Nut and Bridge

Posted by C.W. on June 26, 2012 at 11:53pm

Hi all,

Can someone tell me if the nut and the bridge are supposed to be the same height on a 3 string slide?

If not, which should be higher?

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Replies

  • Dan Sleep June 28, 2012 at 10:31am

    I put a short beginner's video on my page here that may help you a bit.

    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/string-action

    • C.W. > Dan Sleep June 28, 2012 at 4:03pm

      Your video was extremely helpful. Thank you!

       

  • Rand Moore June 28, 2012 at 10:24am
    On my instruments the bridge is typically a tad bit higher than the nut to give the strings a bit more height off the fretboard (i.e. to raise the action). But then my builds are not really meant for slide playing and I generally go for low string action. Those times I have to raise the bridge by adding a shim under the "bolt and nut" bridge are usually after I find a fret that's buzzing because the next fret is too high (and can't be fixed by hitting again with a hammer). When I correct the nut, it is usually by filling a grove in the neck because the strings are not touching fret 0 with enough force resulting in buzz or off-tuned note. The groove effectively lowers the bolt that serves as my nut (or string tee), bringing the strings into better contact with fret 0 and thereby eliminating the buzzing.. The bridge height on my instruments usually is dictated by the size (diameter) of the bolt which usually is metric size 8 and the nut is usually metric size 6 but as I have said sometimes I have to use a shim, usually cut from 2mm thick plywood veneer. Hope this helps.
    Good luck with your build(s).
    -Rand.
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