Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

[Thoraby]

Well, my axe used to have a floyd style Kahler nut(it was worn), and I replaced it with a genuine Floyd nut. First thing I noticed was that the action at the nut was SUPER high! So I filed down the wood under the nut a bit, and now the action is perfect!
Another thing I noticed was that the nut sat a bit too much to the low e side of the neck, making the low e-string fall of the neck.

Also, the nut is seated a bit crooked, so the strings towards the high e-string all are a bit sharp when fretted. WTF was Kahler thinking, when making their rip-off floyd nut [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] ??

Questions: How would be the best way to drill holes for the Floyd nut and to ensure that they are on the right place(intonation-wise)?
What is the distance, from where the strings leave the nut, to the start of the first fret(jumbo fret from 1988) on a 25.5 scale axe.

And obviously, having learned from previous ****ups, I WILL PRACTICE ON SCRAP WOOD, until I get it right. Or is it best left to a tech? This axe is already fairly ****ed up, so it won't hurt it's value.


Thanx a million

Thoraby

[Black Mariah]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Just fill in the hole that are in the nut shelf right now, put the nut up against the back side of the fingerboard, line it up side-to-side, and mark where the holes are. Then drill. Then screw it on. Wasn't that easy? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

The intonation at the first couple of frets will ALWAYS be off a bit and it's doubtful that whoever installed the Kahler nut took anything off the end of the fretboard. If you're really paranoid about it, just measure the distance from the 12th fret up to where the nut goes and see how far it is. It should be exactly half of your scale length.

[toejam]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Dude, just put on some white face makeup and do your best Paul Stanley smash on that thing already!! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[killerburst]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Originally posted by Thoraby:
Well, my axe used to have a floyd style Kahler nut(it was worn), and I replaced it with a genuine Floyd nut. First thing I noticed was that the action at the nut was SUPER high! So I filed down the wood under the nut a bit, and now the action is perfect!
Another thing I noticed was that the nut sat a bit too much to the low e side of the neck, making the low e-string fall of the neck.

Also, the nut is seated a bit crooked, so the strings towards the high e-string all are a bit sharp when fretted. WTF was Kahler thinking, when making their rip-off floyd nut [img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] ??

Questions: How would be the best way to drill holes for the Floyd nut and to ensure that they are on the right place(intonation-wise)?
What is the distance, from where the strings leave the nut, to the start of the first fret(jumbo fret from 1988) on a 25.5 scale axe.

And obviously, having learned from previous ****ups, I WILL PRACTICE ON SCRAP WOOD, until I get it right. Or is it best left to a tech? This axe is already fairly ****ed up, so it won't hurt it's value.


Thanx a million

Thoraby

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Fret location is calculated by the Rule of 18 (which is actually 17.817). The scale length is divided by 17.817 to give you the location of the *center* of the first fret. The remaining scale length is again divided by the magic number for the second fret, and so on.

Maybe you could try some double stick tape to locate the nut, then mark the hole locations. Just make sure your drill bit is perpendicluar to the plane of the neck when you drill.

I'd suggest getting some good books and practice on scrap as you say. Check out StewMac.com for a bunch of books and tools, as well as free professional tips. Ask for a free catalog.

[Thoraby]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Originally posted by toejam:
Dude, just put on some white face makeup and do your best Paul Stanley smash on that thing already!! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">NO FUKKIN' WAY! It's my beater and main axe. Just because the bridge posts are crooked it's not a bad axe [img]graemlins/evilimages/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I'm just gonna get the nut right, and then it'll rock [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[toejam]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Cool. Glad you got it figured out. [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[Thoraby]

Re: Redrilling holes for Floyd nut!

Ok guys, crisis is over. The nut is positioned just fine. It was just the nut routing which was a bit crooked(probably happened when I filed the nut route down). All strings intonate perfectly except the high e-string. It's probably just a ****ty string.
And the nut not being centered I can live with.

Thanx for your help

Thoraby