ItsForrest Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Who here has experience to pass on with Graph Tech (or other) replacement nuts? There has been a fair amount of talk of how crappy the nuts are on most new guitars. I've recently bought two new guitars, an Epiphone Casino and a Gibson Les Paul, and both of them need nut work. The Casino may be able to be saved by some careful filing but the Les Paul needs a new nut, mainly due to the slot spacing being wonky from the factory. How is the quality of the pre-grooved Graph Tech nuts? Do they generally need a fair amount of filing all around before using or are they good to go with just filing the bottom for overall height? For the cost of having a good local luthier replace one nut, I can buy a set of nut files and a couple pre-grooved nuts. In the week or so that my guitar would sit waiting for attention at the shop, I could spend a few hours learning about nut filing on YouTube and If the radius of the Graph Tech nuts is good to start with, maybe I don't even need the nut files. So, are the pre-grooved replacement nuts any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 The Tusq nuts are a breeze to work with. Sanding the bottom is usually all that's needed. 150 grit sandpaper does fine, without taking off too much too fast. Once you find the part number you need, try eBay for a better price. I just ordered a Tusq nut for my Seagull acoustic for $6.62, including shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarrell Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I just ordered a graph-tech nut for one of my guitars. It will get here on Wednesday. I'll let you know what I think after I install it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungrycat Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I have one of the pre-gooved Graphtech nuts on my Strat. Between it and the Sperzell locking tuners, I have NO tuning issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsForrest Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thanks for the feedback. For the price, they seem like an inexpensive experiment at worst. I think I'll go ahead and give them a shot on one of the guitars and see how that goes. If it's as straightforward as it sounds, I'll do the other one, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I have put Tusq nuts on all of my electrics and think they are terrific. As Ron said, try Ebay. You can get them for half as much on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I installed bone nuts all the time. for years. I tried a Tusq and have never looked back. I sell those things all the time to replace the epi and squier and other guitar manus plastic nuts. They are dynamite for tone. And as noted, pretty easy to install. a tick wide.. to be sure they fit all necks, which aren't perfect even from the same factory. and the same as to tall.. if too low, you can't put material back on.. but when they are a little tall it's very easy to take a bit off the bottom of the nut. the tone is great. the cost is small for the improvement you get. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I like the jumbo tusq nuts. Buuuuut, the BN0833-00G graphite nut from allparts is a personal favorite. never ever had to do anything but install it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy01 Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I've installed nuts on a number of guitars now, and some guys order bone, others order Graphite. My personal favorite is graphite. It is easier to work with, and has a much more slippery feel to it. Better for tremolo fitted guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron G Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I've installed nuts on a number of guitars now' date=' and some guys order bone, others order Graphite.M y personal favorite is graphite. It is easier to work with, and has a much more slippery feel to it. Better for tremolo fitted guitars.[/quote']There's a Black Tusk graphite nut, too. I think there's one for most Epis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsForrest Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Well, they're cheap enough so I ordered two Tusq graphite nuts for each guitar from GPD. Past experience tells me if I only get one nut I will screw it up. If I order two I will only need one. They're less than ten bucks apiece so I figure it's cheap insurance. So yes, Tusq does make pre-cut nuts for both Gibson and Epiphone. I measured three times to be sure and the nut for the Casino is a match for the Epiphone Les Paul, which is indeed different from the Gibson Les Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfarrell Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 I ordered the nut that fits the Epiphone Les Paul and other Epiphone electrics for my Dot. It arrived yesterday. It needed a little bit of sanding down to make it fit, but that was no big deal. It took all of 1/2 an hour to install it, and I'm happy with it. I can't say if it improved the tone any because I bought the guitar used with a chip missing from the nut, so I didn't play it much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 the graphite allparts nut I posted earlier was cut for a gibson, but it slipped in the groove of my 2001 epiphone LP classic perfectly. the feel couldn't be better. isn't it odd for a gibson specified part to fit an epi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsForrest Posted September 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 the graphite allparts nut I posted earlier was cut for a gibson' date=' but it slipped in the groove of my 2001 epiphone LP classic perfectly. the feel couldn't be better. isn't it odd for a gibson specified part to fit an epi?[/quote'] PT-6010-00: - Black TUSQ Gibson Jumbo - Slotted. Fits most Gibson electric 6 string guitars. Important Measurements Length - 1-3/4" Width - 3/16" Height - 3/8" String Width E to E. 1-7/16" .................. PT-6060-00: Black TUSQ 1/4" Les Paul Epiphone. Fits lots of Epiphone Style Guitars Important Measurements Length - 1-23/32" Width - 1/4" Height - 11/32" String Width E to E. 1-3/8" ................... If these are correct, the Gibby nut will drop into the slot on the Epi but it will be loose. Length is only1/32 different but the string spacing will be 1/16 wider on the Gibby nut. I'm sure the guitars vary from year to year, model to model and factory to factory. I also am led to believe the nuts are manufactured on the large side with the expectation that you file or sand to fit. If so, 1/32 here or 1/16 there probably won't matter much. All I can say is that I hope the measurements listed on the web site are correct for the pieces I receive. If they're off, I hope they're fat so I can file or sand to fit. The most important factor I think is the radius and spacing of the string slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest icantbuyafender Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 hell, I am just glad that I found that graphite allparts nut. BN 0833-00G best feel ever for my hands. plus, it doesn't have that goofy curve at the top. but I do love the graph tech XL trem nuts, and their string saver saddles! all their 'ghost' piezo stuff is an amazing concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.