[Sentry]

Hi. I'm a 34 year old computer help desk tech living in NYC. 18 years ago I bought a used old Harmony flying V with twin humbuckers and decided I would be a star!!! As it turns out, I was very long on daydreams and very, very short on dedication. After goofing off every other weekend for about a year, I realized that being a rock-and-roll god was a lot more work than I was prepared to do so I sold the guitar to a pawn shop. I never touched a guitar again. Until yesterday.

I've been a tobacco addict for 20 years (yes, I started when I was 14 and don't let anyone tell you it's a "habit", it's an addiction). A few days ago I finally decided that I no longer want to poison my loved ones or myself. Quitting, though, is hard. I told my girlfriend that I thought it would help if I had a hobby, one that I don't in any way associate with smoking (which rules out anything involving a computer keyboard), one that is challenging enough to keep me distracted but fun enough not to seem like a chore. Yesterday she retrieved from her parent's place the guitar she had when she was a 16 year-old-rock-n-roll dreamer: a Japanese-made Fender Stratocaster with floyd-rose tremolo and a lock just above the nut. Circa roughly 1985. She gave it to me. Difficult enough to be a challenge, fun enough to not seem like a chore, and even though I was indeed a smoker when I had the old flying V I had never smoked and played at the same time because I've always hated smoke getting in my eyes*. My girlfriend is a clever woman.


Now you know a bit about me. Now on to the plea for advice: The guitar had sat around un-touched for about 12 years, so I figured replacing the strings would be a good place to start. Immediately I've run into problems. A tremolo is quite a pain in the backside when it comes to replacing all the strings! The flying V I had when I was 16 had a fixed bridge, so I was unprepared for the hassles of tuning a tremolo system. Fortunately, some internet research not only yielded numerous text instructions but a video on how to replace the strings and tune the guitar. While following this video, I discovered that the nut is broken right where the A string sits. I took the guitar to a shop a few blocks from our apartment and the guy there told me it would cost me around $100 to fix. One hundred dollars?!?!? For a little tiny piece of plastic?!?!?!? Is this guy playing "rip-off the n00b" or is this a lot more serious than it seems? A couple hours ago I used a small dot of Elmer's Glue** to re-attach the broken-off piece of the nut, put new strings on, and tuned it and everything seems ok, but I'm wondering if this is likely to continue to be ok, and if not whether or not the guy at the shop was trying to rip me off.

Thanks in advance


* A lot of guitarists seem not to mind smoke in their eyes from their cigarette just sitting in their mouths while their hands are busy playing, most notably Keith Richards. I have learned though that the reason Keith Richards suffers no discomfort from the smoke in his eyes is because he is one of those most pain-resistant forms of the Living Dead: a zombie.

** I used plain old Elmer's White Glue, like we used in kindergarten. I figured crazy glue could damage the fingerboard when/if I had to undo this makeshift repair and have it fixed right.

[krissovo]

Hey man!

$100 seems excessive, unless of course is bone nut from a rare animal rubbed smooth by a nepalease fighting monk and hand delivered by ninja.

A new nut (in Ireland) is about €40 for a bone or graphite one fitted including a setup of the guitar.

Personally I would get a new nut, keep your fix a temporary one and search around for a cheaper quote.

Good luck keeping off the smokes

[X4StringDrive]

Welcome definitly look around for other pricing, seems quite high to me!

[knight46]

Hello Sentry, welcome.

[si16]

Welcome Sentry.

[Sentry]

Originally Posted by krissovo

$100 seems excessive, unless of course is bone nut from a rare animal rubbed smooth by a nepalease fighting monk and hand delivered by ninja.

Originally Posted by X4StringDrive

Welcome definitly look around for other pricing, seems quite high to me!

Yes, I suspected that I had been recognized as a n00b and was being taken advantage of. Thank you both for confirming it. I admit to being quite ignorant, but I'm certainly not stupid. Ah well, I'll look around. New York City is not suffering any shortage of guitar shops and the one I went to yesterday simply won't be getting my business.

My googling seems to indicate that, because the guitar has a tremolo, I'd be better off with a graphite nut instead of another plastic one. I'll shop around. I won't mention the shop that tried to rip me off because it may not be fair to punish the store's owner for one employee's behaviour, but if I find a particularly good deal on graphite nuts + set-up I'll post where in case other New Yorkers read this thread in the future.

