Nut a happy person.

[foster]

Right, this is the second time i've asked for advice on the matter - the first time was on a different forum where i got very little help.

Basically i own a gibson flying v, made in january this year in nashville. It's really nice and a lovely cherry red colour (not the faded version, i wasn't overly fond of that finish). But anyway, i was playing it the other day when i got some intense pain across my left hand, what happened was the high e string had popped out of the nut and hit my hand with quite some force :(


so i tried putting the string back, it wouldn't stay in, looked like the ridge was rounded or something. So as a temp job i used a penknife to deepen it ever so slightly and it appears to have worked.

Question is: is it a fault with flying v's in general? (someone mentioned its a common fault), is it a problem with my nut (do gibson use any nut lruking around?) or is it something else?


The response i got on t'other forum was "it's your own fault for buying a gibson, you only bought it because of the brand name". Obviously i was fuming because i had spent months searching for THE guitar that suited me (and other reasons that i shouldn't really go into about why the guitar is more than special to me).


So is it my own stupid fault for buying a gibson or is it just a common flaw among v's?

[_tom_]

I think I've read about Gibson nuts tending not to be that great on various forums so I wouldnt worry too much..

[sgmypod]

but if new get them to replace...or buy a better new nut(recommend get professional to fit though)

Gibsons can be lax on QC sometimes but then I love the V your talking about...my SG had a lot of probs but is now a great guitar..once got past teething problems

[foster]

when i get chance i'll find a local professional to fit a new, better nut. For the time being it works - i just don't know how long its gonna last though.


Still pissed off that some people out there think i only bought the guitar because of the name, when its pretty obvious the name dosn't mean a whole deal to me as much as it does to them.


Cheers for the advice though :)

[Philly Q]

I don't own a V (unfortunately!) but I think the problem is partly due to the headstock shape. The strings "fan" outwards at quite a wide angle behind the nut so there's some sideways pressure, especially on the two E strings.  And Gibson tend to file the nut down in such a way that the strings sit in very shallow slots - on one of my SGs the nut doesn't really have proper slots at all, just tiny little grooves that the strings sit on top of.  :?

So taking those two factors together, I'm not surprised the strings on your V pop out if you pick hard!

It shouldn't cost much to get a GraphTech or Tusq nut fitted, and get them to leave the nut a bit taller so the strings sit in deep slots - like on a PRS.  As long as the nut's well cut the deeper slots won't cause any string-sticking problems.

[sgmypod]

or an earvana..compensator.....supposed to be good but havn't had a nut changed yet to try on......as for name who cares, have a gib SG (at time I was name lead, but then I now have a guild Bluesbird (very LP) but I found that far better than the gib version...but in the end its what suits you...if I went with everybody elses choice, I would have missed out on my eclectic guitar collection..like my parker fly no one really loves it but me

[FELINEGUITARS]

I'm a big Flying V fan and the problem you describe isn't just a Gibson one
the problem as already described is the increased sideways pull due to the angle the string makes as it goes through the headstock

Also Gibson like many companies try not to make the nut slots too deep which is considered to adversely affect the tone
But the downside is that strings can skip out of shallow slots

Often if the strings height at the nut is a bit high when leaving the factory , a professional set up results in a slightly deeper nut slot which in turn helps with the string staying put.

Sadly it is true that forums do attract a few "hotheads" who have strong opinions on most things and often little real experience to back them up
And sometimes you do get some very partisan opinions as well as opposed to carefully thought out and balanced/informed information or anecdotal evidence.

Gibson make some good guitars that with some loving care from yourself or a qualified/experienced tech can be Great guitars. This is true of many companies- they run a factory and their products benefit from having a bit of extra after sales attention

We also stock the Earvana nut system mentioned above.....


http://earvana.com/