Does anyone know what type of glue you use to glue a graphite nut to a maple neck?

I've tried regular wood glue but the graphite makes it let loose.

Also I just picked up a turbo tuner for doing my own setups. I will attempt my first this weekend.

I cannot speak with any authority on graphite nuts as I've never used them, but I've made plenty of bone nuts for acoustic instruments.

The 'concept' behind fitting a nut is that the fit of the nut body itself should be close enough to hold itself in the nut cavity. Any adhesives you use are just to kind of 'temporarily hold it in place' and should be able to be broken at a later time without much effort (light peening). Any nut that has to be 'glued in place' in order to stay put is a nut that isn't properly fitted. I literally use a dental tool to put two tiny droplets of hide glue on either end of the nut, thats it... and that's when I feel the need to use glue at all.

So, again reiterating that I have no experience with graphite nuts in particular but plenty of experience with guitar nuts in general, whatever adhesive you use, just make sure that you don't use so much of it that you're tearing out wood if you have to remove it at a later time.

Hi guys. I was wondering is there some thread where beginners can post videos of themselves playing and request feedback? I thought this might be the right thread but I haven't seen anyone doing that in the previous pages. Thanks.

i think this is a great place for that kind of thing. or you could even post a new thread for people to start doing that if you want.

Did not read the whole thread, but just wanted to ask something. I tried playing guitar as a kid, found it hard to understand the notes, and plus my fingers lack dexterity I think. so i quickly lost interest. I suck at arts in general (whether it be drawing, singing, dancing, playing instruments etc) but really really wanna learn how to play the guitar/ukulele.

So recently i found a ukulele class in my town , but its hard to find a ukulele here, so i will have to probably order it online. So coming to the question, is it better to buy a guitar locally and practice a bit on it just to make sure i can learn how to play ukulele , or are they two entirely different things ?

Edit: Ok so just skimmed the thread, and saw that finger excercise video. the problem is, I cant even begin to bend my lil finger without bending my ring finger. so thats a problem right ? hate my fingers

you can do it you just need to practice.

unless you have nerve damage from an accident, that's the only excuse i'll accept.

anything else, the answer is "playing guitar (or ukelele) requires you to move your fingers in odd ways, everyone thinks its weird at the start."

cool cool, i spoke to a friend who said that it would def be easier if i started off with a guitar, gonna go enroll this weekend.

Great! I'll post it in this thread to see how it goes.
Here's a video of my playing. I feel like my strumming is very bad (?) I'm trying to loosen my wrist and pay more attention on upstrums, but it still seems wrong, and I can't figure out exactly why.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMA_6mcU5zs

You are holding the pick too tightly.
You are dipping the pick too deeply into the strings.
You are attempting to strum all strings of each chord.

The pick should be cradled between the thumb and index finger. The pick will have a slight rocking motion while strumming, giving way to the direction you're strumming in. For example, hold the pick between your fingers and use your left hand to grab the tip and rock the pick back and forth (toward the index, toward the thumb. Adjust your grip if necessary to get a consistent rock). That's what's happening while you strum on a smaller scale. If you drop the pick or the pick turns sideways while strumming, then you are getting close to the optimal grip - just need to hold slightly firmer.

You need to brush the strings while strumming. If the pick is too deeply inserted between the strings, this makes the gentle rocking motion hard to achieve and the pick gets caught on the strings, most of the time on the upstrokes. Try strumming above the strings (not touching the strings) and gradually bring the pick toward the strings until it gently grazes the strings. Now just adjust from there until you find the optimal string depth (this changes based on dynamics of your strumming; e.g., louder strumming requires more string contact).

Attempting to strum an exact 5 strings of a 5 string chord on each strum is not only more difficult, but it doesn't sound too musical. Sometimes you'll hit 3 bass strings on a down strum and hit 2 treble strings on an up strum; sometimes all 5. Since the strings will sustain between strums, it's not necessary to try to hit all strings of a chord on each strum. The sustain of bass strings while a few trebles get struck and vice versa is the sound of a guitar. That's not to say there aren't times when strumming all strings each strum isn't desired, but it's not for typical laid back strumming.

Also, when you go to the F chord in the intro, let the first and third fingers stay down to sustain the notes while you play the G and A notes on the 3rd string. The other thing is that G7 chord during the chorus is actually a G chord played 320033.

