£3/$4 Guitar Nut Slot File HACK! | quick tips EP1 DR-NERD
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- čas přidán 30. 01. 2020
- #guitars #hacks # howto
Quick Tip time! in this video I'm showing how I created a set of precision guitar nut slot files for just £3/$4! amzn.to/3csfec6 Guitar nut files can be really expensive for a quality set, plus there not the sort of thing your local hardware shop is going to stock, so in this episode I'm showing how to make a set out of feeler gauges which are commonly available and really cheep!
Quick Tips is a mini series I'm producing looking at guitar tips, hacks and tricks which are too brief to make into a full length 10min+ episode.
~My Playing Gear~
-Custom oil finish Strat with Fender USA Neck+Middle pickups and Catswhiskers 'Steely' Bridge pickup
-250w Carlsbro head and 4x12"
~My Filming Gear~
Pentax K500 DSLR
HTC 10
Vivitar Action Camera
Pentax 50mm f1.7 lens
28mm f2.8 de-clicked aperture prime lens
50mm f1.8 de-clicked aperture lens
Black Magic DaVinci Resolve 15 NLE (free version)
Sony ECM-44B lapel microphone
LD Systems D1011 Supercardioid condenser microphone
Shure SM58
Sony ECM Z200 on camera shotgun microphone
Focusrite Scarlet 8i6 audio interface
Neewer NW-882 cardioid condenser microphone
Presonus Studio One DAW
Reaper DAW
Van Damm cables
Music: Daniel Read + CZcams library tracks
If I’ve used any other content and not credited it above, then please accept my apology. If I’ve used your content and forgot to credit it, then please send me an email and I’ll try to add it to the video description asap. It’s quite easy to lose track of clips when editing so thank you for your understanding.
Any other media is either copyright DR-Nerd or used under fair usage. - Hudba
I just want to say that having seen your video , I went and tried this today. I cut the notches into my feeler gauges ,and mindful of the point about the rounded bottoms of the slots , I sandpapered the edges of the gauges round first (mine were Draper ones ,and they have a square edge ) ,and it really works people ! It is true they're slow ,but as Dr Nerd says -that's a good thing ,because you don't want to remove too much in one go. I recommend doing also what he does in the video and putting a thicker gauge below as a ''stop',firstly so as not to go too low ,and secondly to stop the end of the gauge hitting the board if it accidentally comes all the way out of the nut on the board side ( I'm clumsy ! and also i didn't take note to put the notches quite a way into the gauge -I did mine on the tapering end ) Also -you might want to use the formula of measuring the fret height (with the same gauges !) and also measuring the height of the string above the second fret whilst you stop the first .( You could use a capo ,but I just held it with one finger whilst doing the measuring with the others-I don't like capos as they can force strings onto frets so hard it leaves dents ) Then you add the fret height to the string clearance height to get the minimum nut height ,and ,once again ,select a gauge that matched that number as the 'stop' ANECDOTE : even with all that care ,I still managed to cut too far into one treble slot -for some reason my thinner gauge-file seemed to cut more quickly -I think it was because the thinner ones take the notches more easily and they were a bit deeper ) BUT I used a trick my guitar repairer told me - mix superglue with bicarbonate of soda and apply to the slot with ,in this case ,the point of a pin (it was only a .10 slot ) and that works too ! And that was the first time I have ever filed a nut .Or learned to undo my mistake ! I did it on a second hand mandolin ,not any of my basses ,and I was prepared to risk it knowing that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I made a mess of it But next time I need to I would do it on my basses. It isn't that I am a cheapskate -but I don't have money for Stewmac files .And what with the current situation I can't go to my guitar repairer as he's not operational. So I would say -if you'd be prepared to do it yourself with expensive files but cannot afford them -have a go with this method.Or if ,like me -pro repair is not currently available to you .THANKYOU DR.NERD .You not only saved me a lot of money -more importantly ,you made it possible for me to have the job done when I could not have it done by a pro.AND I got the (rare for me ) self-esteem of finding out I can do it myself .
Thanks for commenting
Ok, this definitely works! Thanks for sharing. I used a Dremel cutoff disc and had great results. Place the whole set of feeler gauges in a vice and cut all at once. Really simple and effective
Thanks for commenting
Brilliant!
