Nut building

[Clint 55]

I succeeded in building my first nut today. That was a lot of work. I messed up 2 before I got it right so that would total about 14 hours of work. The first one I tried was bone, the one that I completed is micarta. The micarta sounds pretty good on my jazzy Dot. It's mellow but still articulate enough.

Wondering what your opinions are about how to go about building nuts easily. It would be nice to find a material that is soft enough that it's easy to work with, but still sounds good. Maybe that's not possible. But I wasn't even able to find anything soft besides plastic, which I'm not gonna use. The main dense materials I saw online were bone, tusq, and micarta.

What materials do you guys use? Do you have any tips on making the process easier? Are there any soft materials that are easy to shape that still sound good?



Edit: I made a micarta nut for my strat mini and it's not mellow, it's midrangey but still clear. Big change in sound. It required some getting used to but I think I like it. I'm gonna try tusq on the afd lp next. I might try graphite down the road that seems to be the softest.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Nut building

The pre-slotted Tusq nuts are easier than a bone or micarta blank. The first one I did years ago was bone. All the marking, shaping, and slotting was done by hand. I'd rather do Tusq anytime.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Nut building

Nice. I was looking at those. They do look much farther in the ballpark than just an unshapen blank. Thanx

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Nut building

is preslotted ready to use? or still needs final working?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Nut building

I've done them with bone only. I didn't have too much problems. I'm using a precision file set. Not sure how others are cutting theirs.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Nut building

is preslotted ready to use? or still needs final working?

The preslotted Tusq needs a little work, but they're close. I put one on my Epiphone Les Paul and had to lower it a little and tweak the nut slots a bit. Less than an hour's work with sandpaper rather than hours and hours with files.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Nut building

I've done them with bone only. I didn't have too much problems. I'm using a precision file set. Not sure how others are cutting theirs.

I'm using 60 grit sandpaper to do the rough shaping and stew mac slot files for the slots. I follow up with 100, 150, and 220 sandpaper to leave the micara at a matte finish.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Nut building

Those of us who have been doing it for decades prefer bone.... Personally, I HATE Tusc.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Nut building

Those of us who have been doing it for decades prefer bone.... Personally, I HATE Tusc.

Each material seems to have very unique tone properties. (Closed notes as well as open notes!) I was fortunate that the micarta ended up suiting my 335 with the flatwounds.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Nut building

I have been using bone exclusively for 15 years. Wouldn't even consider using anything else now. All the nuts I make are compensated, so I know about spending hours and hours making one. I am extremely careful...can't afford to screw one up. I use flat files for general shaping, Stew Mac nut slotting files for the string slots, and finish with fine sandpaper to get a smooth and polished finish.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Nut building

Each material seems to have very unique tone properties. (Closed notes as well as open notes!) I was fortunate that the micarta ended up suiting my 335 with the flatwounds.

The nut material doesn't affect fretted notes. Think about it.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Nut building

There are common materials that people never seem to think of for fabricating nuts ... Perspex (Plexiglass ?) and toothbrush handles. At least the type of toothbrush handles that were/ are a harder plastic that will 'snap' in an almost brittle fashion if broken.

Personally I prefer bone, and i've never found it difficult to work with. Material choices might be an issue if you make guitar nuts all day, every day, but for one-offs, use the materials you think will give the best sound and functionality. Time spent creating nuts may seem excessive, but a decent nut will provide good tone and serviceability for years to come.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Nut building

I love nice smooth nuts, well oiled nuts and oversized nuts.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Nut building

The nut material doesn't affect fretted notes. Think about it.

I did think about it. But then I played it too. I thought what in the world, this guitar sounds totally different than before.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Nut building

Crusty: Good advice. The next nut I make for a bright guitar will be bone. I'm getting the hang of shaping them. That's a good idea about toothbrushes. I'm still looking for a material that has a mellow sound. The micarta was crazy. Good bass, accurate, but middy too. The tusq was the easiest to work with and tune also.