I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

[astrozombie]

What would be the best quality replacement in your opinion? I think I'm going to settle on a nice quality, good ol' bone nut but I've considered TUSQ etc...

My guitar tends to go out of tune when I perform heavy bends. This is a problem because of my style, since I'm so hard on the strings with my fretting hand when it comes to techniques such as this.

I stretch the strings out almost until they break and they still go out of tune somewhat after every song.

I assume this mostly normal, but sometimes it's audible enough to where it bothers me.

I've worked on the nut slots. I've cleaned them and made sure the strings are not pinched.

Is this just the nature of the beast? I know everyone says the gibson headstock and the tuner layout is flawed...

Be nice about my guitar, she's my baby.

 

[EDX]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

graphtech black tusq, the thing is even less friction than standard tusq and tusq xl, i really abuse the strings on my guitar, and the guitar itself, i even vibrate and bend strings by pressing or pulling the headstock, even the dreaded over nut bend (black sabbath - iron man) is no problem, thing stays in tune, even with crappy oem tuners which i've had to fix a couple times (spent the money for good tuner on a wah and an overdrive)

get the pre-cut gibson model, that way you can install it by yourself, also the way they come if they need to be adjusted to perfectly fit the guitar the sanding and filing will be minimal

 

[kramersteen]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

I sometimes wish i had smaller nuts.

 

[baritone]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

How often do you change strings?

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

Weird. My Epiphone LP Standard (Chinese) never has that kind of problem. The nut is just plain plastic yet it's very stable. Maybe the Grovers?

 

[Aceman]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

Always tune UP to pitch

Files the corners, not the slots themselves.

Bone for the win.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

How often do you change strings?

every 1 to 2 weeks.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

every 1 to 2 weeks.

That's silly Susans

 

[Darg1911]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

I don't know exactly what material Gibson uses for the nut on their sub 1K LP's. I think they say it's Corian. At any rate, I have different sizes of abrasive cord. I used it to just "break" the edges of the nut on a Tribute series LP. Two strings were binding some and I think I worked the slots just a little bit on those as well. I use some Teflon dry film lubricant as well and haven't had any problems since. Still, I think they are good candidates for upgrade. If I were gigging with the guitar I would probably replace it with a Tusq nut or have someone do it.

 

[greekdude]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

What would be the best quality replacement in your opinion? I think I'm going to settle on a nice quality, good ol' bone nut but I've considered TUSQ etc...

My guitar tends to go out of tune when I perform heavy bends. This is a problem because of my style, since I'm so hard on the strings with my fretting hand when it comes to techniques such as this.

I stretch the strings out almost until they break and they still go out of tune somewhat after every song.

I assume this mostly normal, but sometimes it's audible enough to where it bothers me.

I've worked on the nut slots. I've cleaned them and made sure the strings are not pinched.

Is this just the nature of the beast? I know everyone says the gibson headstock and the tuner layout is flawed...

Be nice about my guitar, she's my baby.

thinner strings? that solved my problems with my (single cut) Ibanez ARZ800. This guitar has TUSQ nut stock mind you. Its the nature of the beast I guess.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

Floyd

 

[baritone]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

every 1 to 2 weeks.

I know in Puerto Rico, the humidity is crazy, & changing strings a lot is necessary. When your strings are off, are your tuners wobbly at all?

 

[Χάρης]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

I sometimes wish i had smaller nuts.

Me too, sometimes playing while sitting can be a pain.

 

[dystrust]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

graphtech black tusq, the thing is even less friction than standard tusq and tusq xl, i really abuse the strings on my guitar, and the guitar itself, i even vibrate and bend strings by pressing or pulling the headstock, even the dreaded over nut bend (black sabbath - iron man) is no problem, thing stays in tune, even with crappy oem tuners which i've had to fix a couple times (spent the money for good tuner on a wah and an overdrive)

get the pre-cut gibson model, that way you can install it by yourself, also the way they come if they need to be adjusted to perfectly fit the guitar the sanding and filing will be minimal

I prefer TUSQ to bone due to the uniform density. You probably don't need a lubricated XL nut, but it can't hurt. These days there is zero difference between black and the other colors, the basic material is identical.

