Re: Compensated nuts - Earvana vs. Feiten - which one?
Kent S. said:
One thing i still can't understand is, that if the nut is positioned and cut correctly (string height distance off the first fret when fretted at the second fret; being equal to string height off the second fret when fretted at the first fret )... then why it would pull sharper than any other place?
It has to do with the string *between* your finger and the nut. The closer your finger is to the nut, the sharper the angle the string breaks over the nut (on the fretboard size). Or to put it another way, you have to press down harder at the 1st fret (compared to the 5th or 12th), and this increases the tension of the string, making it go sharp.
To minimize this, you want a nut that is as low as possible without causing buzzing. Think of it in the opposite way: if the nut was one inch taller, you'd have to press the string *way* down to get it to fret at the 1st fret, which would increase string tension radically, making the note go way sharp.
All (or 99.9%) of guitar makers place the nut at the mathematically defined location, when it should really be set a little forward (a mm or 2). If you move the nut a little forward, this is equivalent to moving the frets a little back (stay with me here -- don't let me lose you!). So, let's say you move the nut forward and intonated so that the 12th fret plays one octave higher than the open string. Now the 1st fret is closer to the nut than it should be mathematically, and should play slightly flat. But, because of the increased string tension that occurs when fretting the 1st and 2nd frets, this should balance out if done right (or at least come closer). This effect of moving the nut forward will rapidly dissipate and be nonexistent by the time you get to the 12th fret, but that's exactly what you want, as fretting tension is worst at the first 2 frets.
This is half of what Feiten does. The other half is his temperment stuff. But, from what I understand, anything other than standard temperment is key specific. But I could be wrong on that last part.
Earvana trys to do both the temperment and moving the nut forward in one fell swoop (which is why the Earvana overlays the fretboard). I had no success with this. Sure, open chords sounded better, but triad chords played higher up the neck (ala Van Halen) sounded like ass. I think part of the problem is that the Earvana is a one-size-fits-all approach. This won't work for most people/guitars, just like a bridge with fixed intonation won't work. Different string sizes and brands need different intonation. Different players need different intonation because the pressure they use when fretting changes depending on where they are on the fretboard and even with the shape of the chord.
Now, if someone sold a nut with movable saddles like a bridge, we could set our own compensation!
On the other hand, the Earvana is $20 or so. Buy an Earvana and a regular nut (Graphtech can be bought pre-slotted) and see which one you like better.
BTW: higher string tension also affects how in tune notes are. Many players don't press down evenly, and pull some strings slightly to the side (do a barre chord, and I'll bet you'll notice this). A guitar with higher string tension will resist that lateral movement, which is one of the reasons it's easier to get good sounding chords on a long scale guitar like a strat as compared to a shorter scale guitar like a Gibson.
