Official Luthiers Forum!

Seen/heard/read different methods. What do you use and why?

I used tite-bond, and used more than I wish I would have. From now on, I think I'm going to use just a dot of Ca and see how that works. Seems like the string tension will hold the nut down, and glue is just to prevent lateral slippage, am I right?

thanks--

Dave

Couple or three spots of titebond on the face of the nut (against the FB endgrain) - applied with the end of a toothpick.
CA may work in a similar way, but of course doesn't give you the same open time to ensure the nut is positioned..

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I use Elmer's white "school glue" and as little as it takes.

I've never had one accidentally pop off but I've only built 5 guitars over 3 years.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Yea, I'd stay with Titebond or Elmers...tiniest dot. As you say, just enough to keep it from moving laterally.

I've used CA and PVA before. I like to just use the PVA now because of the working time. I do two dots off center left and right.

I have such a tight fit that I haven't glued one in yet, and haven't noticed any movement once the strings are on. Think that I would use a small dab of Titebond rather than CA if I decide to glue one in.

The type of glue doesn't matter much - CA, PVA, hide, fish - most any common glue in a bottle will do equally fine. The important parts are quantity and location. Just a dab, preferably at the fretboard joint if possible.

I had to remove a nut last week on an old Bacon banjo neck which had just been installed by another tech a few days prior, and saturated with glue around its entire contact area. On an old banjo with fatigued joints and dried out ebonized mystery woods, a simple job became hours of labor.

Don't ever, ever glue in a nut all around, especially on older artifacts. This component must be considered as removable.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

+1

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

They should be glued I use a dot of white glue.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Dot of super. Although is can be a little fast, I like the fact that its secured quickly. Maybe I will try the 30sec stuff.

More on the fb than the neck..

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Pat

Why does it need glue at all? Out of ignorance I have not used any on the few guitars I have made, but the nuts have not moved on any of them.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

They tend to slide or fall out when strings are removed. It is not a big deal but simply a cleaner practice to have the nut stationary. It takes an incredibly small amount of glue to keep it in place.

tiny dot or two of ca or tb. no need to over think this.

To glue or not can depend how the nut slot is configured. Some folks seat the nut on the headplate slope and some seat it on the flat of the neck proper. When it is sitting on the neck it will be well captured between the end of the fingerboard and the end of the headplate. This slot will most likely have a taper from side to side. This will be 1 or 2 thousands and one can make a sliding fit with the nut so that it has to be pushed into one end of the slot and slid into place gradually tighting up until it is fully tight in it's proper position. It does not need glue.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Oh boy, I can answer this! The nut is the one thing you don't want to ever come off. With that in mind, you should always use Gorilla glue for this, because it is so strong. Go ahead and apply it liberally to each surface and press into place firmly. A little squeeze out is okay because this ensures a nice fit. Let set up for 24 hours, then bring it to your local luthier if you think it needs to be filed.

I'm in the "two dots" camp, between end of fingerboard and nut.

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George :-)

It's one of those things that if it gets dropped it will disappear into the ether and never be found, or at least take a very annoying amount of time searching on your hands and knees looking for it.

One or two dots of white or yellow glue for me.

I'm not so much concerned with what happens to the nut inside my shop or with the strings off, so much as I am when it leaves the shop or is being played on stage. Client/performer spends some time in a dry climate, decides to bend the 2nd fret on the G string an extra half step this time - clang. Nut slips sideways mid-tune.

I can fit a pretty tight nut, no doubt (assuming the instrument has a slot to accommodate such fitting). I can't control every detail of an instrument's treatment and environment when it goes out the door. Even if it is fit tight enough to stay in place during normal use, a tiny dab of glue is an extra bit of assurance. Omitting this will invariably leave even the best fit nut more prone to failure under the right circumstances, while including a bit of glue carries no negative consequences.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

If you think the nut shouldn't come off ,well at some point it may have to be replaced. Why glue it in ? YOU DON"T WANT IT TO MOVE. A drop of wood glue is more than sufficient. That way when the day does come to take it out , you can do it neatly. As frets wear you will redress them that requires a reslot of the nut , over time when you refret your nut slots will be too low. If you think you get the nut tight enough without glue , well as some point the nut will get loose.
I used to think you can make them tight enough but soon found out that isn't true.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks all! I learned the hard way, within a day of finishing my first guitar build, NOT to use too much glue. (of any type!) I think I could get away with a well-fitted nut and no glue since my guitars are staying close to home, and are in no immediate danger of being played on stage, but I think I'll use a drop of medium-Ca.

It seems the consensus is to glue the nut. Will put this on file for the time when I have a problem with the nut slipping while in use. This seems the only viable reason why one would want to put glue in that area considering that they may have to be renewed. Especially since one can fit them so tight without glue. Time for me to move on.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

For a Martin style guitar where the nut is "finished in" I glue it completely.
For my classical guitars the nut is slightly wedged shaped and snugly fit so it stays put needing no glue at all.

Yep

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