Filing Down Nut Slots
First of all, it should be said that this procedure works for any type of guitar with a wooden or plastic nut, including electric guitar, acoustic guitar and bass.
1. Take out your nut files and get ready for some filing.
2. Loosen the string you want to file a slot for.
3. When the string is loose enough, move it away from the slot and over the side of the nut. (If you have a Fret MD DVD watch the nut section on how to do this).
4. Keeping your nut file at an approximately 35 degree angle, make just a few passes at the nut.
5. Replace the string in it’s slot, and tune it back up to pitch.
6. Use a .006 feeler gauge, use the string height assessment method discussed in the assessment section of this tutorial to determine if the string is at the proper height.
7. Repeat steps 1 – 6 if necessary. (It’s better to file too little, than too much. If you file too little than you can just file away a little more. If you file to much you’ll need to either shim up your nut or replace it, and that will be a huge pain, so try to avoid it if you can!)
What to Do if Some of Your Strings Sit too High, Others Sit too Low and Some are Just Right:
1. Shim up the nut and raise the strings that are sitting too low.
2. Now you may have some strings that are to high. Just repeat the former process with the feeler gauge until you have the perfect string height.