what nut??

[invasion]

I am going to have the nut replaced on my epiphone Les paul Standard when it goes for a set up next week. I Thought it made sense to get the nut done, as they guy said he only charges £25 :)

Now my question is what material should my replacment be made of and why??

Also if I was going to get the bridge replaced what would be the best choice ??

[Cheeks]

I am going to have the nut replaced on my epiphone Les paul Standard when it goes for a set up next week. I Thought it made sense to get the nut done, as they guy said he only charges £25 :)

Now my question is what material should my replacment be made of and why??

Also if I was going to get the bridge replaced what would be the best choice ??

 

I have a 72 year old May-Bell acoustic slider that had a bone nut on it.

 

I think, not positive though, that BB King had a guitar once that had a

brass nut on it... sorta strange looking.

 

I think that now there is even graphite nuts too... or so i have read.

 

All the info is on the web... use Google and go searching for

guitar nuts.

 

CHEEKS

[Igss]

And why do you want to replace the nut?

[james_edward]

And why do you want to replace the nut?

 

Because 9 out of 10 stock plastic nuts (on any brand of guitar) are not only cut wrong and cause tuning issues, they don't help the tone.

 

IMO the only 2 choices for a new nut are Bone or Tusq, for almost everyone Tusq will do.

[Gordy01]

I do repairs part time, and if the guitar has no tremolo I use bone.

If it has a trem I use graphite.

[invasion]

And why do you want to replace the nut?

Because the material your nut is made from plays a big part in your tone!

It also greatly affects both the way in which the strings ring, and the amount of vibrational energy that is transferred into the neck and body of the guitar.

 

I do repairs part time, and if the guitar has no tremolo I use bone.

If it has a trem I use graphite.

 

I think I am going to go with bone for mine..what is the the stock nut made from is it Nylon ??

[Fantana]

I always replace the nuts on my guitars with Bone, IMHO the sound difference is minimal between Bone and Tusq, but that's just me.

 

What you must remember though, is that when you fret a string, the nut becomes redundant as the fret is now doing the job, so don't spend too much money on a fancy nut, just get it cut correctly.

[invasion]

I always replace the nuts on my guitars with Bone, IMHO the sound difference is minimal between Bone and Tusq, but that's just me.

 

What you must remember though, is that when you fret a string, the nut becomes redundant as the fret is now doing the job, so don't spend too much money on a fancy nut, just get it cut correctly.

That is a good point I never looked at it like that..obvious now you have said it. well I will have a bone one put on any way and a full set up with 10's on. I will report back with my findings if I have any

[Gordy01]

Because the material your nut is made from plays a big part in your tone!

It also greatly affects both the way in which the strings ring, and the amount of vibrational energy that is transferred into the neck and body of the guitar.

 

 

 

I think I am going to go with bone for mine..what is the the stock nut made from is it Nylon ??

 

 

Usually the stock nut is plastic. Not nylon.

The reason I use bone is that you get the best tone with it. Especially for an acoustic guitar.

Tusq, or graphite nuts are also very good. The difference beteen bone and graphite is so minimal that most will not hear it.

The graphite nut is a bit more slippery, giving it a more trouble free existence.

Tuning and string bending is easier with graphite.

But as Fantana said, getting it cut properly is as important as which material is used.

And a proper setup is even more important.

[mbberry]

tusq all the way!! to be honest it changed the tone of my dot more than '57 classics changed the tone of my custom.

[SamBooka]

I replaced the plastic nut on a 92 Samick LPStd.

Huge difference in tone. The replacement nut was a stock Gibson replacement part.

I guess almost anything was an improvement.

[KX36]

I swapped mine out for a Graphtech Tusq XL... Tusq being a proprietary artificial bone material and XL meaning its impregnated with teflon for lubrication. It only cost me £7.25 including shipping from USA because of how pathetic the US dollar is at the moment. :D

 

For that price, I'm not going to complain even if it doesn't affect the sound it should still help the tuning. Only thing is I got the one that's pre-slotted for epiphone and the bass slots were cut such that the strings contacted the wrong side of the nut and they buzzed, but that was pretty easy to fix as I've messed around making nuts before, even though I don't have special nut files.

 

I got the XL one because I do a hell of a lot of bends, being a lefty playing a righty guitar, and also they were the same price so why not.

 

PS The nut still has some small effect on sound when the string is fretted due to sympathetic vibration, but it's so small compared to the primary vibrating string, you're not really going to notice that. Effectively, it only affects the sound of open strings.