Nuts and Sticky Strings

Started by joxter, August 23, 2006, 08:39:14 AM

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I had a little problem with the 3rd string not tuning up and then popping and being too sharp on my OM-03.  I know its been discussed before and I read the posts.

Now I just put John Pearse strings on my D-03R for the first time and guess what?  It is doing the same thing.  Then I realized the OM started it when I put Pearse strings on it.

The gauge says its the same as the strings I was using, has anyone else experienced this?  I am wondering if its worth getting the nuts looked at or should I just can the Pearse strings....

BTW I changed out the Pearse strings on the OM and it is fine again.
Richard

Larrivee OM-03
Larrivee L-05MT
Martin 000-28
Martin 000-28
Martin D35
Ovation Balladeer
Fender Mexi-Tele

Did you previously have coated strings on you guitar?  If so, then maybe they were "slippery" enough not to bind in a nut slot that was a little too tight.  And, therefore, the noncoated strings have brought the problem to the surface.  At any rate, you should probably have the slot enlarged slightly.  As you probably noticed on previous threads, you might first try "lubricating" the slot with a little graphite powder/finely ground pencil lead.
Jerry  #698

2001 Larrivee D-09
2001 Seagull M-6
1992 Alvarez 5040
c. 1995 Yamaha CG-150CA
1998 A&L Ami

It's very common for nut slots to be a be a bit snug. If you are nervous about doing some of your own maintenance then by all means take it in to a technician to tweak it. It's a small job.  Most factory guitars don't do a great job on finishing out the nut and often the smaller strings are buried way too deep into slots which contributes to binding problems. You can take a small piece of 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper and polish the slot. Nut slotting files are best for getting the slot to proper depth but they are pretty expensive. I still like to polish the slot with very fine sand paper. The good news is that this is really a simple problem to correct.

I had another post about my accident with graphite.  I have some powdered graphite in a tube, trouble is I also have some liquid graphite in a tube, same brand, same size....  So I grabbed the wrong one and was expecting a poof of graphite, I got liquid graphite running all over the nut and fingerboard of the OM.  It cleaned up Ok, but didn't solve the problem.

Thanks for the replies.
Richard

Larrivee OM-03
Larrivee L-05MT
Martin 000-28
Martin 000-28
Martin D35
Ovation Balladeer
Fender Mexi-Tele

Hmm. I'd think nuts would lead to salty strings. Sticky? Could be caused by beer nuts? 

quote]You can take a small piece of 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper and polish the slot.[[/quote]

I have done this as well and it works fine.
More than I deserve.

I will try sanding the slot a little, better than getting rid of 4 sets of Pearse PB Mediums.

Thanks again!
Richard

Larrivee OM-03
Larrivee L-05MT
Martin 000-28
Martin 000-28
Martin D35
Ovation Balladeer
Fender Mexi-Tele

Nuts and stickey Strings eh..  No more guitar porn for you. :GRN>

As for the graphite, you can actually take a tip of a pencil and run it through the slot :).
Larrivee LSV-05
Larrivee LV-09FM
Larrivee CS-30
Yamaha Chronos LL-16
Yamaha Pacifica 112J
Martin LX-1
Fender American Stratocaster Delux
Fender Mexican Stratocaster
Fender Mexican Telecaster
Rivera Sedon

Try Nut sauce...worked for me. I don't remember teh full brand name. do a search for nut sauce, there were old threads about it.

Yeah, it often seems to be a problem with the D and (primarily) G strings in the traditional 3L/3R headstock -- not suprising considering these both are yanked sideways at the nut toward the tuning posts. Straight-thru designs (Fender solved this in the '50s!) minimize this problem, but I guess tradition and aesthetics has limited their use by guitar makers.

A small piece of 0.5mm pencil lead under the string at the nut helps.
L-03R
LS-05

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