scottpaine_69 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Quick question, I have a 2015 Gibson Les Paul Classic with the Zero Fret Nut. I'm thinking about oiling my Zero fret nut. What should I use, I've never oiled the nuts on any of my guitars. The only oil I have at the moment is F-One oil for fretboards which is all natual and has no petrolium in it. Would that work or do I need a specific oil for the brass nut on my gibson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 High-pressure grease should do the trick, but I would be reluctant using it that close to wood. I also think it's not funny getting that stuff on fretting fingers. A certain amount of stick-slip is a problem as old as guitars and nuts. The only way to overcome that would be a real zero fret with a nut only aligning strings, and, of course, double-locking systems. Nothing beats my Floyd Rose guitars for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynoByte Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 I'd start with something "safe" like bore oil, I even use it on fretboards and find it much better than lemon. You can find it at any woodwind shop, they use it for sticky keys. I have a bottle of Selmer sitting here. It's safe as milk and won't rot like regular mineral oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADKNOCKER Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Try an lubricate it with the some graphite from a #2 Pencil.. BTW Brass is self lubricating but if there's a bur it might need to be smoothed with some super fine sandpaper doubled over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottpaine_69 Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 I was just curious because I've never oiled a nut before. I've people talking about oiling the nut on a strat so the strings slide better with the trembalo. I didn't know brass was self oiling. Good to know. As for mine, I don't have any burs or anything I was just curious as to if it was something I had to do or if it's just a preferance to some people. Thanks for the info everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Brass is often considered self-lubricating, but this applies to smooth surfaces only. A circular brass bearing works well with a circular axle of hardened steel without any oil or grease, but this is due to the uniformity of the parts. As soon as there are edges, seizure will occur eventually and cause stick-slip. This is what happens when rotating a tuning knob alternatingly shows no effect due to sticking and causes a leap in pitch along with the dreaded "bling" sound due to slipping. During 35 years I found no one who would happier with a brass nut than with one of any other material. Here's what I also experienced over the years: The best ways to avoid stick-slip are double ball-end systems and Floyd Rose locking nuts. Second-best is a true zero fret. Third-best is a Gibson TP-6 finetuning tailpiece - you will always find the "sweet spot" between "a pair of blings" within seconds. I wouldn't want to miss only one of my bunch of TP-6 stop bars. OK, OK - I admit that a TP-6 combined with a MinE-Tune or G-Force system would be debatable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berd Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Head knocker has my vote. Use a pencil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Big Bends Nut Sauce, works great, doesn't make a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 If the nut is pinging you might try dressing out the slots on the headstock side with a needle file so there's no sharp edges bearing against the strings. You'll have to eliminate the ping or any sharp edges for the nut to work. It's almost impossible to lubricate metal against metal in a static situation unless the oil/grease is heavy or under pressure. Oils depend on motion between the parts to lubricate. Grease is better but messy. Good luck. This nut has some substantial design flaws and it probably isn't going to be around much longer. You guys are the guinea pigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie chitlin Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Don't try to solve a problem that doesn't exist. If you're having tuning stability problems or hearing a "dink" when tuning, that's a different story. Just to maintain smooth tuning, pencil graphite is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADKNOCKER Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 NUT SAUCE?? Just sounds weird!! Wonder what that stuff REALLY IS?? Olive Oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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