Installing Acoustic Guitar Nuts: Adjustments, Shimming, and Hand Cutting. Nut & Saddle Series Pt 2/3

In this video we continue our series looking at the nuts and saddle materials used in acoustic guitars. We've been focusing on plastic, bone, and Tusq, and in this video, we are focusing on proper nut installation. We talk about the proper installation techniques for all three types of nut materials, of course, however, we also talk about what to do if your nut is too high, and I share a great method for shimming a nut if it's too low. I also show how to cut a bone nut from scratch and I don't skip any step! A lot of times, in these nut cutting videos I feel like they skip a bunch of things. In the next video we'll do the sound samples. I'm really eager to hear the difference so expect to hear that soon!


0:30 Recap and Introduction
2:40 First up is Plastic
6:00 How to properly shim a nut
10:14 If your nut is too high
11:16 Let's talk about installing a Bone Nut
14:12 Determining how to space the strings
19:22 A few tips before you start cutting nut for the first time
23:22 Let's cut the nut slots already!
26:18 Now let's cut slots to final depth: Tap Test
30:15 Let's talk about shaping and final steps
33:36 Last step for bone nut installation: glue
34:37 How to choose the right Tusq nut
37:23 Summary and look forward


Nut and Saddle Series Part 1: Saddles -    • Upgrading Acoustic Guitars - Which Saddle ...  
Nut and Saddle Series Part 3 - Sound Comparison -    • Plastic, Bone, and Tusq: Sound Comparison ...  


Important links:

My Instagram -   / millerscustomguitars  

My Facebook Page -   / millerscustomguitars  

Check out my Podcast! https://n1podcastobsessedwithobsessio...



Ted Woodford's Youtube Channel (The best source for luthiery edutainment on all of Youtube!)
   / @twoodfrd  

Highline Guitars Youtube Channel
   / @highlineguitars  

Stewmac's Youtube Channel
   / @stewmac  

Graphtech's Tusq Nut Selection Page (Scroll to the bottom)
https://graphtech.com/collections/tus...

How to Make Your Guitar Play Great by Dan Erlewine
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools...

Tapered Nut files from Philadelphia Luthier:
https://www.philadelphialuthiertools....

Nut files from Stewmac:
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools...

Mitchell Abrasive Cord from Stewmac:
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools...