New Nut For Electric.

[MadSkillzMan]

hi guys. my beloved epiphone SG has a cracked nut..the E and A wont stay tuned for the live of the guitar, not to mention they wander.

It was plastic anyway. My fault im sure.

So, im curious, on opinions for nuts on an electric. Graphite? bone? rolling?

I LOVE this guitar. Its a cheapo SG, but the thing is, ive yet to find a neck this thin, and frets like this. Its better than a wizard neck, and the frets arent jumbo, i think theyre about medium. It just a guitar id never replace. sure i could afford another one, but why should i when im content with it?

I am thinking of upgrading it more as time goes on. For starters the full face pickguard, and now im seeing tremolo setups for the SG on ebay. Then imi wondering about rewiring the pickups and add 2 more knobs..

I dont know if type of nut affects tone like on an acoustic, so i know you guys would know.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[Ptt-Guitars]

hi guys. my beloved epiphone SG has a cracked nut..the E and A wont stay tuned for the live of the guitar, not to mention they wander.

It was plastic anyway. My fault im sure.

So, im curious, on opinions for nuts on an electric. Graphite? bone? rolling?

I LOVE this guitar. Its a cheapo SG, but the thing is, ive yet to find a neck this thin, and frets like this. Its better than a wizard neck, and the frets arent jumbo, i think theyre about medium. It just a guitar id never replace. sure i could afford another one, but why should i when im content with it?

I am thinking of upgrading it more as time goes on. For starters the full face pickguard, and now im seeing tremolo setups for the SG on ebay. Then imi wondering about rewiring the pickups and add 2 more knobs..

I dont know if type of nut affects tone like on an acoustic, so i know you guys would know.

Thanks in advance everyone.

←

Sure the nut affects the sound. Imagine if you placed a piece of fabric under the nut, it would have the same effect as placing your hand on it.

I'm not sure for electrics but anythings better that plastic as far as I'm concerned. go for bone or even a locking nut.... (for when you get a tremolo)

Edited November 6, 2005 by Ptt-Guitars

[Black Mariah]

Rip that bastard off and replace it. I'm partial to graphite, mainly because it doesn't stink to holy hell when you're filing it. I've never done a direct tone comparison.

[unclej]

take this link to allparts and check out their selection. i'm also partial to graphite on electrics though i do make/use bone for acoustics. i doubt that you'll hear much difference between graphite, tusq and bone and nuts aren't very expensive so you might think about getting one of each and making the comparison yourself.

good luck.

http://www.allparts.com/

[marksound]

One thing I've noticed using graphite & Tusq is that they do sound different than those cheap soft plastic ones that Mighty Mite uses. Sharper, brighter, fuller, fatter? I don't know. Different.

[Guitarfrenzy]

To me you can't beat the sound of the open strings you get with a bone nut. It's all a matter of opinion though. Just read this link on Making A Nut. Your going to want to buy a few nut files to do a more professional job. You could make it with just 3 files if you're creative with them. You could also buy a set of feeler guages and serrate the edges so they cut, as a cheaper alternative. If your going to slot many nuts you should do yourself a favor though and buy some good ones.

[MadSkillzMan]

oh thanks a ton guys!

Ptt-Guitars your right, it would suck if i used a peice of fabric. I just didnt know how much of a big deal it was on an electric, compared to acoustic

i think the local vintage guitar shop has some premade ones. I think ill checkout graphite. I didnt knwo if bone was a usable thing for electrics. Dont ask, im new to some of this, though im confident i can do it.

If i did locking, wouldnt i have to drill my neck? or no?

Also, what about the rolling nut some fenders use? Use that alongside with the locking keys? I had a jazz teacher that had that setup, and i never understood what the heck it was til the other day.

Now im assuming it only affects the open strings? Still though, itll be neat.

little off topic, but any opinions on the upgrades i plan on doing? the pickguard, extra pots, tremolo, etc? Pickups are a must, but i need $$ for all this, so one thiing at a time. Im just curious, ive never talked to anyone who took a bottom of the line guitar, and upgraded it to one of its higher models.

I appreciate the help guys. Thanks a ton.

[soapbarstrat]

Corian is my favorite material still (although I'm all for finding something I like better, such as something super slick that still sounds as good [hard delrin possibly] ).

A Floyd type locking nut, as well as roller nuts that I'm familiar with, often force you to compromise with the string action at the nut, because they have a set radius that you can't change. or in other words, you can't tweak an individual strings height with those.

you can often refurbish an old nut with super-glue. I've heard of guys putting pieces of paper in the string slots then soaking that paper with super-glue to make the string slots smaller. I've even heard of toilet paper being used ( don't read that backwards and get the idea to use *used* toilet paper).

Plastic nuts actually sound better than you will be lead to believe. It's mainly how they are cut. Usually the slots are too deep, causing a "muting effect" on the strings.

I quickly stuck an old plastic nut on the early 60's Kay I was given. It was too low, so I even used a piece of "sanding screen" as a shim. This was "make-do for now" stuff just so I could get strings on the guitar. Turns out the open strings sound just great on that shimmed plastic nut (not even glued in place).

[MadSkillzMan]

ok guys last question. ive seen some nuts that just say for gibson, and some that say, gisbon les paul...this is for an SG..im talking about the precut ones

does it matter? so far i see that using a fender nut woulndt work...if i ever find a rolling nut dirt cheap somewhere id pick it up to play w. it and make it work

thanks in advance

[Guitarfrenzy]

ok guys last question. ive seen some nuts that just say for gibson, and some that say, gisbon les paul...this is for an SG..im talking about the precut ones

does it matter? so far i see that using a fender nut woulndt work...if i ever find a rolling nut dirt cheap somewhere id pick it up to play w. it and make it work

thanks in advance

←

Well, are you talking about preslotted nuts? If so I think you should avoid them, simply because you should make a nut that's perfect for your guitar. Get at least 1/8" space from the outer E strings to the fingerboard edge, and slotting them yourself, you can insure the slots are located correctly for your guitar. As far as it saying Fender or Gibson nut, that just means it is prepared for the correct width, (usually 1/8" for Fender, 3/16" width for Gibson), with enough height for Fender or Gibson, with enough length for the slot also, and on Fenders some are curved bottom to match the nut slot curve. So basically it means it's already sized for that style of guitar.