It’s a sad reflection that some guitars are just not as good as they really should be.  This is a lovely alternative to it’s Gibson cousin but still should be better.  A little bit of attention to detail though and it’ll be better than the Gibson…

The action at the 1st fret is a little high but rather than working the existing plastic nut I’m fitting a new bone one, It’ll improve the tone and sustain as well.  I’m going to have to remove the old one anyway, but more of that later.

With the strings off and the truss rod cover removed the nut pops out quite easily.

I’ve got some rough cut bone pieces, just need some work to get the right size and shape.

Firstly saw the end off to roughly the right length.

Next, on the grinding wheel, make sure the bottom and sides are square and flat.

Next get the right thickness.

I’ll be coming back to that later.  In the meantime, the frets aren’t as level as you would hope so I’m going to dress them all to level the tops.

You can see where the 11th fret was a lot higher than the 12th.

With the tops level I need to round them all off again.

3 1/2 done 19 to go….

Once the frets are level and re-shaped they need to be polished.  I use 4 levels of micro-mesh.

With the frets looking nice It’s time to have a go at the fretboard.  It’s a brand new guitar but the finish is still a little grubby and rough.  A quick rub down with some very fine steel wool…..

and a little Lemon Oil.

With that done, back to that nut.  Making sure the slots are in the right place.  The slots on the old nut weren’t spaced properly mind you.

With the strings fitted and at pitch, check the set in the neck.

A little high so a turn or so of the truss-rod.

Next the action at the first fret.  Since the nut is new the slots need to be cut down to the right depth

Not difficult, just a little time-consuming.

Next the action height at the 12th fret. 

Just a little high so a turn or 2 of the bridge height screws.

Lastly the intonation..

And there we go, job done.  Plays better then it’s expensive cousin.

A comment from the owner:

Thanks for the outstanding job George. It now sounds stunning, particularly as it’s a “reasonably priced” guitar. Much more pleasurable to pick up play.