1st fret string height? - cutting nuts

Depends on the gauge of string, but I tend to shoot for .010 - .012" for the thinnest, and taper up to about .030 - .035" for my low six/seven/eight strings. I suppose in mm that is a spread of .25 - .80 mm. I based this off the SM guide and went a little taller for bigger strings/less tension for ERG's.
https://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Onli...air_and_Setup/String_Action_Gauge_I-0670.html

 

Hold the string down at the 3rd fret. If the string just clears the first fret, good to go.

 

This always seems to work.

 

I'd go the same height as your frets. There is enough clearance when you fret the string on one of them so there should be the right amount for the nut too.

 

I never really set out with a particular spacing in mind. I cut and shape the nut, slot it to the proper radius, leaving plenty of extra material, then test fit it with strings. From there I remove material from the base for overall correction and make fine adjustments with gauged files in the slots.

Honing it in with the final setup always seems to work out best in my experience, then again I'm mostly replacing existing nuts so I usually have that to go off of.

 

I heard zero fret is the "high end" thing to do? Never tried it. Are we talking 6,7,8,9 , 10 stringer?

 

zero fret is great if you don't know how to set a nut properly.

 

Yeah, a proper nut set is surely an invaluable luthiery tool to hone. Zero seems like the way to go if there is no need to adjust each individual string slot height and get perfect height off zero...

 

I wouldn't say "high end", it's just a different way to do it with a different outcome. There's pros and cons.

Really, it's mostly about preference.

It's not like it totally negates the string nut, that still needs to be cut properly for minimal friction, it's just more forgiving as far as individual string depth.

 

That's why I use them

 

I just use a pre slotted graphtech nut, and make a few small adjustments. Done!

 

That's smart talk! I need to try that and save some time.