String Slightly Moving on Nut

[spanny]

Not sure if this would require any attention, but figured I'd ask. Whenever I do a bend on the B string, I noticed the string slightly moves around on the nut of the guitar. You an hear that (high pitch) noise like you do when you move the string over the nuts. Any chance it would cause the string to pop or should I just let it be?

 

[Mizati20]

The whole purpose of the nut being correctly is so the string can fit and move freely if need be... not out of the slot obviously... but this is why Graphtech nuts and such are possible, they are a "slicker" material, and why nut sauce is so popular, it prevents binding in the nut, so yes small movement is normal...

...however, if you are hearing what I call a "ping" sound from the movement, that means your string is binding... and it is holding its place despite needing to move, and then once enough force is placed on the string is finally shifts and makes a "ping" sound... make sure your nut is cut properly, I use Big Bends Nut Sauce, I absolutely swear by the stuff... it dramatically changed the tuning stability on ALL my personal guitars, and every guitar I setup for customers...

 

[spanny]

Thanks, Im going to check that out!

 

[Meathead]

The whole purpose of the nut being correctly is so the string can fit and move freely if need be... not out of the slot obviously... but this is why Graphtech nuts and such are possible, they are a "slicker" material, and why nut sauce is so popular, it prevents binding in the nut, so yes small movement is normal...

...however, if you are hearing what I call a "ping" sound from the movement, that means your string is binding... and it is holding its place despite needing to move, and then once enough force is placed on the string is finally shifts and makes a "ping" sound... make sure your nut is cut properly, I use Big Bends Nut Sauce, I absolutely swear by the stuff... it dramatically changed the tuning stability on ALL my personal guitars, and every guitar I setup for customers...

Yup...I use nut sauce once every few string changes. I find I don't need to use it on every string change. My strats are totally in tune even with frequent vintage trem use.
A tube will last years and years, you only need to use a tiny amount. I've had a tube for at least five years...still lots left.

 

[moronmountain]

Sounds to me like maybe the string has worn a "secondary" groove in the nut if it's moving around inside the slot and making that sound. If that's the case, it would need to be recut, but you can't take much material out of an already worn slot without making the guitar fret out. I would try what they mentioned above as a temporary fix, but if you still have the problem, you made need a new nut cut. I use bone nuts almost exclusively now, and a tiny bit of regular old bees wax on the slots every now and then. My guitars stay in great tune, and I bend the crapola out of every string.