Nut replacement

[Jjackson04]

Does anyone know what nut to use for the Nitefly? I have bad fret buzz on the G and from the look and feel, I think the slot has worn down. Mine is a 97, but the odd shape is making the replacement extremely complicated. I found 3 on eBay, but I have no idea if they will work. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Here is my specs

Neck has .10 relief
Bottom E is at .9 so it doesn't buzz
High E is at .8 so it doesn't buzz
G buzzes regardless of what the action is

The only thing I can think of is the nut causing this but if anyone else has their setup specs handy I'd love to hear them

[billy]

Not sure about the nitefly but graphtech has more traditional shaped nuts that should work too. Probably the easiest thing is to fill the existing slot with some super glue and recut.

[Jjackson04]

Honestly that's not a bad idea. You think black CA or clear would be better?

[vjmanzo]

I found 3 on eBay, but I have no idea if they will work.

FWIW those nuts will work

[Jjackson04]

You think these will work?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185329371056?m ... media=COPY

[billy]

Either black or clear should be fine. Nothing to lose! The eBay ones should definitely work if VJ says so. I don’t have much experience with the nitefly.

[Jjackson04]

I found 3 on eBay, but I have no idea if they will work.

FWIW those nuts will work

Ordering them now. Will let you know how it comes out

[vjmanzo]

Thanks, Billy

@Jjackson04, Billy’s suggestion is for sure the easier approach, but yes, the NiteFlys used the same nut as the Flys from that era. Those nuts on eBay were USM factory leftovers made by Graphtech from when Parker Guitars closed in 2015, and I’ve used them many times—they would be quite close to the nuts that were being used in the factory back in 1997. Here’s a bit more nut history FWIW.

[Jjackson04]

Thanks man. I read that page earlier, but saw the Nitefly was left off. I assumed since every other fly used the same but, so did the Nitefly, but wanted to be sure.

[vjmanzo]

Happy to help!

[mmmguitar]

My ‘97 Classic’s G slot is worn enough to produce that tell-tale sitar buzz you get from insufficient break angle. I’ll probably use the ol’ smidge of baking soda and CA trick, then file it down with some sandpaper wrapped around a spare string. I’ll bump with results, for the sake of anyone else not wanting to replace the whole nut just yet.

[Jjackson04]

I would love to see that! Please do!

[mmmguitar]

I would love to see that! Please do!

Gladly! You essentially build the nut slots back up by first applying and building up a foundation of granules (ideally the same color as the nut material) in the slot, then applying a pinpoint amount of CA glue (about the smallest drop you can muster) over top of the bit of powder you built up, which the glue immediately permeates. You can then wait a minute to make sure it’s cured, or hit the mixture with an accelerator. With a Graphtech black tusq nut, I think a bit of graphite powder sprinkled in the slot before adding the CA would do the trick (though filings from an old nut of the same material is best, in all cases).

Because my Classic’s nut was slotted to a perfect (as low as you can go) depth, the G string moving in the slot over the past twenty five years sawed itself a hair deep-enough to buzz when played open (from fret 1 onward, it isn’t an issue). If all the slots were doing this, I’d just shim the whole nut with a strip of foil. But being as it’s a single string, the temporary fix is to just build the slot up slightly. And because this is a temp fix and I’ll eventually cut a new nut, I’m using baking soda for the buildup because a. I don’t have graphite powder on hand, b. I don’t want to collect filings from the spare tusq nuts I have, and c. I don’t care about a bit of white in the slot where no one can see it.


Here, I've slackened the G string by a turn or two and moved it aside (I really need to clean some of the dust off this guitar):

Next, I used some painter's tape to mask off the work area and minimize the inevitable mess:

I then used a small-tipped screwdriver to dump baking soda into the nut slot. You can see all the excess that spilled over the tape - It requires very little to fill the base of the slot.

The next photo is after I added the smallest drop of CA glue I could get to fall out of the applicator. The residue you see around the slot is actually from the old tape I used.

Next, I tried to photograph just how much the buildup had raised the G string. The buzz is gone but, at this height, the G# at the first fret will intonate too sharp, and you can certainly feel how much higher the G is at the nut compared to the other strings when you’re playing.

The diameter of the slot was just too narrow for plan A (fold some sandpaper around the B string and wedge it down there to scrape at the bottom of the slot); so I used a razor to scrape out the excess buildup:

IMG_2506.JPG (65.5 KiB) Viewed 14868 times

After testing the string, slackening, and scraping again, I'm finally happy with the height the G is now at. The buzz is gone, and a tiny drop of tri-flow lubricant (which always smells like bananas to me) in the slot - though theoretically unnecessary with a graphite nut - gives me peace of mind that the string won't catch while the built-up portion of the slot is wearing in.

There's plenty I could have done better (including just cutting a new nut from scratch) - But this temporary fix for one string is very straightforward, and I didn't have to pay anyone to do it. Now to clean the thing!

#NutIssues

[vjmanzo]

Cool stuff, Marc! I’m following along!! Great info!

My ‘97 Classic’s G slot is worn enough to produce that tell-tale sitar buzz.

Just so I’m clear: you’re saying that if I send you my Fly, you can mod it into a Fly Sitar?

[mmmguitar]

Try shoving a sushi rice paddle under the strings in front of the bridge like this guy does, @vjmanzo.



I guarantee I can make a Fly sound far worse than a sitar, just by playing it.

[vjmanzo]

That was actually a lot better and more enjoyable than I thought it would be!

[mmmguitar]

Bump. Added photos to the above post. @Jjackson04, does playing the open G string buzz as well, or is it only particular frets?

[Jjackson04]

It's the open g string as well. It sounds just like yours, where the buzz only occurs when the string is unfretted. Anything above the 1st fret sounds great.

[mmmguitar]

It's the open g string as well. It sounds just like yours, where the buzz only occurs when the string is unfretted. Anything above the 1st fret sounds great.

Seems like the classic issue - At least it’s a simple remedy. Most of my guitars have zero frets and/or metal nuts, due to the nature of strings “sawing” through softer materials over time from trem use being a pet peeve of mine. I’d like to try out a black delrin ZeroGlide nut with stainless fret in one of my Flys, at some point.

[jester700]

Seems like the classic issue - At least it’s a simple remedy. Most of my guitars have zero frets and/or metal nuts due to strings “sawing” through softer materials over time from trem use being a pet peeve of mine. I’d like to try out a black delrin ZeroGlide nut with stainless fret in one of my Flys, at some point.

I have one on my Maxxfly. I'm going to remove it one of these days.

I was going out of tune and heard a slight pinging when using the trem. I thought it was the nut, so I got the ZeroGlide setup. After installing the ZeroGlide, I realized the original pinging was actually coming from the bridge. And now I have an additional - and MUCH worse - pinging coming from the plain strings at the zero fret when I bend those strings. The string is somehow "catching" on the fret (though it feels smooth).

The ZeroGlide guy said to fill & cut the guide slots so the strings can't move as much, but that's a PITA with no guarantee of success - especially when my cheapo Steinberger Spirit never had such issues with its zero fret setup.