New Nut Installation

Jeff_H

Jeff_H

Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Hey all, I ordered a pre-slotted Tusq nut for my ash strat, and it's here. My question is simple but stupid. There is a little square tab on the bottom of the nut. I believe this has to come off. Can I snip it off for the most part with some wire clippers and then fine sand it level, or just sand it off? It's not expensive, but no need to screw it up.

Thanks.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

If your nut slot is radiused = cut off the tab
If your nut slot is flat = leave the tab

I've never used their tusq nuts, but I've used a razor to cut the tab off of graphite nuts followed by some fine sandpaper. I think this would probably work for tusq as well. No instructions came with it?
 
Re: New Nut Installation

No, it just came in a little sealed bag. Got it from Stew Mac. It is curved (radiused) on the bottom, to match the radius of the fretboard.

It's my first time installing a nut, but no better time to learn. I'm comfortable enough with fine tuning the string slots using a small bit of sandpaper wrapped around the string, to get them just right or to lower the slot a bit. I've heard good things about Stew Mac's pre-slotted Tusq nuts, so I thought I'd give it a whirl for $4. I play with 9's, so a pre-slotted should not be cut too small, but should be just right to slightly on the large size.

I'll cut the tab off with a razor knife and then go about sanding it to exactly match the bottom of the neck slot.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Cool. Let us know how you like it once it's done.

Graph-Tech's website just says to file, grind or cut the tab off.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Jeff !!! If it's the warmoth neck your talking about That I did for you? Leave the tab ON!! I'm pretty sure that's a flat slot. The only curved slots I've seen or on Genunie Fender necks. And I've seen plenty of slots in my time.:laugh2:
 
Re: New Nut Installation

It IS the neck you did for me. Won't it be uneven if I leave the tab on? I thought it was a radiused slot....guess I was wrong.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Jeff_H said:
It IS the neck you did for me. Won't it be uneven if I leave the tab on? I thought it was a radiused slot....guess I was wrong.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it was flat? I'm gonna check warmoth's site to be sure.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

That's kind of important. Good thing KMC chimed in here. LOL!

For future reference, it's easy to check. Get a small rule/straightedge and set it in the nut slot lengthwise and see if it rocks back and forth. If so it's radiused, if not it's flat.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Jeff, According to Warmoth's site... Only the total vintage comes w/t a curved slot. I believe yours in a Modern Vintage model.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Yup, mine is vintage modern. Luckilly I had just sanded it down a little bit. It was JUST a tad to wide for the slot, so I cleaned som residule finish out of the groove and used a fine file to take some of the material off the nut (opposite side of where it meets the fretboard) until I could JUST get it in the slot. Then I sanded the rough spots out with some 150 grit. It fits perfectly now, and the height is just right.

I have to give Stew Mac some props here. The width is ECXACTLY right at 1 11/16". I get maybe a 1/64th lip on either one side of the neck or the other..depending on how I position it. I will file it off once I decide that everything is in order, but right now I really like it. The slots are cut nicely and fan out every so slightly like they should in the rear...it's not much, as Fender is a straight string pull, but they are nicely, nicely cut. Depth is perfect for my 9's, and there is zero binding. If you played heavy guage strings, they would need to be widened, but probably up to 10's you'de be fine, as I use 9-46's.

For those who didn't read, this is a pre-slotted Tusq nut from Stew Mac. Tusq as I understand it, is basically man made bone that is a little more slippery in nature, but very close tonally to bone. Whatever the case, this mellowed my tone just a tad from the nut Ken sent me to use as a temp.

Do you remember what material that old nut was Ken? When I drop it on the table, it reminds me of Corian...very brittle and bright sounding when it hits the dresser.

Anyhow, props to Stew Mac. Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the pre-slotted BONE nut I bought for my LP. This one came from MOJO, and they are the only place I've found that pre-slots bone. Should be interesting.

Thanks for the help Poorman and Ken. You guys are lifesavers as usual.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Jeff_H said:
Do you remember what material that old nut was Ken? When I drop it on the table, it reminds me of Corian...very brittle and bright sounding when it hits the dresser.
.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that was a Boner.:laugh2: I got a dozen or so blank bone nuts from stewmac years ago. I use Tusq nuts now exclusely. Easy to work with, And you don't get that god aweful stink when cutting or grinding. The pre-cut Tusq's are a thing of beauty. Some guitars you just drop em' in and there spot on without much if any tweaking.:banana:
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Thanks for sending me a boner then Ken, I think ? :eek13: :eek: :earl:

I really, really like this Tusq, and the fact that it's pre-slotted. The thing that amazes me most is that the string height is perfect. I may have to adjust one or two saddles just a touch, but no buzzing at all, and I like my action fairly low.

I really like to give as much press as I can to great products that are easy for average joe's like me to use. This is so easy that there is NO reason anyone should be playing with a cheap plastic nut, or a nut that is cut wrong. Spend the $4-$6 bucks or whatever it is and improve you guitar. A great nut will solve many, many of your tuning problems.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

I've been playing the strat today, just checking the feel, height, tuning stability ect of the new nut. I've done just a little fine tuning of the B and high E slot...just a touch, but I am seriously impressed by this pre-slotted Tusq nut. The slots are cut just like Dan Erlwine show's in his book, with only about half the wound strings in the slot, the rest sticking above the slot, no binding.

The thing that really amazes me is the perfect fit as far as height and width. This is a Warmoth modern neck, not a Fender, and a nut made by a completely different company. I ordered the standard Fender nut, as you only have a choice of Fender or Gibson. You just choose curved or flat slot, and nut width. It just goes to show you how modern standardization of manufacturing has helped the average player.

Highly recommended.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

I prefer to sand it off using high-grit sandpaper (i.e. "finishing" sandpaper, basically low friction). I did that with the Earvana nut on my ESP (or, the guitar tech I know did :D) and it worked properly.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

Jeff_H said:
Tusq as I understand it, is basically man made bone that is a little more slippery in nature, but very close tonally to bone.
Click to expand...
FYI Tusq=Tusk=Ivory. The name implies elephant tusk which is illegal, and fossilized ivory is like gold. They're going for an ivory tone, but it's all irrelevant marketing copy anyway, because really what you have there is a man-made "super-material" that outperforms bone and ivory in many ways. I love it, and the only thing bone has over Tusq is longevity. You could wear Tusq slots down over many years (probably decades) whereas bone, if cut and polished correctly should last forever. But still that assumes you have a good piece of bone, and today's supply is very inconsistent. So Tusq wins again on that front, because it's always perfect. It's always at it's best. You can blow a bone blank if you start cutting and realize there are some voids in there. Then your work is wasted and you have to start over. I like Tusq for acoustic saddles as well. You can't go wrong!
 
Re: New Nut Installation

I use Tusq and GraphTech almost exclusivly for the work I do. I can shape a bone nut from a blank but it's really time consuming.

The selection from GraphTech is really good too, and when I was shipped a wrong one for a customer (Packaged wrong) I called the factory as they are 20 minutes from me, and the guy I spoke to, David, suggested that I should have ordered a different one and offered to swap the incorrect one for the perfect one. That's customer service as far as I can see.

I'll +1 the props.
 
Re: New Nut Installation

just a question for the forum bros who install their own nuts: do you glue it? how do fix it on there?
 
Re: New Nut Installation

fingerace said:
just a question for the forum bros who install their own nuts: do you glue it? how do fix it on there?
Click to expand...

I use just a drop, And I mean a micro dot! Of super glue. Just enough to hold it in place,But not to much where you can get it off without a fight.:)
 
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