Hi z4reio,

Thanks! I'm going to practice a bit using your advice, and then upload an improved video. Very helpful pointers.

You're losing the timing a bit during the busier section. Try to get your foot tapping along to the beat gently and get grooving. If other body parts join in that's also cool, dance a bit, play, groove and have fun. Timing is everything in music and it's important to internalize it.

You're welcome. Look forward to checking out your progress.


This is true, but most of his rhythmic issues are caused by improper technique. Once the technique has been corrected, then his timing issues will be resolved for the most part (that is, he has a tendency to be slightly on top of the beat in general).

Correct the technique, then zone in on laying back into the beat and relaxing the arm to incorporate the radius bone into the motion, but those two things can't be worked on effectively without first having an effortless, fluid pick attack.

Here's a video of the strumming part only:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpkN4LfhgRg

In this part I focused only on the right hand (so I'm playing a G7 instead of a G in that one part). I'm holding the pick much lighter, and running it over the strings instead of digging in too deep.

I think it sounds a bit better, but my wrist looks very stiff, still?

Your wrist is very stiff in both your picking and strumming - its not just stiff, you just aren't utilizing it AT ALL.

I just recorded this, varying tempos so you can get an idea, right hand only.

Notice for the first few minutes even when strumming, the only part of my arm that is moving is my wrist/fingers - this is just for demonstration purposes. But then look towards the middle/end of the video when I really get going - my arm is now moving (from the elbow hinge) but my wrist is also moving fluidly with it.

Hi General Tsao,

I saw your video but at the moment, I can't get my wrist that loose! It doesn't respond to me when I tell it to loosen up, lol. Here's a strumming I did tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Rq_GjYC2E

I'm trying to loosen it up more.

oh hey garcia, I didn't realize it was you, bonk, or whatever.

you wear the weirdest clothing

can the next video be shirtless plz?

I think that sounds better - you also need to work on getting less of the pick in between the strings, I think you are still digging in too much.

Great! I've been loosening up my wrist, I'll work on less digging in as well. Here's my most recent strum. I forgot to connect the guitar to the amp woops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXl0jsTWk6c

Much better! Just keep it up and keep practicing.

I'd suggest playing along with records, or to a metronome, or maybe a drum beat. It's something I wish I'd started doing earlier when I was learning. I focused mostly on getting my fingers to move really fast and impressively but when I started playing with other people I noticed I could barely keep a steady rhythm going. When you're learning something, try to slow it way down. A click is great for this kind of practice, play a song that's 100BPM at 50BPM and just really work on the details and the timing and then slowly start increasing the speed as you get better.

a lot better sounding - but my point wasn't too only use your wrist, i was just doing that to really emphasize that your wrist should be moving. you are now not using your elbow joint at all it looks like :/

also loosen up your grip on the pick

just loosen up in general. relax.

yo guys, i had posted earlier regarding the choice b/w a uke and a guitar. So finally settled on the guitar and had my first class last week. Almost learnt 4 chords, G C E but found D difficult, specially when transitioning from C to D. also found this channel on youtube, seems really interesting :



is this helful for a beginner ? or should i just stick to practicing basic chords and finger exercises instead of just trying to play a song ?
Here;s this guys website, so many free lessons : http://www.andyguitar.co.uk/free-onl...uitar-lessons/

i think that sort of stuff is really helpful because it keeps it fun. just don't let your learning stop there since you can play a lot of songs with a few chords. keep learning more stuff, but keep learning songs too since it is more fun to play them then drill on chords and scales.

cool, tx

np. that is the biggest thing with music (or any hobby i think). keep it fun. there is work involved, but it still should be enjoyable.
that is one of the reasons i couldn't learn the guitar yet again. i couldn't figure out ways to keep it fun. it just got to seem like something i had to do, which of course i didn't.
good luck and keep posting your results and learning along the way.

forsure, got my next class tomorrow. They guy said normally they teach only 2 chords in the first class, they said i had a good rhythm. Also he said i could play stairway to heaven in 2 months!! I just cant wait for my fingers to loosen up.

good for you mang. i want to get some lessons myself.
glad you are having a good time with it. dexterity happens. just keep working.