First Fret Necessary? Does it make a difference in sound or playability without it?

Buco

That's certainly a nice low action. I'd get it a shimless bridge though. After putting in so much work and time into it, go all the way. That top looks so great.

Bones

Looks cool. How did you finish it? Shellac?

bohemewarbler

Tru-Oil on the neck, back, and sides

Danish Oil (Watco) - 3 combo tints that I had on hand - to get the "ballpark" tint on the top

TransTint "Honey Amber" (Homestead Finishing) to get the amber antique look. This was applied a few drops, undiluted, at a time while applying the Danish Oil on the top

ARM-R-SEAL semi-gloss (General Finishes) for top coat protection on the top.

I chose the Danish Oil after watching YouTube video "six gun guitars danish oil parts 1 and 2." He also does a Tru-Oil video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTXilJCN27Q&t=20s

It would be fun to get some cheap guitars at a re-sell, antique store, etc. to test out different techniques and tinting. I was pretty much going on the fly.

Gouch

The nut slots look oddly cut, in the photo at least. It’s important to get the right down-pressure on the zero fret.

If the guitar currently plays really well, I suppose… “don’t fix it” for now.

Buco

Buco

@Gouch now that you mentioned, I think you're right. The nut may be turned backwards.

ChrisMartin

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108614#Comment_108614

Yep! I had not noticed that; very strange. My guess here is whoever his 'guitar repair person' is he is maybe a skilled cabinet maker and woodworker but not necessarily a luthier.

Buco

Yeah, as I'm zooming in the picture, the nut slots are sloping down towards the neck. No biggie, just flip it the other way.

Gouch

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108616#Comment_108616

But, (do correct me if wrong): if you flip the nut around without additional mods, it would be a “lefty nut” (string slot dimensions would be incorrect for a righty player).

Gouch

(*Not trashing anybody/anything. I already said “don’t fix it” if it works well. But let’s analyze with the intent of jointly learning from each other).

What I’m seeing here is quite likely a replacement nut, made by somebody steady and well intentioned but who maybe didn’t have all the necessary tools and time to do a euro-grade nut. It’s actually kind of minor because the nut is something of a “string positioner” when there’s a zero fret.

I can’t tell if the nut is properly seated in the nut slot channel behind the fingerboard, in the neck. Maybe it is. The nut needs to mate perfectly with the nut slot floor, which is often not-parallel to the fingerboard end (😑). And 1 micro drop of super glue to hold in place when finished- nuts need to be removable.

The nut wasn’t cut/filed/buffed to exactly match the end flaring of the nut slot. Cosmetic problem, no big deal especially if diy.

[If string spacing feels good, don’t change it, measure and save a copy of those measurements!] To my eye based on one pic, the string spacing between D and G strings looks a little off (too wide). Perhaps the string slots were filed equally-spaced, without considering string diameter.

The strings on this type of nut should sit halfway (75% ok) into the nut slot at the front of the nut, and then slope cleanly to the tuner post, without any further pinch points from the nut (glide surfaces, fine). The strings shouldn’t be buried in a bone canyon (“I accidentally buried it in Bone Canyon” never ends well, eh)

With a zero fret, we’re not having to deal with intonation in this scenario, so we “only” have to focus on string spacing, downward pressure on the nut, nut seating, string seating, and cosmetics (hardly a simple combo 🙂)

As a completely crazy summing thought, this looks right now to me like it might have originally been a lefty nut, that was flipped to be righty. (I’m a lefty)

Nutsos, please chime in!