This is exactly the sort of tip I was looking for. I did a bone nut tele and a plastic nut hollow body with an ancient set of feeler gauges that I’m glad I didn’t throw out. Worked brilliantly! Thanks!
Tried this last night. Used the edge of a half round, half flat file to cut five little slots into the feeler gauges, and it worked great. Cut into the nut quickly and did a nice neat job.
Great to hear! It really is such a bargain solution! :-)
Perfect for cutting nuts! Lorena Bobbitt approval rating: 10 plus!
Really good video, simple, straight to the point & really helpful! God bless, Bill.
Cheers, hope it's useful!
Dang man great minds think alike, I literally thought feelers gauges would work beautifully, I just was sure how to turn it into a "file" and here your video is the first video that came up in my search🙌 thanks for the help my dude!!!
Glad to have helped! 👍
Genius idea! Thanks!👍🏼🤘🏻
I will get a set of gauges, round the square edges of each, clamp them all together in a vice and file some teeth into them on both sides: one side with 5 teeth for fine work, the other side with plenty of them to cut faster on a raw nut.
For last touch up or widen the slots a tiny bit, I drop cut off string pieces of the same gauge, throw them on concrete/stone floor and roll them few times with my foot. The rough surface on the pieces will just file very little while pulling them thru the slots, forming a proper rounded bottom.
Great plan! TBH I use a very small file for the low E slot as it's faster than the feeler gauges!
Just did this today and it works perfectly. Thanks for saving me a load of cash!!
I did this. I used a cutting wheel on my Dremel Tool to grind the teeth. They work well.
Brilliant idea mate. I was just about to buy nut files, too. Now I'll just buy a super thin saw and cut across all my feelers at the same time. You smashed it, bruv.
Very nice tip ! As you mention, it is terribly precise ! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for commenting
Great idea! I’ve just deepened the nut slots on an electric 12 string and it worked fine.
This is fantastic!
this is such a brilliantly simple idea! when something really good like this comes along -you think -"it's so obvious ! why didn't I think of it then ?!" THANKYOU man ,I have regularly trawled youtube for ideas for this and never found anything.
Cheers, appreciate it! :-)
@@drnerd Seriously man-you have saved me a huge amount of money ,and solved a huge problem. I owe you my eternal thanks !
I've done this, it does work. I will say that it gets more difficult for the thicker gauge strings if your feeler gauge doesn't go that thick. For the thinner, very doable. Could get some Music Nomad ones for the two bass strings. In a pinch, they work. If your gonna do it and charge people money, I'd get the real ones. Pays for itself. I did a bone nut, and it took some really effort to get into. I went back and deepened the groves with the dremel. It was easy to clamp them all together and cut grooves that way. For plastic nut, it worked waaaaay easier. If your doing a lot of bone nuts, I'd still go for the real thing.
Looks great, thanks! Will give it a go right now.
Have fun!
Absolutely great!!
Thanks for watching and commenting, I hope it was useful!
Well well well. Thank you very much for this excellent idea/hack. I have only a small number of nuts to cut, so don't want to buy a full set of new files. Yay for you! Thanks again.
Glad it was helpful!
Yup, already cut one nut. Used a triangular file just like you suggested. Worked perfectly!
Absolutely fantastic idea!
Gotta love simple ideas! :-)
Going to order some now. Brilliant idea .
Do it, best value tool ever! :-)
Thanks for this. Great workaround. I've bought feeler gauges and will make the grooves
Glad it helped
@@drnerd just to follow up on this. I created the grooves using a triangular file and worked on a MIJ Fender Strat today. Worked like a charm. £5 and I have guitar and bass approrpriate files on one feeler gauge. Who doesn't love a high quallity hack?
I was about to order that cheap nut files from China but when I read the review it said it is not good. So I went to youtube & type-in DIY guitar nut files & your vlog pop up. Brilliant idea, so upon seeing this I just bought that kind of feeler gauge in ebay a minutes ago. Thanks!
Glad I could help
Been using these to cut nut slots for few years. Many affordable ways to to work on guitars, don't need fancy expensive levelling tools and crowning files.
Right on! I love them and think they work great!
