DIY Mods - With a question . Apologies as it is a bit of a long one.

lapua65

Hello all. I purchased a Tanglewood guitar off ebay. Nothing special just a bog standard cedar topped laminate body. I decided soon after that I wanted an electro acoustic so I could use a looper to help with my practice. I have been trying to decide what to buy next but am still unsure. I then decided to try and electrify my current guitar and treat myself to something better when I could actually play. My theory is I would appreciate it more and something to aspire to
So I purchased an Artec EQ and pre amp and fitted this at the weekend. Replaced the nut, saddle and pins with Tusq ones. I have managed to set it up and I am quite surprised how it now sounds. Through the amp it sounds fine and without it does seem to be slightly clearer than before. However I am not convinced this isn't a wallet governed placebo effect. All in all I think it has cost about £85.
To my question though. When playing (badly) I find that the 6th string is too close to the edge of the fingerboard and I keep muting it or catching it. I know this is partly down to my beginners ham hands, but I noticed that on the guitars I was looking to buy there was definitely a gap. So could I recut the nut a couple of mm to the left to move the string inwards ? More likely a completely new nut and slightly change the string position to keep the strings equal distance from each other but further in from the edge of the finger board.
Thanks

drofluf

I’m fairly new to this as well and someone more knowledgeable will correct me if needed. It’s definitely possible but it will bring the strings closer together which may cause other problems. 

How far from the edge of the fingerboard is the string? It may be worth posting a picture to see what people think. 

I thought I had a similar problem with a mandolin a year ago and the consensus was that the string position was OK and the issue would go away as my technique improved. So it may be worth slowing down and focusing on finger placement. It worked for me on mandolin.

stickyfiddle

Yeah, as @drofluf says, you can definitely adjust this with a new nut that has the high e a little further from the edge of the neck. I did this myself on my strat earlier this year and it's fine. 

You do need to be careful to ensure the overall string spacing stays uniform, so you don't have a narrower gap between B & E than between the other strings, but that's not too difficult, especially if you go for a pre-cut nut with the right overall string spacing.

GTC

As others have said, this should be feasible. I've had this problem with several guitars and have done the same thing.

I echo the comments made regarding the need ensure correct string spacing with sufficient width between the strings to suit your playing style.

It may be possible to find a suitable pre-cut TUSQ nut with near enough the correct dimensions and overall string spacing. You can find full details of the Graphtech TUSQ range here https://graphtech.com/collections/tusq-nuts-guitar

lapua65

Thanks all for the comments. I will take some photo's to show the issue. I have less than 1mm from the edge of the fingerboard to the low E.A little more on the high E string. I have found that the low e slot in the saddle is causing a problem as it is out of line with the bridge peg and pushing the string towards the outer edge of the neck. So it looks like I will have to replace the nut and the saddle. 
In general are there slots cut in the saddle or do the strings locate naturally under tension? I do have files that are tiny so can file these as required.

ICBM

lapua65 said:

Thanks all for the comments. I will take some photo's to show the issue. I have less than 1mm from the edge of the fingerboard to the low E.A little more on the high E string. I have found that the low e slot in the saddle is causing a problem as it is out of line with the bridge peg and pushing the string towards the outer edge of the neck. So it looks like I will have to replace the nut and the saddle. 
In general are there slots cut in the saddle or do the strings locate naturally under tension? I do have files that are tiny so can file these as required.

Normally the saddle should not be slotted.

... but sometimes it's the only way to fix problems like a wrongly fitted bridge, misaligned neck joint etc where the strings don't centre on the fingerboard, without major work like relocating the bridge. It can also be necessary on guitars with a trapeze tailpiece and very low break angle over the saddle.

lapua65

Hi all. Found this site for nut spacing an it works a treat. I have changed from 3 mm to 3.5mm edge spacing. I can always change the nut when I find myself less ham fisted.
http://www.projectguitar.com/files/file/12-equal-string-spacing-nut-calculator/