Nut Replacement

K

KurtBassist

Mar 20, 2021
7
6
1,531
#1
I have an old Applause (i.e., Ovation) acoustic bass I bought back in the early '90s when I thought being able to do a fully unplugged set would be a good idea. I defretted one summer about 10 years ago. I decided to put Rotosound TruBass 88's on it. The E string is .115 gauge, which cracked the nut (I know, I know the girth busted the nut; the jokes practically write themselves). The strings do provide a very nice, rich tone.

This is not an especially valuable instrument, but it does allow for some tone and neat sounds (microtones and vibrato effects) that my other instruments don't. I think it might be worth it to replace the nut with something that can accommodate the higher gauge strings. That raises a number of practical questions, though:
  1. What kind of nut should I get for it?
  2. Where should I get said nut? It seems that the standard replacement nuts from the major retailers would have the same problem as the original.
  3. Does anyone have any suggestions for removing the broken one and installing a new one?
Thank you
Kurt
 
#5
One thing I swore to never do, is file a nut. It's just beyond my skills, and nothing can change that.
BTW, this is the first time I hear of an Ovation acoustic bass. I mean, it makes sense that it exists, I just never thought Ovation would make one.

Care to snap a few pics of that bass, OP?
 
#6
Since you have converted the bass to a fretless, you have three options: you can either go with bone, which is pretty much the default material for a bass or guitar nut, plastic, which is the default material for less expensive instruments or you could use the same material your fingerboard is made out of which, on a fretless, gives the open strings a much closer sound to the stopped strings.

On several fretless basses I’ve had I made rosewood nuts to match the rosewood fingerboards and the tone of the open strings was very close to that of stopped notes.

The Applause line, if I remember correctly, used some sort of synthetic material for the fingerboard so you might do well with a hard, synthetic material like corian.

You can buy nut blanks from any lutherie supplier but they typically won’t be fitted or cut. That you’ll have to do yourself or, as others suggested, just take it to a local luthier and let them take care of it. It’s an easy job to do wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: totalnoob
#7
Since you asked for a couple of quick pics, here you go. Nothing fancy, just an Ovation with a different headstock. Rounded plastic back and a neck cutaway. You can see where my E-string (which I normally tune down to a D on the acoustic) is loose because of the broken nut. The high sheen on the fingerboard is the varnish I used after defretting.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20230315_094059.jpg
    IMG_20230315_094059.jpg
    840.7 KB · Views: 27
  • IMG_20230315_094146.jpg
    IMG_20230315_094146.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 22
  • Like
Reactions: Matt Liebenau and totalnoob
#8
KurtBassist said:
Since you asked for a couple of quick pics, here you go. Nothing fancy, just an Ovation with a different headstock. Rounded plastic back and a neck cutaway. You can see where my E-string (which I normally tune down to a D on the acoustic) is loose because of the broken nut. The high sheen on the fingerboard is the varnish I used after defretting.
Click to expand...
Thank you, very interesting to see an Ovation acoustic bass! And it seems like you did a decent job with your defretting. Did you heat each fret before pulling it?
 
#9
totalnoob said:
Thank you, very interesting to see an Ovation acoustic bass! And it seems like you did a decent job with your defretting. Did you heat each fret before pulling it?
Click to expand...

I did not heat each fret. I very gently tapped each one with a chisel and hammer and pulled with pliers. I only had one where a piece of fingerboard came out and I had to use wood filler to fix it, which I also used to fill the grooves. I then sanded the sucker down with 3 different levels of grit paper. After I had it smooth enough, I used spar varnish on it. It was partly an experiment to see if I had the technical ability to do that kind of work (let's just say wood shop was not my forte in school), but I was pleased with the results and I like that I can do some unusual things with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: totalnoob and JRA
#10
#11
Turnaround said:
Sorry to say that wood filler was not a good choice. Please read this thread:
Defretting and the use of Wood Filler
Click to expand...

I consulted a whole lot of guides before doing it. It was a number of years ago, so it's entirely possible that I used something else. I know that I've had no problems with it and it has sounded fine. Perhaps someone far more expert than I am would be able to hear the difference, but such a person would also probably custom-build a much higher-quality instrument to begin with.

If I should ever decide that I need a fretless electric, I will spend the money for a good one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back