@@drnerd they do indeed! Used them again yesterday on a classical guitar 😃
Very nice out of the box thinking! I also am balking at shelling out for "proper" nut files...
thanks dude, from the u s of a. I appreciate the video - i also noticed the high price of nut files. how's it going in the uk? all the best in the new year...
Hack of the year so far, nice 1
It's a fun Hack!
Amazing hack, thanks so much. Once I'd decided which blades fit best I removed the others and then wrapped the tips of the blades with masking tape. This way I could mark the slots on the masking tape and used a dremel to cut them all at once. The whole operation took less than 5 minutes and I have the perfect tool for cutting my nut slots.
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching and commenting
Great idea sir, thanks for sharing
Thanks for commenting
Was just trying to figure this out, legend
You're a Genius! Thanks so much!
You're welcome!
Tried this. It's not sharp when you touch the gauges with your fingers but it cuts the bone nut smoothly. Thank you for this. This is awesome.
Glad it helped!
Dude thanks for this man, it’s a little crude but it worked perfect to dial in some budget guitars on the cheap, this is awesome
Great budget DIY hack! You can't lose at that price.
For £3 you cant go wrong!
Superb. Thank you
Thanks for commenting
Really good idea!
Thanks!
Thanks! I did the baking soda and super glue trick and the Guitar Nut Slot File hack and I'm good to go!
Genius! Reckon you just saved me a bunch of cash. Thanks!!
Glad I could help! Hopefully more quick tips coming soon!
Brilliant !!!
Glad to help! :-)
love it.. thanks
Glad to have helped! Thanks for watching and commenting
Thank you, I'm gonna try it
Cheers for watching and commenting, much appreciated! 👍
GENIUS!
Cheers! :-)
Love this thanks mate
Thanks for watching and commenting, I hope it save you a few quid on the real things! :-)
@@drnerd yes already had feeler gauges so was done in a few moments worked a treat. I spent months looking for a good option online all way to expensive or not fit for purpose. cheers from Sydney Australia.
well well well just the tip i needed, thank you, kind sir!
Glad to help
great idea :)
This guy is a genius
Ha! cheers! :-)
Thanks for the tip. I'm looking to buy a set of files.
Cool, hope it helped. 👍
I did something like this with feeler gauges, but I just cut them on an angle with a pair of sheet-metal shears and the serrated cutting edge left a set of perfect teeth on the feeler gauge.
Brother you are a genius. Going to go into my toolbox grab the feeler gauges and get it done. I wonder if you could take old wound acoustic guitar strings and run them through the nut to give you a rounded bottoms.
for the thickest strings you could do that, but tbh, I've not found roundness an issue as my feeler gauges have slightly rounded edges anyhow, plus you can always run a smaller one into the groove for a second or two to help round it our if needed. Thanks for watching and commenting
I was thinking about converting my feeler gauges into nut files. The price of decent nut slot files is ridiculous and out of reach for hobbyist builders and guitarist. Thanks for putting up this video.
glad to have helped! Thanks for watching and commenting
Wow , what a smart idea
It's super simple, I'm surprised it issnt already a common hack!
Genius !!
Yes, might be brilliant - i'll give it a try! I've tried old Strings but that wasn't a proper result. Nut Files are way too expensive. Thx
Yeah, i've used old strings before but this is way more effective. And yeah, propper files can really get pricy!!!
BTW i have had the same set just like yours for about 8 years!! great valuve money, and i actually prefer them to the "proper" files
Brilliant, there's certainly no need to pamper these files and worry about a huge expense if one ever gets broken!
Thank you!
Not a problem, glad to have helped!
Magnifique!!
Hope it helps!
Genius!
It works
Thanks for watching and commenting
I've got a couple of ancient sets somewhere down in my basement. Belonged to my grandfather? I've got to go find them right now!! Ha! in the end I found half a dozen sets!
Thanks for commenting
You just saved me a lot of money and headaches! Now I can get to work on my guitars. Thanks a lot Doc.
Great to hear!
I'll defenetly try that
go for it! :-)
Thanks .I think I still have a set in my toolbox
Cheers, hope it's useful!
Bruh.
THANK YOU!
glad to have helped! 👍
Awesome idea! Will they work for making a nut from an unslotted nut?
