evenkeel
November 9th, 2008, 06:08 PM
My new 12'er got a bit of surgery a few days ago.
I shipped her back from Annapolis to a friend who lives here in St. Pete.. He brought to my attention the nut slots needed to be lowered a bit. When fretted on the third fret there was a bit of a gap between the string and the first fret. Should be just a very tiny gap, paper width. My first thought was take it to a luthier, but after a bit of research I decided to purchase some files and have a go at it. I've done lots of other acoustic work but never attempted this.
I purchased a set of Norman tm files and followed the instructions very carefully. Took lots of time and stopped for repeated measurments. These files are sold on E-Bay and frankly have a very mixed bag of reviews. For me they worked perfect. The guitar plays a lot easier, better intonation and less buzzing. It was good before. I just thought "hey it's a 12'er she's supposed to be a bit stiff" Now she plays a lot easier. The job was actually pretty simple.
If you were going to do this kind of work a lot the Norman files may be a problem. Some customers have complained they went dull very fast. Also a few complaints of a lack of communication from the seller. He was fine with me and for the occasional job I think the files will work just fine.
I shipped her back from Annapolis to a friend who lives here in St. Pete.. He brought to my attention the nut slots needed to be lowered a bit. When fretted on the third fret there was a bit of a gap between the string and the first fret. Should be just a very tiny gap, paper width. My first thought was take it to a luthier, but after a bit of research I decided to purchase some files and have a go at it. I've done lots of other acoustic work but never attempted this.
I purchased a set of Norman tm files and followed the instructions very carefully. Took lots of time and stopped for repeated measurments. These files are sold on E-Bay and frankly have a very mixed bag of reviews. For me they worked perfect. The guitar plays a lot easier, better intonation and less buzzing. It was good before. I just thought "hey it's a 12'er she's supposed to be a bit stiff" Now she plays a lot easier. The job was actually pretty simple.
If you were going to do this kind of work a lot the Norman files may be a problem. Some customers have complained they went dull very fast. Also a few complaints of a lack of communication from the seller. He was fine with me and for the occasional job I think the files will work just fine.