Nut materials

Re: Nut materials

Clint 55 said:
There's a difference between pursuing a desired conclusion from a theoretical standpoint and actually observing the results in practice. For all the different nuts I tried, I noticed a huge difference in tone for both closed and open notes.
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What was the protocol for changing between nuts?? Its not often a really quick change, and strings are often changed at the same time. Setup is another issue too.
 
Re: Nut materials

My setups remained the same because I've gotten those dialed with feeler gauges and ruler. In most cases I would keep the strings on the guitar and use them again. I'm guessing the biggest margin of error between my tests would have to do with getting the nut to sit flush on a continuous section of wood after changing. Instead of having gaps between the nut and neck due to left over glue, uneven spots etc. I did my best to get all surfaces as flat as possible and get the best fit, but I'm thinking this could be a big part of the equation - getting a perfect fit in order to facilitate good energy transfer and resonance.
 
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Re: Nut materials

Paul Reed Smith once said in an interview with Guitar World that nut only matters when playing open strings. When the notes are fretted, the nut is irrelevant cause the fret now serves as the nut.

Based on the conclusion of the experiment explicated in this thread, I conclude that PRS must be on dope...yeah WTF does he know about guitars right? SDUGF rulezz!
 
Re: Nut materials

Dave Locher said:
Ouch! No offense intended. Obviously you have experience with this issue. But you're still saying "only 6 notes." All I am saying is "those are THE 6 notes." I am playing at least one or two of those 6 notes 90% of the time. I use open notes whenever possible, open chords whenever possible, and really do care how they sound. So for ME changing the sound of those six notes changes the sound of the whole guitar.
I am one of the players who can tell. And I don't care if the audience can tell or not - it's such a minor expense, why not use the one that is most pleasing to my own ears?

Having said all of that, I have had several guitars with plastic nuts that sounded just fine to me and I never bothered changing them, but the couple times I did change from plastic to bone I was surprised at the difference it did make, mainly in the open E and open A notes. Those are open-string notes I use a LOT.

Moving on, moving on.
Click to expand...

You've been playing 'Always Somewhere' your whole life?
 
Re: Nut materials

ICTGoober said:
Yes - do that.
I'm just tired of the endless back and forth....
Please excuse the long rant. I'm better now.
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I can see how that would test a man's soul! I think there is a direct correlation between how much time someone spends "just hanging out" in a music store and how crappy they are as a player.
I didn't even realize nut material was a Thing like tone wood or "the best cables."
Sorry if I cranked you up but I'm glad you feel better now.
 
Re: Nut materials

I've liked the tone of graphite when I don't have a guitar with a zero fret (which really is a great idea). A SS zero fret will make open notes sound just like their fretted counterparts, and once set up, is much easier to control the action. The nut itself just becomes a guide for the strings.
 
Re: Nut materials

Obsessive Compulsive said:
Paul Reed Smith once said in an interview with Guitar World that nut only matters when playing open strings. When the notes are fretted, the nut is irrelevant cause the fret now serves as the nut.

Based on the conclusion of the experiment explicated in this thread, I conclude that PRS must be on dope...yeah WTF does he know about guitars right? SDUGF rulezz!
Click to expand...

Paul's right. I don't know how anyone could suggest the nut matters when the string is fretted.
 
Nut materials

Plastic and resin get a bad rap. Pretty underrated. On a strat I like bone but on most guitars plastic is fine and I only swap a nut out if it's got issues. My brightest guitar has a brass nut and it's humbuckers make strat single coils sound like mud!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Nut materials

eclecticsynergy said:
My beef with brass nuts is exactly that open strings sound so much brighter than fretted notes, especially on Fenders with their longer scale and usually bright pickups. Had brass on a '76 Strat and open notes were almost piercing. I like more consistent sound across chords. Only have one brass nut on a guitar, and that's only because I'm waiting to swap out the pickups- when I do, I'll replace the nut too.

Not thrilled with the steel on my Floyd-equipped guitars either, but as far as I know there isn't an alternative. Anybody know of one? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in that; perhaps there's a niche market for a product like that...

I have graphite on a couple of PRSs and I find that pretty bright too, but I think it's worth it for the self-lubricating properties on those. Though I wouldn't rule out swapping 'em for teflon/Tusq. Frankly the possibility hadn't really even occurred to me until now- I love all three of them the way they are, despite a slight bright ring on open notes.

Anyway, to each his own. Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying I don't like brass much myself.
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The solution to that problem is to use a brass pick. I have one that I bought back in 1988 called Teck Pick and it's a great sounding pick when you learn how to use it right. I scrape pencil lead into the brass nut slots for graphite lubrication & tuning stability.



;>)/
 
Re: Nut materials

JB_From_Hell said:
Paul's right. I don't know how anyone could suggest the nut matters when the string is fretted.
Click to expand...

If you compare 2 different materials like bone and then brass it's super obvious that it affects the sound of closed notes as well.
 
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Re: Nut materials

Clint 55 said:
If you compare 2 different materials like bone and then brass it's super obvious that it affects the sound of closed notes as well.
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When you play a guitar, what you hear is the length of vibrating string. When you fret a note, the length between your finger and the nut is not vibrating. Fret the twelfth fret and play the note. Now put a capo on the third fret and play the same note again. Put capos on frets 1-11 and the note does not change at all. After that, take a screwdriver and knock the nut off the guitar and listen to the sound not change at all.

When YOU compare the two nut materials, YOU hear a difference on fretted notes. I put a bone nut on an acoustic guitar I played for a long time. The open notes sounded a little more full, but the fretted notes did not change at all.

Little Pigbacon said:
If so, then I think the sound of those six notes merits giving the nut a thought.
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I completely agree with you, and was not discounting the importance of those open strings. I love open strings and use them as often as I can. I also agree with Paul Reed Smith, and physics, that once you fret a note the nut is out of the equation.
 
Re: Nut materials

JB_From_Hell said:
When you play a guitar, what you hear is the length of vibrating string. When you fret a note, the length between your finger and the nut is not vibrating. Fret the twelfth fret and play the note. Now put a capo on the third fret and play the same note again. Put capos on frets 1-11 and the note does not change at all. After that, take a screwdriver and knock the nut off the guitar and listen to the sound not change at all.
Click to expand...

Well... There's a difference in pitch if the capo clamped the string down tight to the wood, or if you didn't re-tune the guitar after removing the nut. :P Before someone tries it.
 
Re: Nut materials

JB_From_Hell said:
When you play a guitar, what you hear is the length of vibrating string.
Click to expand...

Your idea that since the nut is behind closed notes that it doesn't affect their sound makes sense in theory, however it's incorrect in practice. Make a nut out of a humbucker spacer, shim it on a business card, and have the strings a cm deep in the slots, then compare that completely dead sound to a perfectly shaped and set micarta nut.
 
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