A recent guitar I did some work on was a lovely Gibson Les Paul that needed a little attention to the nut slots. The nut had been replaced elsewhere and the new slots were sitting a bit high, meaning fretting at the lower frets was slightly harder work than in other areas of the guitar. Tuning stability would be challenged as well, had they remained.

So, I was able to maintain the action of the guitar as well as cut the slots a fraction deeper to remedy the aforementioned problems. This can be a tricky job to do as you don’t really want to make any errors! Cutting too deep won’t do, so I was checking each time I used my file to take a little more out. Also, it was necessary to pay attention to the angle behind the nut which, if too shallow, would possibly make the string ‘fizz’, giving an undesirable sound and compromising sustain and overall enjoyment of the instrument.

This particular guitar was really special. It has been played a great deal and bears the marks you’d expect – worn finish under the forearm, just under the bridge pickup, and a healthy dose of buckle rash. But what this guitar lacks in ‘mintness’ it makes up for in swathes with charisma and character. It resonated beautifully, and was so easy to play, it was fantastic. A real pleasure to work on it.

So it seems so far so good with the nut slots and depth, and the client seems happy with the adjusted intonation, too.

Since this one, a couple of similar jobs have come in, and it’s exciting to see the variety of instruments that are around! I look forward to updating you all soon!