Americans are famous for ingenuity — especially when it comes to inventing new ways to make a buck.
Every so often a new guitar tool shows up that makes you think:
“That’s a great idea! I need one of those.”
But if you stop and think about it for a moment, the excitement fades a bit.
Let’s take nut slots as an example.
A high-quality pencil can draw a line about .012″ thick. That’s already fairly precise for normal woodworking. But guitar work isn’t normal woodworking.
When setting nut slot height, we’re usually aiming for something around .016″–.020″ at the first fret (with the string fretted at the last fret).
That means the difference between “too high” and “too low” may only be a couple thousandths of an inch.
Now think about what happens if you try to cut a precision nut slot based on a pencil line that’s .012″ thick to begin with.
You’re essentially trying to do precision work using a very fat reference line. You can’t really tell where the correct height is inside that band.
Don’t get me wrong — the tool itself may be attractive and cleverly designed. Somebody probably spent a lot of time thinking it through.
But clever ideas and practical tools aren’t always the same thing.
When it comes to guitar setup work, especially nut slotting, real accuracy usually comes from precise measurement, not from gadgets that promise shortcuts.
Still… somebody’s going to sell a lot of them.
And yes — somebody will probably make a buck.
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