SkEpTiKaL Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Hey guys, I'm sure this question has been asked before but I couldn't find it using the Search function, so here it goes. The plastic nut on my cheap acoustic has been chipping pretty badly lately and has even slipped off the fretboard by about 1/16" to 1/8" (ballpark), so I know it's time to replace it. I called my local tech and he told me that he could replace this Plastic nut with a new Plastic nut all slotted up for around $30 USD. I don't think I want to do this because Plastic obviously chips pretty easily and he has no guarantee that it won't. He then offered to make me a genuine Bone nut, customized for my guitar and put on for about $60 USD. I've always heard amazing things about bone, so I considered it. I had been researching and I knew that TUSQ was also a nice nut, so I asked how much it would be if i brought in a TUSQ nut and he just replaced my Plastic one with it. He said that it would be the cost of the Plastic nut (minus materials, which he said "is a couple bucks") to cut and put the TUSQ nut on. That being said, do you think that it would be worth it to replace my Plastic nut with the TUSQ nut or the Bone nut? I've never been to a tech before but I'm guessing that these prices are reasonable. Are there any serious advantages/disadvantages to TUSQ/Bone Nuts? Is it worth the extra 20 or so dollars to put a Bone nut on this cheap guitar? Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDeuce Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 ... my cheap acoustic ... Save your money if this guitar is not worth much, why spend the money upgrading a cheap acoustic? And the term "upgrading" is very subject regarding nuts! Getting a nut doesn't account for much. (on a guitar!) Edit- go with plastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Strum Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Here is my take on replacing the nut. It has little impact on the sound (people furiously typing to disagree), however since your nut is in bad shape, I would go ahead and replace it with a bone nut (I am not a fan of Tusq, but personal preference). However, the sound won't really change. Once you fret the strings you take the nut out of the picture. The one thing the new nut will do, regardless of material, is make fretting at the first fret easier if it is slotted properly and it will or could improve action (minor). If you are looking to improve sound, tone, and sustain, the saddle is where you put the investment. Here is who I've dealt with in the past - highly recommended by many. He makes the saddle and nut and you install it - it's not difficult. http://www.guitarsaddles.com/ What acoustic do you have? Edit, I agree with eGuitarNut questioning the value of upgrading a cheap guitar, that is why I ask what guitar you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I'd take the Tusq nut for $34-35 bucks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkEpTiKaL Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 The guitar is a F£nder Starcaster (one of the cheap acoustics that come in a starter pack, was my first guitar) Here's a picture: Amazon retails it at $150, that's probably what the person who got it paid for it (it was a gift.) Christmas is coming up but everyone knows times are tough and I don't want to put stress on anyone to buy me a new guitar, so I figured it would be in order to repair this one. If I were looking for tone, I would definitely replace the saddle instead, so thank you for that suggestion. But the nut replacement would be the necessary thing and the benefits from the TUSQ or Bone would be the thing to justify the extra money if I went that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Strum Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Based on what you are telling me, I would go with Tusq. You get a nut that isn't beat to crap and you aren't spending the money on a bone nut. You are buying it to have proper string setting, so tusq is fine. Even if it was a more expensive guitar, I might suggest Tusq with the bone saddle. My take on acoustic upgrade 1) Saddle 2) Pins 3) Nut All based on tone and sustain. Your situation is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthemBassMan Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 -Yeah, the nut won't do as much for the tone as a bone saddle will. My acoustic is a Samick with a solid spruce top. It sounded ok, but not real good. So I had some time to burn and made a new saddle for it. I made the saddle from a piece of cow shank bone last February. I cut it from the shank on a meat band saw at work, then took my time processing the bone to be able to use it. Once that was done all it took was about a total of 3 hours or so shaping and fitting the bone saddle to the bridge slot. It was a bit of work but a lot of fun. Here's a couple links to some pics I took while doing it. It isn't a step by step pictorial because I did some of it at my Dad's house while my camera was sitting here. The pics of the two saddles are the stock plastic one that looks really yellow and the somewhat whiter looking bone one. The bone saddle really improved the tone over the old one. Plus like I said, it was a lot of fun doing it myself. http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/AnthemBassMan/Guitar%20Pics/New%20Saddle/ http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a99/AnthemBassMan/Guitar%20Pics/New%20Saddle%20Part%202/ L8R, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkEpTiKaL Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Based on what you are telling me' date=' I would go with Tusq. You get a nut that isn't beat to crap and you aren't spending the money on a bone nut. You are buying it to have proper string setting, so tusq is fine. Even if it was a more expensive guitar, I might suggest Tusq with the bone saddle. My take on acoustic upgrade 1) Saddle 2) Pins 3) Nut All based on tone and sustain. Your situation is different.[/quote'] Well thank you so much for your advice. I do have one last question for anyone who can answer it. What kind of TUSQ nut should i be getting? I'm guessing the Martin style based on the shape of the guitar, what do you guys think? Link to TUSQ Nuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuthbertg Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 I just got the biggest bone blanks from stewmac and shaped them - I had trouble working out which one to get. I deally, measure the one you have and compare I dunno, I would probably just bung a plastic one on there -if that's what it came with. I'm kinda in a similar position with my old yamaha - it's been knocked about and dropped down the stairs a few times by either the kids or the missus - nobody is owning up! Needless to say the the nut came off I started changing the nut for a plastic pre-slotted one which was relatively painless - I had to widen the slots a little and shave a little off the bottom of the nut. Did it in an hour or two from start to finish. The nut cost 65p. Thing is, while doing this I noticed that my neck was badly warped/damaged on the treble side (same side the nut had chipped). it may be worth checking the whole thing over just incase. Hopefully, yours is in better nick than mine:-({|= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.