Recently I had been having buzz issues on my MIM strat. Repair shop told me that I should have a fret dress, but after a lengthy inspection of my own I determined the nut slots had gotten too low. I tried to make a nice paste of bone dust and glue to raise 2 of the slots like I read on the internet. This did not work. I mixed a good amount of bone dust with a few drops of super glue...this is what i read online. But it solidified instantly. I assume I completely messed it up. Should I have used a different glue? more glue? Should I have put the dust in the slots and then the glue? I'm not sure.
But the silver lining turned out to be that I had a Tusq nut in my box that was perfect. Didnt know I had it. Required a little filing and sanding, but it fits, and i didnt have to file the nut slots at all. It could use some minor slot filing but that's for another day, plays perfectly fine as it is...and no buzzes!!!!! I've decided to let the new strings and new nut settle before i give it a good setup tomorrow.
CA glue (super glue) is pretty much an instant cure, not allowing much time for mixing. There are different CA glues that do take a little longer to set, modelers use these. I have used glues like that for R/C plane building, where I require a bit of time to position parts for gluing. There are diff. viscosity glues as well.
so i should have used a lower viscosity glue with a longer set time?
yes. use the thin (generic low viscosity, not gel) cyanoacrylate and work very fast once you start. you may not be able to coat the entire bottom of the slot, so first shoot for getting something onto the bottom of the critical, "working" end of the slot (toward the fretboard). it usually does not take much to effect a good repair.
-=tension & release=-
i did use the thin generic brand, no gel. that's strange. it literally solidified the second the glue hit the pile of dust. by time i went to mix it it was hard as a rock.
A hobby shop that deals with R/C building, such as boats & planes could direct you to a better suited glue. The generic thin stuff is a quick setting glue, no doubt!
