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February 2016
Posts: 1802
Location: When?? | So I tracked down a problem I was having with nylon strings breaking all on their own in the night (it was mostly the G and D strings). Thing was, the tension between the winding peg and the nut was way-way tight, though below the nut the string would be in perfect pitch. Obviously the nut slots were binding. Upon inspection I found that they had worn into narrow little valleys over so many years (this is a 1988 CC13) and they were pinching the strings to a tight grasp. Hence, the breakage was occurring above the nut from the enormous tension to where maybe even a subtle temperature change (or whatever) could bring about the point of it breaking on its own. So I fixed it.
But that’s not what I came to talk about. Further is what I found after the fix. To test for proper tension balance above and below the nut, I pinched and slightly lifted the string below the nut (around the second fret) while simultaneously pressing down on the span above the nut, and kind of toggled the tension back and forth a bit to let the string settle into the slot-- and I did this AFTER I had tuned the sting to pitch.
After each time of doing this the string’s final pitch always went around 3-5 cents higher. Sometimes more. And on all six strings. So at that juncture, after giving as much exercise as I deem proper, I just tune each string back to pitch and leave well enough alone. Point is-- I have since tried this on about 15 different guitars. Cheap ones, expensive ones, newer, older.. etc.. and there isn’t a single one of them that hasn’t reacted the same way. So is this like an ages-old Guitar 101 thing that everyone reading this has always been aware of and done when tuning-- but that I have been ever too dense to realize?? Or should I contact NASA and MIT with my findings?
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June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | Some folks like to lube their nuts. Big Bends Nut Sauce is a good choice, but there are others. |
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February 2016
Posts: 1802
Location: When?? | @Standingovation - >>>Some folks like to lube their nuts.<<<
Yes, that was part of the fix once I leveled out the base of the slots... though did not stop the problem entirely.. probably because I reached into the generic lube assortment on the workbench. Thanks for the tip on Big Bends. I looked it up and it seems to be all the rage, so I will try some and it will probably turn out better than where I am today. |
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May 2008
Posts: 1555
Location: Indiana | I recall a time when a thread title like this would generated ten pages.... |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Oh, there was a time when 10 pages would have just been the start.....
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | LOL |
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February 2016
Posts: 1802
Location: When?? | @Jonmark Stone - >>>I recall a time..... <<<
I recall that time too, and I've only been here since 2016. Sudden attrition I guess. Either that, or my nut problem was more common and topic-boring than I thought.. or both. |
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Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453
Location: Texas | For old time’s sake: If your g-string is too tight, you shouldn’t be surprised that your nut is pinched.
That said… I’ll second the recommendation of Big Bends Nut Sauce. It works well, and is a less messy solution than graphite for reducing friction/binding in the nut slots.
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR |  He said "Nut Sauce" 
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | I remember the good ol' days, when my nuts used to get pinched..... |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I read about that in my diary. Guess it was a long time ago |
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September 2005
Posts: 3618
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | “ Some folks like to lube their nuts.”...
...This seems like the makins’ of a good song.?? |
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | Beal - 2020-07-25 9:58 PM
I read about that in my diary. Guess it was a long time ago
Check the archives....  |
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Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 755
Location: Muenster/Germany | I would make a new nut. Takes 20 minutes and all problems gone. |
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A Pinching of the Nuts...