PJ Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Epiphone Guys: Please....can't you put a bone-colored nut, like the one you use on the Sheraton and Les Pauls on the Dot? All the other ES-type guitars have them - the Sheraton, Riviera, Casino, ES-175, etc., even the higher-end LesPaul Juniors. Such a nice archtop shouldn't require us to drop an additional $50 bucks at the the luthier shop for a nut. Please....lose the black nut on the Dot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEPI Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 PJ - I have an '05 Dot VS with the black nut and I think it blends in well with dark look of the darker subburst of the guitar. What colour is yours?........J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Most Epiphone models, certainly their archtops, Les Pauls, Sheratons, Casinos, Rivieras, etc., use a pretty typical bone-colored nut - which has been fairly standard practice in guitar building for many years. It's not an issue with matching to a guitar color, it's just what most manufacturers use. Gibson, as well. I have these types of nuts on all types, makes and colors of guitars. Most of the lower-end, lower-priced guitars use these black plastic nuts. Even some expensive guitars use black nuts, impregnated with low-friction graphite materials. It's simply what I;m used to seeing on archtop electric guitars, like the Dot. I suppose I'm used to what Epiphone uses on their other similar guitars, and what other notable makers use. I guess my age is showing. For $40-50, I'm sure I can have it changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubstar Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 black is wack... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfsboy Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 The Black Plastic Nut is OK .It needs some work to get it correct however .Its way too high and usually the slots are not deep enough to have a good action .I cut the slots deeper and angled and when I was satisfied ,I filed the top of the nut down to just let half the string thickness show .Its like that on my Fender Tele and that plays very well so I just copied what worked on the Tele.The nut is now much smaller in hight but does its job better .I agree that the nut looks cheap .I left file rough marks on the finished nut ..just like a real Gibson 335 .LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Just replace it yourself with a pre-slotted Tusq Nut. About 12.00 at most. Install takes about 25 minutes to shape it a bit and glue it in. No big deal. 95% of the time the slots do not need any work. Synthetic "bone" material, may be better than the real deal.. http://www.graphtech.com/tusq_info.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Nick: You're right. Those TUSQ nuts get a lot of good press, thesedays. Did you have to shape it much? It's really the slot depth I didn't want to deal with, since I'll need a set of nut files for that, and I just never had a need to buy them, but now might be a good time. I suppose if the slots are cut correctly relative to eachother, seating the entire nut lower would accomplish the same thing. You say the TUSQ worked-out well for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Nick:You're right. Those TUSQ nuts get a lot of good press' date=' thesedays. Did you have to shape it much? It's really the slot depth I didn't want to deal with, since I'll need a set of nut files for that, and I just never had a need to buy them, but now might be a good time. I suppose if the slots are cut correctly relative to eachother, seating the entire nut lower would accomplish the same thing. You say the TUSQ worked-out well for you?[/quote'] Usually the only shaping is done to the bottom of the nut to get the correct height. Carefully remove the old nut and use it as the pattern to shape the new one. 250 grit paper to get close, than 400 to finish. the sides may also have to be trimmed in a bit. First time I did one I spent 2 hours on one getting it perfect going very slowly. I have used both the Tusq and the Graphite ones on my Strats and Epi. Instructions are in the package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Nick: What procedure did you use to remove the factory nut? Is it a tap-out from the side? Based on what I know about repairing nuts, wood-glue should be used vs. epoxies, so removal shouldn't be too tough. But, I never did a Dot nut job. Thx! PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEPI Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I looked through the 2006 Epiphone Catalog this morning and saw various models with the dreaded "black nut". lol The Tusq is probably a better nut but the black plastic on my Dot does not take away from the playability or the sound, IMO and being that there is no white neck binding, I'm thinking a white one would degrade the overall look. On the LP, white looks right. Here's a few pics...........J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Nick:What procedure did you use to remove the factory nut? Is it a tap-out from the side? Based on what I know about repairing nuts' date=' wood-glue should be used vs. epoxies, so removal shouldn't be too tough. But, I never did a Dot nut job. Thx! PJ[/quote'] Here is a link for doing it right. http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Setup/NewNut/newnut1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Nick: That detail is great. I appreciate it, immensely. PJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 PJ - If you go to Frets.com there is a world of info available. This is only one of several site on the net chock full of great information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiveturkey Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Plastic isn't the issue- my sheraton has a white plastic nut. I wouldn't give up on it though. My first guitar was a special II and its Black Plastic nut remains one of the most playable to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 I normally see thee black plastic nuts on the lower-end stuff, cheap shredder-boxes, Squiers, that sort of stuff. I'm an old-school guy, with old-school tastes and to me, Epiphones are old-school guitars, reissued (for the most part), which is why I love their guitars! Don't get me wrong, I'll keep buying them anyway....a cheap nut on an otherwise great guitar isn't a deal-breaker for me, just an annoyance. When I was a Product Manager, I always appreciated customers bringing improvement ideas to me, so I could make the products better. I especially appreciated it when I was able to improve them, without adding cost, but increasing sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerxst1281733995 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 That thought never occurred to me before... The fact that the Dot has a black nut never jumped out at me too much... But now that I have a Dot, I'm looking at it side by side with my Casino, and I can see both points... The Casino has a white nut, but it also has binding on the neck... The black nut on the Dot blends in better, but a white one would look more traditional... Doesn't bother me enough to change it, though... Unless it presents a physical/mechanical problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 The 60s Epi-12 in my Avatar doesn't have a bound neck, but has a white nut. Maybe that's what skews my opinion. But, I'm a 60s kinda guy, so however they did in the "old-school" is (I guess) how I base my views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.