Stagg Update - My New Right Nut...

...where "right" is a synonym for "correct".  What do you think I meant?

A quick trip to the local music store and I scored a TUSQ graphite nut in the appropriate size.  The color is a bit off from the aged yellow of the binding, but actually matches the color of the inlays better.  I also sanded off the excess glue from fret board between the nut and the first fret.

No more creepy shine on the board.

An aside: Aged binding should be matched by aged inlays.  Faking 20 years of club smoke yellowing with the binding, but then using bright white pearloid makes little sense, and is probably one of the things that makes the guitar look awkward visually. The Gibson Les Paul Classic seemed to understand this with the "almost green" inlays they sported.

The nut was slightly too wide, which meant taking a sheet of 400 grit sandpaper and smoothing down the ends until it felt right.  I don't think it is a perfect job, but my aim was to ensure that I couldn't feel the edges of the nut while sliding my hand up and down the fret board.

Cant it be both?

Mission accomplished... for today anyway.

Naked and Nolin-esque.
Tempted to take a band saw to that cutaway though.

The Mission Continues

With the neck adjusted, the nut sitting in the slot (no glue yet - apparently I'm out of glue...), and intonation roughed in, the guitar is finally playable with strings on, although there are a few issues that need addressing.

  1. Something on the bridge is buzzing. Seems to be related to the G string.  
  2. There is an uneven fret somewhere around the 17th fret.  I'm not going to touch this until everything else is settled.
  3. The nut is not quite high enough.  I could live with it, but since I'm going to the trouble, I'm going to see if I can add a touch more height, by gluing a piece of nut to the nut.  I need more glue and more nut material (preferably the same TUSQ).  I've got a spare black one, but it doesn't match...

 Tuners are still an issue too.  Same crap Kluson knockoffs on early 2000 Epiphone Les Pauls.  Garbage. The loose tuning bushing and crap quality of these are making me consider a better performing set; maybe from kijiji, maybe from guitarfetish (but the CAD is really killing my desire to shop US).

In any case, this is either a quick fix or a hardware swap.

So to recap, here's what remains:
  1. Finish nut - raise and glue.
  2. Address bridge and tuners.  Will likely remove and reassemble before searching out new parts.
  3. Electronics - I've got alpha pots lying around, so I'll definitely be using those.  Might go back to the OEM pickups, might swap out for something in my pickup drawer.  I just realized that I might not have spare caps in the right value.  Might have to order a few of those - that's the kind of thing I feel like I should have on hand.


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