 

[OsvyRock]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

What would be the best quality replacement in your opinion? I think I'm going to settle on a nice quality, good ol' bone nut but I've considered TUSQ etc...

My guitar tends to go out of tune when I perform heavy bends. This is a problem because of my style, since I'm so hard on the strings with my fretting hand when it comes to techniques such as this.

I stretch the strings out almost until they break and they still go out of tune somewhat after every song.

I assume this mostly normal, but sometimes it's audible enough to where it bothers me.

I've worked on the nut slots. I've cleaned them and made sure the strings are not pinched.

Is this just the nature of the beast? I know everyone says the gibson headstock and the tuner layout is flawed...

Be nice about my guitar, she's my baby.

Saludos.
Si quieres comprar el nut, puedes comprar un TUSQ XL para tu guitarra. Lo tengo en mi DBZ Bolero & Squier Strat y obtengo un tremendo sustain y performance de ambas. Locking tuners pueden ayudarte a sostener la afinación por mayor tiempo. Mi Strat tiene Schaller*
Si no puedes costearlos o prefieres tradicionales, consigue unos TonePros Kluson y estarás. Los clavijeros que vienen de fábrica de la Gibson son una porquería. Los tengo en mi Gibson SG y cada rato se desafina a diferencia de mi Flying V con los TonePros Kluson que aguanta mucho más, pero para flawless tuning, los locking tuners pueden bregarte al 100%.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

I know in Puerto Rico, the humidity is crazy, & changing strings a lot is necessary. When your strings are off, are your tuners wobbly at all?

They aren't really. I've wondered if adjusting the screws on the sides of the grovers would make them more stable

 

[dystrust]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

They aren't really. I've wondered if adjusting the screws on the sides of the grovers would make them more stable

Do you hear a "pinging" sound when tuning? If you do, your nut slots are binding. IME this is a far more common cause of tuning issues than the machines themselves.

Regarding the tuners themselves,the most common tuning-related problem with tuners machines is post wobble. On my SG Standard, the stock tuners would move slightly instead of remaining perpendicular to the face of the headstock. As a result it wouldn't hold tune very well, particularly when bending strings. It's easiest to check this during a string change before installing new strings. Grab one of the posts and try to wiggle it back and forth; it shouldn't move. If the post does move, you need new tuner(s).

 

[astrozombie]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

Do you hear a "pinging" sound when tuning? If you do, your nut slots are binding. IME this is a far more common cause of tuning issues than the machines themselves.

Regarding the tuners themselves,the most common tuning-related problem with tuners machines is post wobble. On my SG Standard, the stock tuners would move slightly instead of remaining perpendicular to the face of the headstock. As a result it wouldn't hold tune very well, particularly when bending strings. It's easiest to check this during a string change before installing new strings. Grab one of the posts and try to wiggle it back and forth; it shouldn't move. If the post does move, you need new tuner(s).

No pinging. I cleaned the nut slots out and made them a tiny bit wider.

 

[Artie]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

Do you hear a "pinging" sound when tuning? If you do, your nut slots are binding. IME this is a far more common cause of tuning issues than the machines themselves.

Funny you should say that. This issue just came up, in the last couple days, with a friend's guitar. He brought it to me because he knows I do guitar repair. The problem being that it won't stay in tune. He suspected the cheap tuners or the bridge. (This is the Volkswagon First Act guitar.) I took it to my luthier friend, and he immediately identified the nut as the problem. It's cut cheap-'n-dirty and pinches the strings so they don't slip through properly when you tune it.

He swears by true bone nuts. Tusq solves the "slip" problem, but he thinks their a tone killer.

 

[Mincer]

Re: I am SICK and TIRED of the stock nut on my Les Paul!!!

I don't find anything wrong with TUSQ XL, and like their tone vs many bone nuts. If you do go for TUSQ, and you still have tuning issues, it at least eliminates the nut as a source.