Nuts
Replacing a cheap factory nut with a bone or a quality synthetic material can be one of the best ways to improve your instrument. 

There are a number of reasons why your instrument might really be in need of a new nut. Here are a few-
-The old slots are worn causing the strings to buzz on the first fret.
-It's made from cheap soft material and your tone is suffering.
-No tuning stability when tuning up or using tremolo or bending.
-The spacing is too narrow/ wide for the neck/not ideal for the player. 
- Slots are too wide causing buzzing or pinging when bending.
-The guitar has been refretted and now requires a taller nut or
-You are converting a guitar for slide.
(I wont always recommend a new nut on a vintage guitar, instead, I'm able to restore worn string slots and keep your instrument original with a long lasting repair! )

Saddles
For acoustic instruments, the saddle has even more influence on your sound as every note you produce passes through it and into the top.
Consider replacing the saddle if- 
-It's a poor fit in the saddle slot and leans forward.
-It's made from plastic which deadens top end clarity. 
-If you would like to have very accurate intonation when playing up the neck, I can hand shape a saddle with individual string compensation unlike the mass produced saddles that sometimes don't get very close.
-The guitar has had a neck reset and needs a taller saddle or
-you would like to improve the tone or string balance when using an under saddle pickup system.

For nuts and saddles, I use bone, both bleached and unbleached for a vintage look, synthetic materials like TUSQ, TUSQ XL and Micarta and ebony,rosewood, brass and mother of pearl.
Fretwork
The frets on your instrument are one of the areas that has the most influence on the feel and sound.

Having perfectly level well seated frets with a centered crown which is polished to a high shine makes for the cleanest most defined notes with good sustain and intonation.

Except for minor adjustments, most of my fret levelling work is done in the fretting jig you can see in some of the slideshow shots. This amazing tool keeps the instruments neck in a very stable position and allows for extremely accurate and consistent fret work.

 I stock fret wire from Stew Mac, Jescar and Dunlop in 18% nickel silver and stainless steel and in a wide range of sizes. 
  • Dressing - which includes seating, levelling, reshaping the fret tops and polishing.
  • Partial refretting - where only the most worn frets are replaced with wire the same size, typically the first 5-7 frets.
  • Full refretting - where all frets are replaced because of wear or player preference to another size of fret or as part of neck straightening work or neck resetting.
  • Fret end bevelling or shaping - for necks where the factory job is rough and sharp or on aftermarket necks that are created with steeper fret ends than the player likes.
  • Fret end bevelling and fingerboard edge rolling - where I create a more played in feel to new necks and give the fingerboard edge and fret ends a soft comfortable feel like on some vintage instruments that have seen decades of playing. 

Luke Parry
0415 266 878