Possibly, but you might be best starting the slots off with a small file to save time as these are fairly gentle and slow.
thank you
Thanks for commenting
Bro! You plan on making an official set? That would be sick and would buy in an instant
Great! Maybe an improvement? I filed them at a 45 angle instead of 90. Works great!
With the top of the notch/slot angled back, or forward?
Right side angled back to left side. Most of us probabably push the file to remove material, especially with the way most nuts are configured. Sloping from neck toward headstock. So file cutting as you push from neck to headstock. It will still cut on back stroke nicely but most of us file in one direction....
I would suggest that instead of using a file to cut the grooves in the feeler guages try using a battery operated Dremmel tool with a cut off wheel attached. Cutting the grooves at an angle might work better also.
that would certainly be faster and make for sharper edges, the only problem is that sharper files will take a bit more care to use in order to avoid removing too much of the nut, whereas these are very slow and safe to use, Thanks for watching and commenting
Fucking brilliant. It worked on a brass nut I just lowered on my YJM strat. For one off nut work, this is the ticket. Sorry Stew Mac!!! This worked!!
Thanks for commenting
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Genius. Now you got a dual purpose tool😂 this is awesome since a regular person like me will rarely need them anyways, def not worth buying those expensive pro luthier tools.
Glad you liked it!
Put it in a vice and use a very fine hack saw blade to make the teeth then clean it up after
Perfect, since I already have a set and I don’t want to spend $100 on a kit that I’ll prob use 2x
Hello, does it work on multiple types of materials? (bone, pastic, etc)
Great idea. Could you just fold some super fine sandpaper around the feeler gauge?
That might be possible, but there may be a greater risk of making the slots too wide.
I've done that many times, with 1500 grit wet/dry paper. For narrower slots, I've just used folded wet/dry with no feeler gauge. All that said, dr-nerd's idea is sound, so I'll try cutting teeth in some feeler gauges (probably using a Dremel).
It would probably take quite a while to cut an entire slot with just sand paper. It'd be a good finishing step though.
Lovely sir,
just wondering though, did it cause any side effects?
like buzzing or tuning issues?
thanks.
Not on this guitar, but if you cut a little too deep it certainly can. I have a Blue strat that has its high e cut to low and that buzzes quite alot.
@@drnerd No problem. Baking soda/bone dust and superglue
Great tip! Just curious...if I'm doing something like going from 10's to 12's on a guitar (downtuning/baritone) - will this work to Widen the nut width?? For the 10's lot if I used a 12-13 feeler gauge for the .12 string would it work?
It should, just be careful to only widen the gaps but not make them anh deeper (unless of course they actually need to go a bit deeper).
If you just need to widen this tiny bit, I'd suggest high-grit sand paper folded around the string. As the Doc said, just don't go all the way to the bottom, so that you don't cut it any lower. It's got to be thin paper though.
@@NeoRichardBlake that makes a lot of sense and is very easy, thanks!
How did you handle the bigger slots? A 0.8mm is equivalent to a 31 gauge string. Does the string just sit against the sides? Wouldn't it bind?
I couldn’t figure a way to add images of how I did this with the dremel tool, so see the video link below and let me know your thoughts
czcams.com/video/WfsBAQhq6N4/video.html
Thanks for commenting
Do they work for bone or tusq?
Do the gauges need to be exactly the same size as my strings? For example .46 string and use a .50 gauge? I cant find all the exact size gauges.
I tend to use the nearest one and it worka fine for me, if they were absolutely the same then I think the string would bind up too much. Experiment and see what's best for you, but I've had no issues going a touch bigger.
As a Brit would say...."Brilliant!!!"
Hi there, thanks for watching and commenting.
I’m looking around eBay and web and it seems like many feeler gauge sets only go up to about 0.035” , so I’m wondering where I can get thicker ones for the A and low E strings. For example you might get a 0.010” to 0.046” set of strings or 0.010” to 0.056” , so 0.035” is not thick enough .
To answer my own question I see that you get less common sets from 0.5mm to 2mm, but not very easy to find
Glad you found a solution, otherwise just use two at a time.
dr-nerd another option is to superglue two together , then cut the grooves
My only concern is how well the feeler gauges would nail the *necessary* “half round” bottom that needs to be there to maintain proper contact with the string?
