Fretless Nut Adjustment

[SpondonBassed]

I've just put some Rotosound Tru Bass 88s on my Vantage fretless. These are heavy gage flats wound with black nylon. I had to ease the slot in the D string saddle else the string was sitting on the groove rather than in it. Similarly the E and A strings show daylight between the string and the bottom of the nut slot. (Fnar fnar. Excuse me while I have a Finbarr Saunders moment.)

As it is, the guitar plays well and I am bedding in the new strings with little or no issue. I am wondering however if it would be worth:
- widening the nut slots just enough without deepening to get the strings to sit in the slot fully?
or
- leave it well alone in case I go back to a lighter gage later?

[franzbassist]

If it plays well I'd leave it alone. Much easier to go back to a lighter gauge that way.

[Grangur]

Clearly if you're going to play the bass with Trubass 88s, then you're going to need a nut that lets the string be at the right height. Why not get a spare nut for the bass, so you can swap nuts when you change strings?

Otherwise, why not go for LaBella flats for a deeper sound?

[Twincam]

You can actually widen the outer edges of a nut slot a touch (flare them out) while leaving a portion of the slot untouched, it lets higher gauge strings sit better and further down, while the thinner gauge stings can still sit correctly.

Although it takes practice and its a compromise as the thicker gauge strings won't be as perfect in the height, but they will sit much better in the nut. It will allow for heavy and lighter gauges to be played.

[Guest bassman7755]

I always cut the nut down so that the strings just touch the fretboard since I see no logical reason why they should be raised on a fretless.

[SpondonBassed]

Cheers Twincam, I'm not too bad with a needle file. I think it might be wise to get a better contact area between string and nut so I'll give that a go.

@ Bassman7755; I've not got a problem with playability even with the situation as described. What benefit could be had from lowering the strings as you said?

@ Grangur; I've heard of the practice of nut swapping. Makes my eyes water frankly. I appreciate the idea though I'd likely loose a nut in the process.