I'm about to start a fresh nut on my Stratocaster Standard.
I have all the right gauged files to do the job. i just need to know two things-
1) How much back angle will i need.
2) Is there a recommended height from the first fret? I was going to shoot for about .18 on all strings.

Would love to hear any specs with the nut action from players.

This and related articles of his should get you up and running:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier ... etnut.html

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You dig?

Hi cocteau. Dan Erlewine devotes six well filled pages to nut cutting in the Guitar Player Repair Guide, and we ain't going to cover all that info on a Forum page. I'd strongly advise looking at that book, and/or Googling for a detailed picture guide.

But the brief answers to your questions: the back angle really only needs to be enough to make sure the strings break at the front of the nut, not anywhere else. At a glance I'm not finding a quoted figure for that angle, so judging it by eye from experience I'd suggest something around five degrees of arc.

Regarding the depth of the slots - or height above the fingerboard. Literally speaking, since a zero fret works fine as an alternative to a nut, in theory the nut slots can be cut to exactly the same height as the frets.

In practice, most people like 'em a little higher. A figure between 0.005 and Fender's quoted 0.020 thousandths of an inch are good.

To find it, place a steel ruler across the first and second frets and measure the gap beneath it to the fingerboard accurately with your feeler gauges. Then add your prefered figure to that, say, 0.010 thou. Hold that stack of feeler gauges at the nut and cut till your file hits the metal of the gauge. Or a touch less to be safe and allow for adjustments.

Howzat?

I presume you know how to correctly space the slots across the nut?

Cheers - C

(PS I was typing this at the same time as Martian's post, above.)

cocteau, go to www.thefenderforum.com
Ask them there. They are extremely knowledgeable and technical and are always willing to help.

Thanks guys...great info
I have Dan Erlwines excellent book "How To Make Your Guitar Play Great"-which is a must for all players.
He mentions back angle with Gibson guitars with thier larger and different shaped nuts.

I think i will try the .20 of an inch to start with, as fender recommends. Should that be the measurement on all the string, or should I follow an arc? (This isn't mentioned in Dan's book either)

Do most Fender players prefer plastic or bone nuts?
cheers

Call me crazy but I follow the arc and prefer plastic, believe it or not.

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You dig?

Hi again cocteau: each nut slot needs to be the height of the first fret plus that 0.020 thou above the fingerboard. That will definitely create an arc, since the fingerboard itself is curved.

'Course, you could always double-check with thefenderforum.com. I hear they are very knowledgeable over there...

Good luck - C