Have you ever tried going for a particular sound, but weren’t able to get your tone quite right? Allow us to lend a hand. Gibson Tone Tips can help you achieve the guitar sound of your dreams. In this installment, we’re shining the spotlight on what a nut can do for your tone.
Many players give little thought to that thin, slotted strip of organic or synthetic material that lies across the end of the fingerboard and guides your strings on their way to the tuners, but the stuff your nut is made from plays a big part in shaping your tone. In partnership with the bridge saddles, the nut is one of the two “anchor points” that determine the speaking length of your string — the components that denote the break between the section of the strings that vibrates and makes all the sound and the “dead” portions — and it greatly affects both the way in which the strings ring, and the amount of vibrational energy that is transferred into the neck and body of the guitar.
Early quality acoustic guitars usually had bone nuts, and often still do, and this traditional material contributes to a warm, rich tone. Players are frequently surprised to learn, however, that Gibson electric guitars from the golden age of the solidbody — the 1950s and early ’60s — had nylon nuts. There are many formulations of this plastic, but the one commonly used was known as nylon 6/6. Although it sounds counter-intuitive and not at all a tone-inducing material, it actually did the job very well, and was a small but significant ingredient in some of the best sounding guitars of all time, and now the most expensive on the vintage market! A nut made from this hard, dense form of nylon is sturdy enough to be long wearing, and contributes to a surprisingly full, resonant tone.
At the lower end of the synthetic spectrum, some more affordable guitars carry nuts of solid or even hollow plastic. These aren’t generally considered to be tone-enhancing components, although they might be necessities of a certain price point. A well-cut plastic nut can still provide a decent sound and function, but in order to get the most out of the guitars they come on, many players choose to upgrade them to a nut made from bone, or one of the other synthetic materials that are popular today.
There’s a wide range of excellent replacement nuts available, many of which have been inspired by players who make heavy string bending or vibrato use a part of their playing styles. Graphite-based nuts provided an early form of self-lubricating nut that offered excellent return-to-pitch capabilities along with good wear and tone. The Graph-Tech company’s black Tusq XL nuts carry on this tradition, while their white Tusq nuts offer a more traditional-looking alternative. Super-slippery Delrin nuts have also become popular lately, and these are all good alternatives for players who either ask a lot from their whammy bars, or simply want nut slots to remain slick and snag-free.
Other modern synthetic materials that are not in the self-lubricating camp, but which still offer popular alternatives to bone, are Corian and Micarta. The former is the same material used for many kitchen counter tops, and is a hard yet workable substance that provides good sustain and pleasant all-round tone. Mikarta, a compound of phenolic resins, is a little softer and easier to work than bone, but still dense enough to provide a tonal upgrade on cheaper plastic nuts.
Whatever material you use to upgrade or replace your nut, if such is necessary, it’s important to get the job done right. This might look like a simple part that you could knock into shape with a hacksaw and a file, and in theory you can, but a poorly cut and slotted nut will impede both your tone and your intonation, so this is a job for a professional. Nut slots need to be not only spaced correctly, but cut to precise depths and at accurate angles too, so that all strings have the same break point at the front edge of the nut. The bottom of the nut needs to be seated firmly and tightly into the slot at the end of the fingerboard, too, or you will loose a lot of sustain and resonance. Look after your nuts, and get them done right when repair or replacement is required, and they’ll reward you with years of toneful and in-tune service.
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Jay at http://tinyguitars.tk/ has themHow about 4 string BONE nuts for $5? These are just under 1 1/2" wide and are perfect for most cigar box guitars!
Sorry but I think that Gibson article is a typical example of the baloney-laden sales spiel that's used to prop up the over-priced end of the guitar industry.
One of the few bits I agree with is the sentence:
"A well-cut plastic nut can still provide a decent sound and function".
What I disagree with is the subsequent passage that implies you need to replace plastic nuts with various forms of expensive alternative unless you want to be stuck with a chronically inferior tone. Frankly I just don't believe it. I can see that certain properties are desireable in nut materials - for example wear resistance - but I don't see much need to go beyond basic suitablity and manufacturing concerns. It's like selling snakeoil to suggest fancy composites will achieve tonal miracles in comparison to perfectly suitable but simpler and cheaper alternatives. And I'll stick by that view until someone can show me some genuine research that indicates otherwise. What I mean is a proper scientific study - with objective data and double blind procedures - I'm not interested in subjective opinions or vague, market research style polls. There is simply too much bullshit circulating in the guitar world - some of it amongst people who you'd think would know better.
The most interesting thing about the article is the way it provides evidence to demolish its own argument - specifically the news that some of the best sounding vintage Gibsons had what are essentially cheap plastic nuts (however they try to dress it up as some fancy tonal mirace material, nylon 6-6 is just a tough plastic that was convenient and economical - it's a standard material that has loads of uses from carpets to car tyres)
Another thing...
"This might look like a simple part that you could knock into shape with a hacksaw and a file, and in theory you can"
Guess what...you can in reality too! Sure it takes a little practice and care and patience, but it isn't rocket science. Fair enough if you feel you're utterly cack-handed or you haven't got the time then get someone else to do the job for you. But don't make out that no ordinary mortal should ever attempt such an insane challenge...
Just to back up what Mark said, on one of my 3 string insturments I put on a copper nut, but before I made it I had a temporary one to get the size right. It was made out of rubber wood (not quite as soft as it sounds). When I put the copper one on the only difference was visual (copper beats rubber wood hands down).
There is one property that I think the ideal nut would have and that would be to be slippery so that adjustments in string tension are passed over the nut to the playing portion of the string efficiently. It that doesn't happen the tuning might change slightly as the tension between the two parts of the string equalises. How about PTFE? Has anyone tried that?
Mark, did you notice in the article that Gibson is now using Corian nuts, what the good folks in here have been using for quite some time.
They forgot about threaded rod nuts though, I can't believe they left that out. Must have been a simple oversight. Dont foget to have a pro make you a threaded rod nut though, you should not atempt to make one even though it seems like all you need to do is cut a threaded rod with a hack saw, it is not that simple, don't do it yourself!!
And if you want the finest of tone, make sure it is made of the finest stainless steel for that bright tone. Mind you if you want more of a vintage sound you could always go for brass (antique brass that is).
MichaelS Country Boy Guitars said:
They forgot about threaded rod nuts though, I can't believe they left that out. Must have been a simple oversight. Dont foget to have a pro make you a threaded rod nut though, you should not atempt to make one even though it seems like all you need to do is cut a threaded rod with a hack saw, it is not that simple, don't do it yourself!!
Interesting. One thing I've noticed - if you have a three string guitar, there are three notes whose tone will be affected by the nut - those on the open strings. Pressing a string at a particular fret or applying a slide to a string effectively bypasses the nut and takes it out of the game. When you play a barre chord the nut is, in effect, whatever frets the strings are touching. Consider an instrument with a zero fret. The nut material really doesn't affect the tone since the strings are "stopped" at the zero fret. Also making a nut from threaded rod is really not that difficult. If you mess it up, rotate it 90 degrees and try again, then again if needed. Threaded rod is cheap - building a skill is valuable.
I THOUGH THERE WERE NO RULES,??????
DO WHAT YOU WANT, DIFFERENT NUTS DIFFERENT TONES...IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ROCKET SCEINCE?
WHAT EVER FLOATS OUR BOATS OR ROCKS OUR WORLD !!
Wow, this is the most discussion I've had on one of my post, nuts must be a really touchy subject... LOL
If you use threaded rod be sure to remember:
Fine thread is for classical and flemenco, course for that loud hard rock sound.
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