in ..hammer..thunder strike ...you know!!