Yamaha SG Nut question

[rain_dog]

My Yamaha SG1000 recently had the nut crack, and so I ordered a Trem-Nut replacement with "Gibson Spacing"  

When it arrived I compared it with the Yamaha's nut and two things became really evident quickly, the new nut is MUCH taller, furthermore, the string spacing is wider on this new nut. So I thought well maybe this is some sort of tremolo spaced nut as it is called a "trem nut" afterall haha.. even though it said "Gibson spacing".  So I ordered a Tusq nut "Gibson Spaced"   and guess what? its the same exact thing, only in white. So here is my question, if I replace my Yamahas nut with either this trem nut or tusq nut will it affect the playability dramatically???  because its obvious that these guitars were not designed for a nut this tall, with a wider string spacing. And I dont think anyone even sells a replacement nut designed for the old Yamahas.

does anyone have experience with a similar situation?   thanks

[Philly Q]

The height isn't too much of a problem - you can remove material from the bottom of the nut OR cut the slots deeper and remove excess material above the slots.  It will affect the playability dramatically if you don't do some work on it.

But when you say the spacing is wider, is it so wide that the strings would be really close to the edges of the fretboard?  And is the nut itself much wider than the existing nut?  If it is, I wouldn't bother trying to fit it.

Graph Tech don't make a nut specifically for Yamaha SGs - there aren't that many of them around - but they do give exact measurements for all their replacement nuts.  Perhaps you could measure the Yamaha nut and see if anything comes close?

http://estore.graphtech.com/gti/aquarius/items.asp?CartId={745D4FB2-EVERESTC84F-4EEB-80CF-8A3A7308009B}&Bc=TUSQ&Cc=SLOTTEDTUSQ&Tp=&BrandName=Tusq&CatName=Slotted+Tusq+Nuts

At the end of the day, it might be easier/cheaper to get one fitted professionally.

[rain_dog]

in terms of width, it matches the neck perfectly.. in other words, when I align the new nut by placing it directly over the old one, they are the same in width. Its just heigh, and the string spacing it slightly wider for each slot. But I dont think it would be touching the edges... All in all it seems like the string spacing might be a little more logical on the new nut as compared to the very tight string spacing of the original yamaha. Im really just worried about the height.  The difference is so dramatic that I think if youd have to sand off like, half of the new nut.

[zigmund]

Hi rain_dog; that's perfectly natural, so as to allow folks to shave some off to get it to their specs. I'd avoid cutting slots deeper, as strings can start to stick and warble. Ideally we're talking having 2 thirds of the string radius inside the groove, a third outside...shave the bottom(not yours, the nut's...er, sorry, I've got myself in deeper water :oops: )..
...anyway, if you over-shave you can always shim underneath.
Though there's a fair bit of info online if you search, best off asking a tech really if in doubt.

[Philly Q]

OK, sounds like there's no problem with the width.

The Trem-Nut and Tusq nut are fairly easy to sand/file down to size.  If you don't have tools to cut the slots deeper, you'll need to reduce the height from the bottom of the nut up.  If you've already removed the existing nut, you can use it to mark how much material needs to be filed off the bottom of the new nut (on back and front).  Then put a piece of fairly coarse sandpaper on a flat, hard surface and rub the bottom of the nut on the paper.  As you get close to your marks, switch to finer paper.  Keep trying the nut on the guitar to make sure you don't overfile.

It does work - eventually - if you have the patience.

(Edit: Zigmund beat me to it!)

[Ratrod]

I would have brought it to a luthier for a new nut. A nut is almost like a guitarīs fingerprint.