ComradeFletch Posted September 20, 2003 Report Posted September 20, 2003 any info on the pros/cons of metal nuts? (think this is right section ) Quote
ComradeFletch Posted September 20, 2003 Author Report Posted September 20, 2003 tht one, i had gathered but i heard sumwhere tht they have real nice tonal qualitys Quote
westhemann Posted September 20, 2003 Report Posted September 20, 2003 well i like them but the thing is as soon as you fret a note the nut material doesn't matter.the only place you notice is on open string chords Quote
ComradeFletch Posted September 20, 2003 Author Report Posted September 20, 2003 ahh right. cheers man Quote
soapbarstrat Posted September 21, 2003 Report Posted September 21, 2003 Since those specialized nut-slotting files are damn expensive, it's not so nice to wear the hell out of them on a steel nut, but I've done it anyway. But then there's the theory that some materials are better for transmitting tone, such as aluminum, brass and synthetic nut materials, while other materials like steel alter tone and don't let much of the true tone go through them. But a nut supposedly has very little influence on the tone of the guitar, so wear-reistance becomes more important. I'm interested in a harder aluminum than what I've used in the past for guitar nuts. Anyone know of an aluminum type that would be very wear resistant as a guitar nut material ? Warmoth offers nuts made of nickel, and I'm wondering why they chose nickel. I might have to try that. I like brass bridge saddles, so maybe I should try brass nuts. Only that brass has a high friction rate on steel strings. The main think about a nut is how well the slots have been cut, and that can have a drastic effect on tone and playibility on a guitar. A good slotted nut made of plexi would be better than a poorly slotted nut made from Tusc or the standard materials. The plexi would get crappy fast though. Quote
Roli Posted September 21, 2003 Report Posted September 21, 2003 Anyone else tried stag-horn? This material is fine for me, either for nut or acoustic saddle. Quote
goat Posted September 21, 2003 Report Posted September 21, 2003 When you fret a note,because of resistance there are small tolerences on the nut and strings as well as when you tune-up. There is a company called Graph-tech that makes a product called "Trem-nut" which lubricates the slots . The tonal qualitys are supposedly excellent also. http://graphtech.bc.ca/default.asp Quote
johnuk Posted September 21, 2003 Report Posted September 21, 2003 I'm interested in a harder aluminum than what I've used in the past for guitar nuts. Anyone know of an aluminum type that would be very wear resistant as a guitar nut material ? Buy an alloy that has been heat treated, www.onlinemetals.com Heat treatment is shown as a T somewhere in the name of the alloy. T3 is when the alloy has been treated then cold worked to add strength. T6 alloy is left alone after it's been treated. There are two common types, 6061 and 2011. I think... 2011 may be easier to machine than 6061. One of the alloys is better at forming chips and coming away from itself, 2011 possibly. I have seen what is meant by this, if you try turning certain types of aluminium on a lathe, chips won't brake off. Instead you get a very long razor blade like spool of wire coming off. I have had suitably nasty cuts given to me because I've tried to pick it off the lathe by hand. [Duh!] The heat treated alloys are supposidely super metals. They literally are bullet proof in some cases! I think the aerospace industry uses T6. Why not try titanium? That has to be one of the weirdest metals I've ever seen! It feels like aluminium but you can barely even scratch it. Quote
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