"There were some little things to correct on the guitar, including the
string action at the nut (zero fret) and the string spacing on both, the nut and
the bridge.
Sorting out the spacing on bridge was no problem, as one would expect, but with
the nut it is a different matter and at first I was about to replace it. Then I
did a trial to enlarge the string spacing, without having the bother of nut
replacement and the possibility of visual damage.
I cut the nut notches with a file, angled sideways under the top. By
doing this, the nut does not look much different in top view, but it does
achieve the result of the strings being moved sideways. You can see it on the
pictures below. The top picture shows the initial condition; the lower ones show
the
final result. The E6 string was 5 mm away from the fretboard edge before I
started. Now it is 4 mm, which is OK for my hand. To get the other strings into
the correct position, I had to move a few more of them, but each a reduced
distance of course.
Before I discovered the trick with the file, I had already widened the E6
notch. Next time that I do this operation, one will not be able to see any
difference between before and after!
The zero fret was 0.3 mm too high, as usual on vintage Hofners. I filed it down,
so that playing the F cord is a pleasure now. By the way - the string action on
the first fret is, what makes a guitar a good playing one or not. The action on
higher registers is secondary, at least according to my personal feeling.
The spacing on the bridge is perfectly adjusted, too, of course. The string
action at the 12th fret is 1.8 mm under E1 and 1.9 under E6 now - without
buzzing at medium hard playing style, which I consider to be pretty good!
(Steve-"So do I !!") Also, the octave is absolutely in tune."
Before Work Begun - Note distance of E6 from edge of fingerboard.
After Work Carried Out - E6 now in correct location and A5 and D4 also moved over to give correct spacing.
A better view of the filing work.