Roller Nuts

[Structo]

Is the slot flat or radiused?

[sepulchre]

Martin: that's exactly how it went. The adjustment head is ~3/8" past the slot. I couldn't have ground the back of the nut anyway - it has a retainer piece for the roller balls back there.

Tom: nope. The slot is flat. But the original was radiused.

It turned out not quite as tight in the slot as I had hoped but it's certainly not at all sloppy. I was hoping for "can barely fit it in" tight. It slides in fairly easily and won't fall out even if you shake it. With the screws in it's Solid.

I had to make a little chisel to get the job done. Guess I'll have to find another driver to tighten the chicken heads now. Sometimes sacrifices must be made.

As you can see, it's slightly wider than the neck - sticks out a little. But the strings stay on the fretboard so I can live with that.

[sepulchre]

Here's the "chisel" I made. As luck has it, I'm heading over to Kokomo in the morning. I'll pick up a small chisel at Harbor Freight . . . a day late, but it'll be in the tool chest next time. Guess I ought to grab a replacement screwdriver too.

Thanks to everybody for all the helpful pointers and advice. This project worked out just fine!

[Structo]

So can you tell if the new roller nut has helped the tuning stability with whammy bar use?

[sepulchre]

Yes indeed it did. I can WIGGLE it and everything stays in tune. Haven't tried a power dive; not really my style, but I can get pretty radical with no ill effects. I set the intonation and it's really nice to play - all strings in tune all the way up the neck.

I'm not using the tree and it seems okay. If it was needed I think I've seen a roller tree too, but so far this one's working without it. Now for locking tuners. I dislike the ones on it with the hole down the shaft. I know this might seem like a lot of effort to put into a MIM Strat but it's been with me through some pretty thin times so it deserves a little TLC.

[cbass]

Nice job on the install
I made the mistake of putting a generic roller nut on one of mine .
It had no radius so I bent it. somehow it works pretty well

[Espjr215]

Just out of curiosity, what are you going to go with for the locking tuners? I bought a set of Planet Waves tuners off of CL but they just seem so heavy in comparison to the tuners that are on it now.

This is on a black logo mim strat.

[Structo]

Yes, most lockers are heavy.

[jestaudio]

Sperzel are pretty decent and not to heavy

[Espjr215]

Thanks jestaudio for the recommendation, I'll go and look at them.

[Structo]

Hehehe, Sperzels are the ones I tried first and thought they were a bit on the heavy side.

[jestaudio]

Hehehe, Sperzels are the ones I tried first and thought they were a bit on the heavy side.

wouldn't use anything else, both my strats have Sperzels and roller nuts, great combination, I have some planet waves lockers on a Blade Texas special but am not that impressed,

[JazzGuitarGimp]

I have sperzels on my guitars as well and am happy with them.

[jestaudio]

Wilkinson Rotomatics are pretty decent for the price but they are heavier than sperzels, Schaller do some decent top locking machine heads as well if weight is a issue

[eniam rognab]

sperzels here, love love love