custom cut Black Tusq bass nut

 ive used this artificial bone material before for my acoustic guitar bridge saddle & nut, & my electric guitar nut, but i still forgot how labor intensive it actually is. its also more nerve wracking the closer you are to finishing, 1 mistake, like cutting the slots too deep or making the bottom lopsided, & its ruined!

i always start by cutting it to width with a hair to spare (the general rule for all the steps involved).

ive used a razor blade & coping blade before, but this time i used a dremel with a diamond wheel.

a nice wood block is the essential work station, & i used 220 + 150 grit sandpaper, just dry, the Tusq is literally a solid block of lubricant so no wetting is necessary.

after cleaning up the rough cut, its time to measure the original nut. there was nothing wrong with my height, so i just copied it 1:1, though i always round the shoulder, as opposed to the sharp angle on the factory nuts.

just a pencil works great to mark the Tusq. there is some mind fuckery to be wary of: you cant just trace the thing, since the front & back are different, so overlaying them really is only useful for width & slot spacing. 

i started by marking the highest edge & sanding that flat, then marking the opposite lowest side & sanding at an angle to meet that.

after getting the top plane roughed in, i start the string slots with a sharp file. then comes the necessary tedium, using the actual gauge strings to cut the actual slots. i use old cutoffs to avoid bending or marring new strings.

i find the easiest way is to lay the string flat & hold the Tusq. i cut my slots until about 1/4 or 1/5 of the given string is left protruding from the top plane, that is to say, the slot will contain a little over half the string thickness.

once the slots are roughed in, refinement can begin. even though you cant compare the nut as a whole very easily, you can compare each individual slot.

i measured the height of the original nut, from fretboard to the top of each string (since the strings are too low to see any measurement on the ruler underneath the string). then i did a handful of test fittings with the new nut, comparing the string height, making absolutely sure i didnt overdo it.

after that, its all about patience & finesse. i decided to leave the new nut about 1mm tall, to leave room for breaking in/tuning several times. once you find that the slots are as deep as you are comfortable with, if its still too tall, you can sand the bottom, keeping it flat on the sandpaper on the wood block.

i used just a tiny smear of original titebond woodglue in the corner of the fretboard/neck to tack the nut in place, keeping it easy to knock loose if necessary but secure for string changes.

next, im gonna take care of the bass wiring.