1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

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bucket.of.spines
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1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

Post by bucket.of.spines » Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:34 pm

Hello! I need some advice on repairing my guitar. It is a 1966 Fender mustang - my number one :)

It has had a headstock break/crack from whoever owned it previously, which has been fixed before I owned it. The nut seat/channel was all wrong, so when I refretted it shortly after I purchased it, I had no choice but to try and flatten out the channel as it was completely wonky and previously filled with glue to fill the voids. I never did get it perfectly flat (I know fenders have a radiused nut channel, but the radius was long gone), but now I want to sort it out :-).

At each end of the neck, it has been cut down 0.5mm into the maple. I have ordered a 0.5mm maple veneer and 2mm thick rosewood strips.
As you can see, the back wall of the channel has been shattered, and the wall is all wonky.
The current width is 4.5mm on bass side, 4.5mm on treble but 4mm in the middle.
And the current depth of the channel is 3mm.

So what id like to do is rebuild and fill the channel with layers of maple and rosewood, get it flat and level, and to the right height and thickness :-)
I believe the standard measurements for a nut channel is 2mm deep, 3mm thick. Please correct me if I’m wrong!

If anyone has any tips or advice on getting the nut channel square and level for rebuilding, that would be greatly appreciated!

And any advice would be amazing !! Would love to hear others input on tackling this job :)))
Thank you :~)

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;D ;D ;D
Last edited by bucket.of.spines on Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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timtam
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Re: 1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

Post by timtam » Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:01 pm

Nut slots are fiddly. Another option would be to make a custom nut to fit your odd slot, after equalizing the gap width. That might be less of a kludge. Re the scarred rosewood above the nut, here's the use of rosewood dust and superglue and lacquer to do an invisible touchup (two time points in a long vid) ...
https://youtu.be/nONCCSdA9Ds?t=1379
https://youtu.be/nONCCSdA9Ds?t=3593
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bucket.of.spines
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Re: 1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

Post by bucket.of.spines » Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:03 am

timtam wrote:
Wed Apr 15, 2020 11:01 pm
Nut slots are fiddly. Another option would be to make a custom nut to fit your odd slot, after equalizing the gap width. That might be less of a kludge. Re the scarred rosewood above the nut, here's the use of rosewood dust and superglue and lacquer to do an invisible touchup (two time points in a long vid) ...
https://youtu.be/nONCCSdA9Ds?t=1379
https://youtu.be/nONCCSdA9Ds?t=3593
Hey! Thanks for your reply!!
Previously, I made a custom nut for the slot, and I could not get the bottom of the nut correct, as the bottom of the nut channel is lop sided and inconsistent. So I had no choice but to glue the previous nut in. I could do it again, but it doesn't look good and the nut will never truly be seated properly :(. If i could get the slot itself, square and level, then I'll be happy and can consider what to do next :)

In regards to the scarred rosewood, I still have most of the chippings and chucks that broke off, and I will definitely use rosewood and superglue! Thanks! :))

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Re: 1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

Post by Scout » Thu Apr 16, 2020 6:22 am

I think you answered your own question, you have to even the nut slot with files being careful on the fretboard side.

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will
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Re: 1966 Fender Nut Cavity Fix?? HELP!

Post by will » Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:23 am

I had a similar issue with a butchered Jaguar nut - I'll see if I can find a link to the thread. I ended up cleaning up the mess with a router.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=113456

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