nut filling

Thought I'd share this little trick...
I had a loose G string slot in my Sunn Mustang, where the slots height was perfect but was too wide and an open note gave me instant Ravi Shankar, so had a wee looky online and found that packing the slot with bicarbonate of soda then a tiny drop of superglue to fill, the bicarb catalyzes the glue so it dries harder and faster.
Then used a D string as a slot file to bring it back down to size.....perfect.
I might be teaching my granny to suck eggs here, but this might help some of us who dont know how.

Yup, good 'ole tried and true trick Sarge! Glad it worked for you.

Also very handy for rebuilding screw holes which have become stripped, and can no longer hold the screw, such as on the neck plate or bridge post holes. It's hard enough that you can actually tap the material if needed.

Funny thing this topic comes up - I just bought some J-B Weld steel epoxy for the headstock lock this week.
It's got tensile strength of almost 4,000 PSI. Used it, next day drilled and tapped to 4mm - done.

Thanks Sgt. for the nut trick. I do have another guitar that is buzzing due to being loose in the nut as well.
I was wondering what could be used to solve this.
I'll give it whirl.
Awesome.
Thanks,

DimensionIV-addict wrote:Funny thing this topic comes up - I just bought some J-B Weld steel epoxy for the headstock lock this week.
It's got tensile strength of almost 4,000 PSI. Used it, next day drilled and tapped to 4mm - done.

Let's have a look at the repair, eh? Most here with these stringlocks either have had trouble, or are going to have trouble, with them, especially on the E/A lock.

I'm, or rather Don is, about to have at it with Helicoils...

I figured I'd try it for $10.00 - keep in mind i'ts only been a couple of days - Helicoils is a garanteed way to go. And yes it was on the E/A.
The distance and angle to the tuner is too short for the amount of pressure on the orignal material. I've thought of having some casts done in cast iron (same for the string holders). A thought it remains..

It's not the distance to the tuner that causes the problem it's the thickness of the e/a strings.

Meaning the bolt has less thread to grip on in the base plate.

A longer bolt(4mm allen) does the trick from the off. As all the bolts are the same length but obviously the strings are different thicknesses.

A helicoil is a good permanent fix. A 4mm nut fixed from underneath is also a very good fix but you'll have to remove a bit of base plate for this.

Sgt. I must appologize for intruding on you thread..

Obviously these are after the fact pictures, and I agree with whats been said above. Here are the results:

have you reinstalled it? does it hold the bolt?

Looks like a plan!

Well, time will tell, like I mentioned this is only day 5 and I had take it apart to shoot these "after the fact" picts. It holds enough to loosen the #6 E right off the tuner and still make some bends after this shoot. I'm just not sure about the wear factor. I'll report in as soon as it fails, that I promise. The sure way to go is the helicoil or maybe a combination.
Cheers,

Westbone wrote: A 4mm nut fixed from underneath is also a very good fix

I hadn't thought of this - this is why Damian gets paid the big bucks! - but this also sounds like a go-er for anyone with the patience and kit to do it; relieving the underside of the base may be the sticky part of the equation.

But gee; that looks OK, that repair, certainly if one isn't keen on playing with Helicoils, this is a way ahead, maybe?! I agree; longevity of the repair is an unknown but that said, if it gives way, then you just re-do it!!!