Here's a look at the height of the action. The strings still hurt a little if you haven't built up calluses yet (I haven't) but the fact that they're lighter strings does seem to help.
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Hey Michael, I guess i'm using bone mostly for nuts. I've used threaded nuts and they work ok for me. I have more trouble lowering the whole nut to the right level than cutting a slot for each string in bone. I don't fuss over it much, just saw a notch with my xacto saw. I like a clean break from the nut with a sharp edge. The bolt is round so you have a curved exit for the string. I like a square edge. I've used the bolts for diddley bows where i have a high action for slide work. There they work great.
@Dave: I wonder if I'd even have much problem with buzz at the nut if/when I lower the action. I never even cut slots in it. The strings are just staying in place by the grooves of the screw I used for the nut.
@Jabes: Yeah. I double-checked that. The neck really is pretty straight. That weird bend seems to be an artifact of the camera. I probably had it too close and the curvature of the lens showed up.
Ya Michael, sometimes you just have to let them steep. I like to revisit a build to fix it as a project itself. Then it feels like an easy project. I've got several of mine that need fixed. I'll get to it when the times right. I noticed you didn't leave much room for a good angle on the strings going to the tail piece. That's where a lot of buzz happens for me. I angle my necks down so the bridge can be high and give a good angle to the strings. The nut can buzz too. If your nut slots aren't just right, the buzz begins. Sometimes the string is too high off the first fret (notch too shallow). This gives you a high action at the nut end. This makes tired fingers, poor intonation, and buzz. Of course it could be a wavy fretboard or a bow. I often do some fret filing, don't even take the strings off, just loosen the use a block to hold them high while i file. All my fretted builds have buzzed or whined at first till i find the culpret...
@Dave: I've had such a hard time with strings buzzing on recent builds that I tried going up high again. I really should try a lower bridge now. I just like the way the bolt and nut combo looks. That and I'm to busy/lazy to unstring it, find or fashion a suitable bridge, and string it back up to test. I think I'll eventually do that, though. I'm still thinking about fixing the wonky headstock of my second build.
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Hey Michael, I guess i'm using bone mostly for nuts. I've used threaded nuts and they work ok for me. I have more trouble lowering the whole nut to the right level than cutting a slot for each string in bone. I don't fuss over it much, just saw a notch with my xacto saw. I like a clean break from the nut with a sharp edge. The bolt is round so you have a curved exit for the string. I like a square edge. I've used the bolts for diddley bows where i have a high action for slide work. There they work great.
@Dave: I wonder if I'd even have much problem with buzz at the nut if/when I lower the action. I never even cut slots in it. The strings are just staying in place by the grooves of the screw I used for the nut.
@Jabes: Yeah. I double-checked that. The neck really is pretty straight. That weird bend seems to be an artifact of the camera. I probably had it too close and the curvature of the lens showed up.
hope you don't mind but that fretboard doesn't look straight,after the 4th fret action goes way high....
Ya Michael, sometimes you just have to let them steep. I like to revisit a build to fix it as a project itself. Then it feels like an easy project. I've got several of mine that need fixed. I'll get to it when the times right. I noticed you didn't leave much room for a good angle on the strings going to the tail piece. That's where a lot of buzz happens for me. I angle my necks down so the bridge can be high and give a good angle to the strings. The nut can buzz too. If your nut slots aren't just right, the buzz begins. Sometimes the string is too high off the first fret (notch too shallow). This gives you a high action at the nut end. This makes tired fingers, poor intonation, and buzz. Of course it could be a wavy fretboard or a bow. I often do some fret filing, don't even take the strings off, just loosen the use a block to hold them high while i file. All my fretted builds have buzzed or whined at first till i find the culpret...
@Dave: I've had such a hard time with strings buzzing on recent builds that I tried going up high again. I really should try a lower bridge now. I just like the way the bolt and nut combo looks. That and I'm to busy/lazy to unstring it, find or fashion a suitable bridge, and string it back up to test. I think I'll eventually do that, though. I'm still thinking about fixing the wonky headstock of my second build.
Why so hi. Is it for slide work?