RG370DX. Action too high at nut and no shims found!

[stratquebec]

Got an RG370DX. Overall, I like it a lot. Really like its neck and radius. The edge III is not bad at all imho.

Overall, a good budget guitar indeed. Sounds good as is, to my ears at least, so I'll keep the stock pups for a while.

The only complain:
I found my action a little too high over the first frets and too high in general. Lowering the tremolo helped a bit but, as expected, it's still a little too high over the fist fret. I placed a shim at the neck pocket and reseted the trem height at its factory position and now the overall action is much better but, as expected, the action still too high at the nut. Since I will change the 9's for 10's soon it will be even higher.

The only thing left I could do would be to file the wood under the locking nut, right? So if it's the case, what file do you recommend to do that king of job? Anything special I should take care of before doing anything?

Thanks for your inputs!

[Defy704]

I too have a rg370dx but I have not had this problem. I would use a very fine hand file and do VERY small amounts at a time. Be sure to keep it flat to be sure that the nut sits correctly.Also, if you are worried about messing up your neck you can also file the underside of the nut itself, small increments at a time. If you are unsure it is MUCH better to mess up a $20 locking nut than a $150+ neck.

Good luck!

[stratquebec]

Originally Posted by Defy704

If you are unsure it is MUCH better to mess up a $20 locking nut than a $150+ neck.Good luck!

Right. Ok so to file the nut, (the back of the nut I think you mean) what do I use and how do I proceed? Anyone aware of a youtube or another kind of video on that topic somewhere?

[Defy704]

I would probably use a hand file for that also. Doing the same as the neck, very small amounts at a time. It may be time consuming but I'm sure it will be worth it for you in the end if the low action is what you seek. Just be sure you keep the filing so that the nut still fits level.

[stratquebec]

Ok I found an intesting thread about this:
http://www.jemsite.com/forums/f21/fi...nut-89535.html

[caprile]

I wouldn't recommend filing the nut. It is VERY difficult to get a flat surface just by hand filing.

I'd go for filing the wood, very patiently indeed. And..if you go too far, you can always shim it back!

[stratquebec]

Originally Posted by caprile

I wouldn't recommend filing the nut. It is VERY difficult to get a flat surface just by hand filing.

I'd go for filing the wood, very patiently indeed. And..if you go too far, you can always shim it back!

Yep. Agree 100%. I'm not equiped to grind the base of the nut and I think it's not something to do without having the right tools at home.

So yes, filling the wood will be the safest thing to do and as you said, "if you go too far, you can always shim it back!". That makes a lot of sense!

[moonlight]

I'll have to respectfully disagree about filing the neck. For one thing I feel it is harder to maintain a flat surface on the neck with a hand file. If you lay the file on a bench or table and press the nut down on the file to cut it it's not difficult to keep it flat, in fact it will probably be flatter than before you cut it. If you want to remove more from either the bass or treble end you can adjust how hard you push down to that end. As for shimming if you cut too much, that can be said about either the nut or the neck. Last point,I think Rich mentioned this in one of these high nut threads, the nut route is the thinnest part of the neck and really doesn't need to be thinner. Anyway, just my opinion. Either way be patient with it.

[stratquebec]

Originally Posted by moonlight

...the nut route is the thinnest part of the neck and really doesn't need to be thinner. Anyway, just my opinion. Either way be patient with it.

um... well, I removed the nut and saw that the wood under the nut is indeed very thin. And looking at it more closely, the action is a little high only for the 1st and 2de strings so filling the base of the nut seems the better and easier option. And in the end, replacing a nut is better than to replace the neck!


I must say I'm used to a "little high nut action" and I like how the RG plays as is. My strat has about the same action height at the nut and playing a strat is anyway harder than an Ibanez ;-) I can perfectly be happy for a while with this RG370DX as is until I'll be ready to upgrade to a higher model and that shouldn't normaly take too long in my case!!

EDITED:I found all infos one could search for about those locking nut height here http://www.ibanezrules.com/new/setup_trem.htm
That shows I'm new here!!!

About higher models... Why, oh why Ibanez usa is not offering the J customs? Oh mother Mary... tell me why!