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To
Glue or Not to Glue
Q
The nut of my classical guitar
came loose during the last string change. Can I glue it back in
myself? (The idea of scraping away the old glue scares me.) Also,
how important is a good seat for a saddle?
Pauline Leland
Seattle, Washington
| A
Nuts should
be glued in place because there is too much likelihood that
they will slide to the side—often at an inopportune time.
They must also be well fitted, and that means cleaning off the
old glue. If you are adventurous and careful, and you work slowly,
this is not a complicated job. I use a small file that is stiff
enough to enable me to file the slot perfectly flat on the bottom,
and I sand the bottom of the nut flat, as well. If you remove
too much wood or bone, however, the nut slots may end up too
low. To reseat the nut, a very small dab of hide, white, or
Titebond glue is sufficient—you just want to keep the nut
from falling out or sliding; you're not creating a structural
joint. Pocket saddles should have a tight fit all along the
bottom of the saddle—I can grip the saddle on my guitars
and lift the body off the benchÐbut they should not be glued
in. The only limitation to all of this is the old-style Martin
"through saddle," which must be glued in. This is less an issue
of proper contact than of ensuring that the front of the bridge
does not break off due to string tension on the saddle.
—Charlie
Hoffman
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A
loose nut.
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Bridging
the Gaps
Q
What exercises can help me
tackle those difficult passages that I'm just not able to play all
the way through?
Peter Crosby
Oakland, California
A
Difficult passages
have a way of "fracturing" a piece of music. At worst, they keep
you from playing it from start to finish. Isolating and reworking
these fractured sections can glue the piece together, allowing you
to eventually master it. The best exercises are buried in your repertoire.
Here's how you can turn difficult passages into custom exercises.
First, identify the difficult passages. Draw a star above the troublesome
notes. Then, start your passage a few notes before the star and
end it a few notes after. This gives you a lead-in and lead-out
to join the material on either side. Second, to make this difficult
section solid, break it into manageable movements. Play the passage
with your left hand only. Removing your right hand lets you focus
your attention on the left. Play the passage several times in this
fashion. Third, weave a sock or polish cloth through the strings
between your right and left hands. This will muffle the sound. Play
the passage with both hands. With muffled strings, your ear cannot
judge accuracy. Instead, you will develop your visual and tactile
knowledge. Repeat the section with the strings muffled. Finally,
remove the cloth from the strings and play the passage a few times.
Move your hand position up a fret and play the section a fret out
of position (leave the open strings open but add a fret to each
note). Continue moving your hand another fret up until you reach
the topmost comfortable position. Then move back down the neck,
a fret lower each time. The result should sound awful, again forcing
your attention to your fingers. Repeat the passage or passages with
these exercises for a few days and then attempt the entire piece.
It should now be glued together, and you'll know difficult sections
just as well asÐor better than—the easy ones.
—Ben
Harbert
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Ax
Permits
Q
The nut of my classical guitar
came loose during the last string change. Can I glue it back in
myself? (The idea of scraping away the old glue scares me.) Also,
how important is a good seat for a saddle?
Pauline Leland
Seattle, Washington
A
Nuts should be
glued in place because there is too much likelihood that they will
slide to the side—often at an inopportune time. They must also
be well fitted, and that means cleaning off the old glue. If you
are adventurous and careful, and you work slowly, this is not a
complicated job. I use a small file that is stiff enough to enable
me to file the slot perfectly flat on the bottom, and I sand the
bottom of the nut flat, as well. If you remove too much wood or
bone, however, the nut slots may end up too low. To reseat the nut,
a very small dab of hide, white, or Titebond glue is sufficient—you
just want to keep the nut from falling out or sliding; you're not
creating a structural joint. Pocket saddles should have a tight
fit all along the bottom of the saddle—I can grip the saddle
on my guitars and lift the body off the bench—but they should
not be glued in. The only limitation to all of this is the old-style
Martin "through saddle," which must be glued in. This is less an
issue of proper contact than of ensuring that the front of the bridge
does not break off due to string tension on the saddle.
—Charlie
Hoffman
Return
to Top
Excerpted from
Acoustic Guitar magazine,
September
2003, No. 129.
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