[edit]
Actually, perhaps it might be better if I can get a graphite nut that is designed to fit the strat and install it myself. Not just for economic reasons, but as a learning experience as well. Assuming of course that I can find a nut that requires no modification, cutting, or shaping of any kind to the nut or the guitar. I'm not that ambitious.

Originally Posted by krissovo

Good luck keeping off the smokes

Thank you. With a supportive gf and something to keep my brain and both hands busy, I think I'll get this monkey off my back.


Thank you all for the warm welcome!

[krissovo]

If your a noob I would get the shop to block the trem and make it effectivly a "Hard Tail", it will only cause problems when you press the strings to hard or blend a string. It makes the rest of the strings go out of tune you see so you will pull your hair out.

For the nut I only have bone on high end guitars and plastic on my cheap and chearful so cannot comment on graphite.

[starsailor]

Hi Sentry, Welcome to the forum, that quote was a little bit over the top, good idea on the nut better to upgrade from the plastic nut when the time comes, have fun with your playing, I'm afraid I'm a nicotine addict too so all the best on giving up it's not easy but guitars keep your hands busy, so they're a good distraction from cigarettes.

[thodwris]

Hello Sentry and welcome along...
I don't know about the prices on the part of the guitar that you need but in my opinion if you want to get the best of it you should replace the part with a new one.Especially if you want to dedicate to the guitar because the thing with the glue is kind of anorthodox and temporary....
A for the other thing with cigarettes,well,that's a tricky one.I too smoke a lot and my passion for the guitar just reduced my smoking,and that,not all the time.When I first strted I was surprised to see that I was forgetting to smoke but as time went by I did not resolve a thing,I got back where I started...
I surely hope that it works for you.Good luck quitting to smoke and becoming a guitar addict!
Have fun...See you...

[mattz196]

Hi Sentry welcome to the forum , I wish for you all the very best of luck in losing the smokes and your re taking up of the guitar, neither will be easy stick with it you'll get there .
Good luck
Matt

[johnnydoxx]

Welcome - hope the only thing 'smokin' from now on is that Strat.

[Sentry]

Thank you all! I've discovered that the usual cigarette craving lasts 5-10 minutes (which in Manhattan is plenty of time to obtain a pack of smokes if you don't have any), so I figured I needed to either have something to do when the cravings hit, something preferably at least a little physical, or move out to the country where getting smokes takes longer.

I think I'll lick this thing while I learn licks on the axe.

Originally Posted by krissovo

If your a noob I would get the shop to block the trem and make it effectivly a "Hard Tail", it will only cause problems when you press the strings to hard or blend a string. It makes the rest of the strings go out of tune you see so you will pull your hair out.

For the nut I only have bone on high end guitars and plastic on my cheap and chearful so cannot comment on graphite.

Yes, I may do that. I've done quite a bit of research out here in the ol' interwebs and discovered that there seems to be about a 50/50 split among strat owners between "love that whammy, couldn't live with out it" and "I blocked the darn nuisance and will never unblock it". I figure I'll try out the temolo for a month or so and then decide whether to block it or not. I found several videos on You Tube giving instructions on how to do it, doesn't look hard at all. The internet is a powerful research tool if one remembers to find numerous sources that all agree.


In other news I have obtained a graphite nut for strats by a company called "All Parts" of Houston, Texas. Cost me $6.50.* Can't wait to grab my tool kit and get started! Unfortunately, it is now 11 pm and my gf is trying to sleep and suffering from a bad head cold. We have a tiny, one-room studio apartment so no playing with my new toys for me till tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. *sigh* Oh well. Perhaps I'll just sit on the sofa and quietly cuddle my pretty little strat. Or maybe that's a bit weird.....



* To fellow New Yorkers: This reasonably priced nut was at "Manny's Guitars", 156 W 48th Street (between 6th and 7th). The prices on everything there seemed more reasonable than Sam Ash across the street, but be warned: getting a salesperson at Manny's to pay any attention to me was an exercise in patience. Apparently most of them would rather play the guitars there than actually help a customer (and who can blame them), so don't go there if you're in a big hurry to run other errands afterwards.

[windsong]

Hi sentry and welcome. Have fun again with the guitar. Also glad to hear you may have stopped smoking. You might want to check out Warthin's tumors, that scare alone helps people stop smoking. Well enjoy