Ryan H Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 The old nut on my '64 Melody Maker was just about done (high E and B strings practically resting on the first fret), so I brought in a bone blank to my guitar tech and in 2 days (with a hand injury no less!) I had my guitar back with a shiny new bone nut. He even bothered to polish it to 1000 grit. And the price...well let's just say these guys take care of me ;) Did an absolutely stunning job... What's your preference for nut material? Bone? Tusq? Brass? Something else? -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Wow Ryan, that looks great…! Any idea what kind of bone is used ? If and when I have to replace my nuts I'll be using bone for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 If and when I have to replace my nuts I'll be using bone for sure... You're a hard man Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D28boy Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 You're a hard man Dave! He'll rattle when he walks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 He'll rattle when he walks ! I rather hold on to my factory stock nuts, as long as possible. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 We are talking about guitars not the family jewels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Another area of my ignorance... I have no preference and have never changed nor had one changed on any of my guitars ever... I'll cross that bridge when the need arises... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 To be perfectly honest I don't really mind. I seriously doubt I could notice any difference in a blind-back-to-back test situation in any case. I've had bone, plastic, brass and if Gibson were using Corian in the early-mid '90s than that, too. I replaced the stock nut in my old '64 Strat after the original snapped(!) with a bone one (did it myself; it was a surprisingly satisfying exercise) and it sounded pretty much the same before-and-after to my ears. The only one I didn't like was the brass nut although that might very well have been purely a psychological response. Almost certainly was. It was an odd, hybrid nut where the main bulk was dense plastic but the trailing 2mm (i.e. 'board-end) or so was brass. Can't for the life of me remember which guitar had it. Long gone. My 1940's G-J f-hole arch-top has a zero-fret and I have to say it sounds just fine with that set-up too. FWIW the bone nut was a delight to work on. Perhaps plastic would be less 'clean' to work? IDK. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Wow Ryan, that looks great…! Any idea what kind of bone is used ? If and when I have to replace my nuts I'll be using bone for sure... Just a regular old Allparts bleached cow bone nut blank. -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Another area of my ignorance... I have no preference and have never changed nor had one changed on any of my guitars ever... I'll cross that bridge when the need arises... To be perfectly honest I don't really mind. I seriously doubt I could notice any difference in a blind-back-to-back test situation in any case. I've never changed a nut to improve the tone of the instrument. The nut only really affects the open strings, since once you start fretting notes, the frets take over. In this case it was maintenance. The previous plastic nut that Gibson put on it back in '64 was beyond repairing. We had tried the old "bone dust and super glue in the slots" trick, and it only lasted a few weeks at best. I was looking for a material that would last a long time, and bone seemed like the obvious choice. One thing I will say though...despite the fact that I wasn't Looking for a tonal change, there was a subtle one. The open strings and fretted notes are much more balanced in volume (I attribute this to the higher density of the bone compared to plastic), and the strings themselves are more even in volume to eachother. Acoustically, the guitar is slightly louder (higher density = more efficient energy transfer). Just my experiences. Melody Maker's gonna need some fretwork soon...lots of little dips causing some buzzing... -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReGuitar Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I rather hold on to my factory stock nuts, as long as possible. :D + 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I quite like the graphite Tusq nuts... They are self lubricating (or more to the point graphite has a very slippery surface texture). BUT in saying that im not sure it makes all that much difference as long as they are cut properly and sit in the slot properly... But that does look like some nice work done there, which is just a nice touch to have on your guitar I have a nice blank bone nut waiting for the right project to come along ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinator Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I had the Gibson nuts changed to bone on 3 basses - round-wound bass strings tend to cut through Corian quickly. I have Corian counter-tops in my kitchen and that's fine, but it isn't good nut material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drog Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I like the unbleached bone nuts. If the guitar has a whammy bar, then I use Tusq so it slides easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Those are interesting observation, Ryan, and I can see why the explanations you give make sense. I had forgotten that the nut on my '91 1960 Classic was swapped-out for a bone one (by a proper person!) but as the original was useless - the slots were cut too deep for three of the strings(!) - any meaningful comparison was impossible. I don't envisage the need for any more swaps as far as the LPs go but my cheap-as-chips Squier Tele DOES need a new nut as the G string can slip out due to a poorly-finished (curve-sided) slot. When I finally get around to doing it I really should try to make an effort to see if I can notice a difference. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I rather hold on to my factory stock nuts, as long as possible. :D Same here, with an emphasized "if possible". Sometimes not even from the start. Just a regular old Allparts bleached cow bone nut blank. -Ryan This one is bleached? The bleached bone nuts on my axes are virtually white, and the unbleached ones look like the one you pictured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 We are talking about guitars not the family jewels... A fine nut on a guitar is far more useful than any family jewel could ever be... other than selling it! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Same here, with an emphasized "if possible". Sometimes not even from the start. This one is bleached? The bleached bone nuts on my axes are virtually white, and the unbleached ones look like the one you pictured. I noticed that only the outer layer of these Allparts blanks are white. If you look at the blank from the end, the core of the blank is yellowish, which means it's unbleached. In cutting the nut, the bleached exterior was sanded/filed off, leaving unbleached bone. -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Like Rabs I have been impressed with Tusq nuts, especially the XL which is self-lubricating. Perfectly cut/molded and easy install all for under $10 USD. When I bought my R8 a few years ago I thought the nylon nut had to go in favor of a bone nut but the nylon nut is perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I have a MIJ Fender Contemporary Series III Strat which I bought new in the 80s. Great guitar except for the side-to-side locking nut. I broke one, got another while they still did spares, then got a guitar tech at Anderton's to fit a Graphtech nut but do it so I could replace the original if wanted. The Graphtech nut (same as Tusq) has made the guitar much, much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I'm in the "I don't care about my nuts" camp. I have never never changed one in favor of another. Doubt I ever will. Unless of course it's done. Other than a little pencil lead(learned on this site thank you very much) I have never paid my nuts any attention. Now that I think about it,, neither has my wife.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I'm in the "I don't care about my nuts" camp. I have never never changed one in favor of another. Doubt I ever will. Unless of course it's done. ... In case they fouled up string spacing or grooving at the factory, I have them replaced. As intended, it always improved the open string tone and fretting at the lower frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 This topic has been discussed at length on the Gibson Acoustic Forum. If you play electric, the pins won't apply, obviously, but there are a lot of differing ideas and opinions about nuts and saddles. Forum Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Here is a picture of the Graphtech Tusq XL nut that I just put on to replace the corian nut on my Les Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 I quite like the graphite Tusq nuts... They are self lubricating (or more to the point graphite has a very slippery surface texture). BUT in saying that im not sure it makes all that much difference as long as they are cut properly and sit in the slot properly... But that does look like some nice work done there, which is just a nice touch to have on your guitar I have a nice blank bone nut waiting for the right project to come along ;) Here is a picture of the Graphtech Tusq XL nut that I just put on to replace the corian nut on my Les Paul. For a Les Paul nut; do you guys remember which model from GraphTech you got? I've found one (pq-6010-00) that say it's for Gibson guitars, but the specs say it's 44mm - a bit too wide for a Gibbo? I'm going for some string savers and TUSQ nuts on both of mine, soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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