Large Radius Locking Nut

[JPilot]

I'm in the process of designing a Warmoth guitar. I play fingerstyle and prefer a 1-3/4" nut width and a double locking vibrato unit (the Gotoh Floyd looks like the best one for me). I also like a fairly large fingerboard radius (the 16" straight radius from Warmoth should be large enough). Problem is, I've only been able to find the 1-3/4" R5  locking nuts in a 10" radius. I'm not interested in a compound/conical radius neck if the nut radius is only 10". I like my fingerboards flat from the nut to the 24th fret. I'm also not interested in a locking mechanism behind a standard 1-3/4" nut, even though this would be a quick solution (I think it ugly). Is anyone aware of a 1-3/4" locking nut with a 16" or similar radius? Has anyone had luck filing down the middle 4 string slots in a standard R5 nut to match a 16" radius? Is corrosion of the nut slots an issue if this is done?

Thanks guys

 

[stubhead]

I looked around a bit, specifically at "7 string locking nuts" - but it looks to be that wouldn't work at all, even with a specially-machined nut plate. There are a number of machinists who could tackle the job, i.e. buy a regular 6-string nut and get the bottom plate custom made. First, you'd still have to track exact dimensions to make sure that the three locking top nuts have the wingspan to allow for your desired string spacing. There are also Kahler locking parts, but even people who really like the action of that whammy put a Floyd nut in it, as the Kahler's nut isn't a healthy design. Can you be appeased with straight string pull, locking tuners and a really, really well cut delrin (Tusq) non-locker? Or:

http://www.super-vee.com/

Or:

http://fingerlakesguitarrepair.com/pages/repair-descriptions/neck/nut/lsr-roller-nut-installation.php

BTW, I have a 1 3/4" SCALLOPED strat neck on my "tele-shaped" guitar, but with a bone nut cut for 1 11/16" spacing, because I like extra room around the strings. I keep them really low, so I have to make a new one every few years. But with excruciatingly properly-cut slots, tuning is not a problem. If I bend a string 2 whole steps and it doesn't come back to tune, it's the string, not anything caught in the nut.

 

[Cagey]

Well, I've looked around and can't find a locker of any type that will fit that bill. That's an unusually wide and flat neck. If a manufacturer made a part to satisfy that spec, they'd have to set up their tooling special for it and would sell maybe 3 a year, if they were lucky. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's just not commercially viable.

You didn't say what kind of neck you're looking at, but if it's anything with a straight string pull like a Strat or Tele neck, just put locking tuners on it and have a pro cut the nut (and I mean a pro, not some Guitar Center "luthier" wannabe), preferably out of a Graphtec TUSQ material. You won't need a string tree, and the thing will stay in tune quite nicely. Back 100 years ago when the double-locking vibratos such as the Floyd and Kahler units were first introduced, locking tuners weren't an option, so you had no choice but to lock the nut and tune at the bridge. Now, there isn't a whole lot of point to it. It's an unnecessary, unsightly, and cumbersome bit of hardware. Unless, of course, you've a neck where the strings move off at compound angles to the nut. Then, it's tough to keep the strings returning to neutral reliably without a locking nut.

 

[line6man]

Is the 15" radius of the R9 nut close enough?