Nut height

[JohnM2001]

How can you tell if your nut is too high??  I've noticed that some guitars seem to have low action at the 12th fret, but feel hard to play on the first few frets, like the nut is too high.  Iis there a way to measure or check nut height?   How many of you guys find the need to lower the nut height from the Larrivee stock factory setup?

[JohnM2001]

Never mind, I found it.  I tried this test, and noticed that the B seems higher than the others.  Heres what frets.com says:

Checking Nut Height




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[Hoser Rob]

Yep ... the best way is to put a capo on the 1st fret and then trying the fully barred F (now F# if I may belabour the obvious).  If it feels significantly easier capoed that's a good sign the nut's too high.

Unfortunately there are a lot of guitars that have had the saddle lowered like mad and it's still uncomfortable because the nut wasn't adjusted.  This is very, very common with inexperienced amateur attempts.  The nut is the most common action problem around.

The exact height you want depends on your playing style to some extent ... there's no absolute spec to the thou.

[jimmyd]

Frets. com has great tutorial info on setups. Brian Kimsey also has a lot of detailed info on setups with his technique for measuring clearances.  Here is a link     http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/index.htm

[drathbun]

Some good tips in that link Jimmy! Thanks!

[Hoser Rob]

Keep in mind when looking at those specs on those (very good) luthier's sites that they assume certain things ... like a fret job has been done on the guitar they measured.

Many really good luthiers don't measure at all.  It's all feel.  All guitars are different and what you set it to really depends on what you have to work with.  LIke on how straight you can get the neck.