A very good point, mine have a slight curve as standard so work just fine, but I suppose others might be a bit too square. I guess a few seconds with some wet and dry would solve it.
There’s a guy on eBay selling plastic files he made himself as he was frustrated with nut file prices. I think the idea is for modifying not cutting . Wrap a bit of sandpaper round them and reshape/widen the slot. This might also give a nice round bottom
Aberdeenshire Guitar Tutor - A few (?) years ago I read thru that “TDPRI” forum and learned soooo much (!!) that is what spurred me to hunker down and buy some “proper” nut files and I absolutely do not regret it (tho I 1000% understand ppl who don’t/can’t afford to shell out for the “legit” ones and the pursuit of finding *usable* & *cheap* alternatives!)
I highly recommend anybody that reads this to read both the links that Aberdeenshire Guitar Tutor has supplied here! Such valuable resources
Cheers!
dr-nerd - (btw I just realized that I somehow didn’t mention this in my original comment... but I have to say:)
Regardless of my “concern” I find your video to be of excellent value for many many guitarists! Your quest/solution to finding/making some serviceable nut files was very creative, thought out, well documented, well narrated, easy to follow, with great and non-distracting editing! I appreciated that you were also sensitive to *time* and how concise your Vid was 👍👍 Keep up the great work!
Look at this on eBay
Guitar nut files 10-46 Gauge (10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46)
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273963706334
Make sure you find a gauge set that supports very small increments in thickness, like 0,20mm / .008" or youre not gonna get to a specific string thickness. Edit: 0,50mm is probably gonna get you close enough.
Can i use folded sandpaper then sandwiched the feeler gauge into it?
Perhaps for the low E string, but sandpaper is very thick and would make oversized nut slots.
@@drnerd btw ur video 👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🙏
I can only find files from 0.01 to 0.40 inches. what if i wanna use a 46 or 50 string gauge?
Either just double up a few files to get the width you need, or for the widest strings you may save alot of time by grabbing some cheap needle files.
ya well how do you make it round for the string to sit well in there. lol this wont work! the slot needs to be concave ;)
Stack them in a vice and give the set a slice with a hack saw.
That'll do it quick! :-)
Oh dear! The purists won’t be happy 😂 Thanks dude
No worries, how it helps!
how well could this stuff work on a titanium nut. Its an adjustable height one but the slots are flat.
Thanks for watching and commenting, much appreciated 👍👍👍
but what about the low E string? I haven't found a set of cheap feeler gauges that have a size big enough for the low E string. :(
Either group a few together, or just use a cheap needle file. Thats how I do it. 👍
@@drnerd Hence the biggest reason to do all the leafs of the gauge at once so everything lines up. :)
But is the edge rounded the same as the string?
I just chase it with a smaller file to create a better shape if required
oh man I would buy you some beers if we were neighbor
Cheers, hope the vids useful!
Ever done this on a brass nut??
Stew Mac prices are egregious, especially when you consider who is in the market looking to buy these kinds of tools: musicians that can't afford to hire a professional. There is no consideration for the lifestyle of a musician who doesn't have a lot of money.
They probably only care about their image and brand recognition in regard to professional luthiers, so that when one of them says they use Stew Mac tools, people paying for work done will think expensive tools means better service.
I have no doubt that Stew Macs tool quality is superb, but as you say, there all at egregious prices! Thanks for watching and commenting
Call me stupid but I couldn’t do it. As with many things on YT it looks easy but when you do it yourself it is quite a challenge.
clamp all the fila guages in a vice, and dremil the across all of them ;-)
Yeah, that would be way quicker! :-)
Would they cut a bone nut?
These feeler gauges tend to be made of stainless steel right ?
Does the quality of the tool that makes the notches in the guages make a difference to how well they cut? I was just wondering if it would be worth spending a bit of money on a small diamond needle file to make nice clean sharp notches in the stainless steel feeler gauges
I've used them on bone without issue. As for spending more, I suspect the top end ones are very very good, but the difference in cost is enormous!
Maybe they would have worked faster had you filed the grooves closer together - they're very spaced apart - giving the converted files more teeth?