Question: Getting a new nut on my acoustic

[Chicken Man]

I've got some out of control sitar sounds on a couple of my open strings. I'm planning to get a new nut put on. It's my first new nut--is there anything I need to know? Are there options I should be aware of? I've got a good tech, I'd just like to be well informed when I go in. How much will it cost me?

 

[bsman]

Go bone or go home. Seriously, as long as you're having it done, may as well go with a bone nut.

 

[jp_nyc]

If your guitar uses a generic nut size with a flat bottom, and the factory didn’t overdo the glue, you can do it yourself in a few minutes with a Graphtech nut. If the nut is stuck to a nice guitar (a common Gibson problem), or a weird size that has to be custom cut, or the bottom needs shaping to fit a curve, you should just pay a luthier to do it. Fitting a nut to a curve can take forever so expect to pay at least $100 for that. At which point I agree with bsman; spring for bone.

 

[gtrjunior]

Funny....just yesterday I dropped my Les Paul off for a new nut.
I'm having a bone nut installed. The cheesy factory plastic one has had it.

 

[Chicken Man]

I'm definitely having a tech do it--it's my gigging guitar, so I don't have the luxury of making mistakes while I'm learning something new.