I love these, some great guitars coming out Gretsch these days.  Great value an very well made.  This one just has a slight problem, staying in tune.

It’s probably the nut.  I’m not much a fan of these new fanged materials, I don’t think you can beat good old fashioned bone.

Unfortunately I can’t find a pre-shaped nut to fit so I’ll have to cut one from a blank.

1st job then, off with the strings and out with the old nut.

Using the old nut as a guide it’s just a case of cutting and grinding the blank to the same size and shape.

The basic length..

It’s about 0.7mm too thick..

so carefully grind it down.

Once it fits nicely in the slot get the ends clean and flat.

Then the curve of the top..

That’s the basic shape.

All it needs now are the string slots.

I’ve left the slots quite shallow, I’ll cut them to the right depth as a part of the setup.  It’s essential to get the neck set and bridge height correct first.

So a full setup, then neck set…

Action height at the 12th fret

Back to the action at the 1st fret.

Time to cut the slots down to depth.

Lastly a check on the pickup heights.

An there it is, ready now for a life of Rock ‘n Roll.