Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Why the hell don't they make all guitars with a zero fret like my old Epiphone acoustic had???

Exactly!!! When the nut snapped at the G string on my Epi, I just superglued it back in place, and sanded out the extra glue in the slot.

Exactly. In a pinch you can do something like that to get you through till a fix is possible. Super glue is a bad idea though. Most nuts are installed from the factory with wood glue, loads easier to deal with when repair or replacement is necessary. Never use super glue for anything on a guitar. Many amateurs do and it's a guitar tech's worst nightmare, really tough to remove without trashing a guitar or part of it.

Most of a guitar is usually put together with hide glue. Made from animal hides, hence the name, heated and clamped it holds really well and can be disassembled by reheating. Which is why an acoustic in a car trunk in Texas about mid July is a very bad idea...car trunk temperature is just about right to let the glue soften and let go...I've seen bridges that slid forward a half inch on a summer day...hide glue...nuts are usually done with regular elmers or wood glue, and just a drop of it against the vertical surface of the neck. String pressure does most of the holding. And it pops loose pretty easy, a bit of sanding maybe, and it's ready for replacement.

Nut slots should actually be ok for a string gauge change, chances are this one was not cut right to begin with or the smaller strings already cut deeper into the nut enough to get into a bind, and the larger strings are too tight.Probably sitting on the original slots, and burrs at the back holding them up...no telling without being able to see it.

My Epiphone was a great guitar, never had any trouble with it at all and I loved the zero fret. I was able to set the action so it played more like an electric, custom mixed gauge strings and I could do leads that amazed guitar players until they found out why. Big bottom end strings and light ones for high E,B and G. Worked and sounded great. But that zero fret gave it action most people couldn't believe. I attended parties with friends, 4 guitars. My $100 Epi, a 1957 Fender, very nice Alvarez, new Sigma electric acoustic. I never got to play mine, all the other guys always grabbed it...Around $4000 worth of guitars, my el cheapo was the one everybody wanted to play...I was very unhappy when it was stolen in Austin...I'd been playing it more than 10 years.

The nut that broke had been in place (loose, not glued down) since 1975, think it just plain wore out!
I've got a replacement standing by, but no reason to use it (or to try and break the superglue's hold on it).

Not glued? That's odd. Usually they use a small dab of light glue to the front surface of the nut to hold it, string pressure does the rest. I'm not sure but iI think even a small dab of varnish would do the trick.

Just watch that in the future, no super glue anywhere on a guitar. The only place I've ever used it is to glue small pieces of a pick guard back in place on my 1966 Harmony. Nothing else will hold in that case, but everything else on a guitar should be easily removed for repair or replacement. Even set necks like acoustics or Les Pauls are put on with hide glue for that reason. With some heat and the right tools you can take it apart with no damage whatsoever.

When I replaced the nut on my Takamine I used a small dot of plain Elmers on the front surface of the nut. It broke changing strings one day. I was not happy when I found they had put a cheap plastic nut on my $800 guitar...it has bone now. A friend and guitar tech taught me how to cut the nut slots and lent me the nut files for it. I'd never tried it, so now about the only guitar repairs I haven't done are set neck replacement and fret replacement...

You brought up the Deluxe Players Stratocaster. I have that guitar. MIne is the blond ash body ( that's fairly light weight, about 7.25 lbs ) with the maple fretboard. That guitar has the American made Vintage Noiseless pickups, which I like ( so does Clapton ). It's other main features are the 12" radius neck, which is rare for strats. THese are assembled in Mexico, so they area MIM guitar. But the quality of mine is fine but the wiring, pots and input are somewhat cheap feeling and could be replaced if they bothered you. The 6 point traditional trem with the bent saddles is a tried and true system that I prefer. It uses med. jumbo frets, which I also prefer over those skyscraper frets. One difference between American made and MIM is the string spacing is ever so smaller on a MIM at the nut. The MIM strat uses a 1.650" nut spacing, whereas the American Standard uses a 1.685 nut. Not a huge difference but noticeable to me. I hardly use that push button thing except on occasion. I did notice the bridge pickup sound weak compared to the others, so I swapped it for the Fender Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless and that made nice difference. More punch, more mids, more clarity, just a hotter pickup that works better with that guitar. I also prefer noiseless pickups and not having to deal with hum.

If you find a good one, it's a real work horse you'll be proud to play with. I also have the American Standard and it' a toss up to choose which one to use, as they're both very fine guitars.