Need help with flamenco setup

[Joel Brown]

I bought my flamenco guitar new about a year ago and recently discovered some strange things about it:

The strings are too low even for flamenco 2.25mm on low E string and 1.85mm on high E string at 12th fret.
I think this could explain the overly percussive sound.

I am going to make a new saddle 1.5mm taller to raise the strings. The existing saddle is plastic and rather thick at 3.3mm.
One possible explanation for this is the bridge is not far enough towards the bottom of the guitar, so making the saddle thicker allowed some adjustment.
I measured the strings and found:

Low E: 329mm from nut to 12th fret, 328mm from 12th fret to saddle.
High E: 329mm from nut ti 12th fret, 326mm from 12th fret to saddle.

So the saddle is still not far enough towards the bottom, as my under standing the string length should be 1.5mm longer from the 12th fret to the saddle than nut to 12th fret.
It also explains why my guitar is sharp by 12 cents at the 12th fret.

The nut does not have flat slots, it has ramps which makes the strings contact further towards the head stock which contributes to the above problems.
Also the nut is kind of narrow about 4mm, I did some searching and could not find a nut like this anywhere. The standard seems to be flat slots and 6mm thick.

It seems if I am going to make a new saddle I should probably replace the nut first with one that has flat slots which will make the strings about 2mm shorter which should help intonation.

Here is a picture of the nut.

Thanks for any advise.

[Michael Lewis]

I think you are going to need the help of a calculator and an equation for figuring fret placement. Fortunately there is an abundance of fret spacing calculators on the internet. Next you need a decent measuring device, whether a ruler or a caliper to measure the distance of frets from the nut. Determine whether the frets are correct or not before modifying anything.

Your nut should have the slots cut as ramps so the strings are supported at the very end of the fingerboard, UNLESS the frets are not in the correct place.

[Barry Daniels]

Looks like another factory guitar with a really defective setup. Whats new?

[Gordon Bellerose]

First thing I would do, is change the nut.
The edge of the nut facing the fret board should be at 90 degrees vertically, to the end of the fret board.
Assuming that your fret board is fretted properly, that should at least get that end of things fixed.

Next is replacing the bridge.
With a bridge that is 3.3 mm thick, you may have enough there to shape the top edge back to the rear, thereby making your intonation better.
If that is not enough adjustment, then you may have to move the entire bridge plate.

[Joel Brown]

I am going to replace the nut.
I measured the distance from the front edge of the nut to the first fret and it appears to be right, so I don't know why they used this nut.
I was thinking of getting this one and fitting it to my guitar so i don't need to buy nut files and make the slots myself:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170683628494?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

But I am not sure the slots and spacing are correct.

[Barry Daniels]

A pre-made nut does not mean that you still don't need to file the slots to the proper height. And like you said, the dimensions and string spacing are not likely to be correct for your guitar.

If you have a set of needle files you can make the nut from scratch to fit your specific guitar.

[Joel Brown]

A pre-made nut does not mean that you still don't need to file the slots to the proper height. And like you said, the dimensions and string spacing are not likely to be correct for your guitar.

If you have a set of needle files you can make the nut from scratch to fit your specific guitar.

Barry,

My thinking was i could remove material from the bottom of the nut by sanding or whatever until the slots are the right height.
Unless each slot has to be a different height?
I was trying to not have to invest about $90 into buying a set of nut files, but maybe that is what I need to do.
I do plan to build a guitar in the future so they will be nice to have anyway.

Joel

[Barry Daniels]

Removing material from the bottom of the nut may work to a degree. At least it could get you close, as long as you don't go too far. The height of the slots is based on the crown of the fretboard. Also the higher strings should be closer to the fret than the lower strings.

There is a ton of information on nut making in the library.

[Ryan Mazzocco]

I was trying to not have to invest about $90 into buying a set of nut files, but maybe that is what I need to do.
I do plan to build a guitar in the future so they will be nice to have anyway.

Good nut files is a sound investment if you plan on building more, but as was stated earlier it's not necessary. You can get the job done with simple needle files. You can probably buy a set at harbor freight for less than 5 or 6 bucks.
And I would imagine your plan of just taking it off the bottom would be extremely difficult. There is a very good chance you could go to far and then you've just wasted a nut. Not the mention the likelihood of getting the bottom all out of square. and as Barry alluded to, if the slots on the nut aren't already matched to the radius of your fretboard then there's another problem. Doing this the right way, even without the best tools is really the best way to go.

[Joel Brown]

Ok thanks for expert advise, and now i know why my idea probably wont work.
From everything I have read about making a nut, people have tried it with cheap tools and always say go buy some good nut files.

I just called a local shop to see how much it costs to have a nut made - $75.
I will definitely be buying the files and maybe opening my own nut making service.