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Brass Nut Installation


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If there's lacquer on the nut, score all around the nut with a new, sharp x-acto, then I pull the nut out with a pair of fret-cutter 'end nippers'. sometimes, the nut cracks apart,no matter how hard you try to get it out in one piece. but I'm usually going to put a new one on anyway.

You might be in for a hard ride with filing the slots in the brass one, if your nut files are not still plenty sharp (they certainly won't be nearly as sharp after using them on brass for a while). When I do metal nuts, I rough the slots in as much as I can with hacksaw blades and a japanese saw sharpening file. I've even used the thin dremel cut-off wheel.

I'm finding that corian is sounding just as good as any other material I've used. You have to consider that the fretted notes have your tone deadening finger right behind them and they're not being pressed down that hard. So, to simulate that same condition at the nut, a hard "plastic" type material seems a perfectly logical choice to me. Strings bearing down pretty hard against a corian nut from the headstock string pull, produce a clear punchy sound. Do a bad job on it, and of course someone will think corian sucks.

If your new to nut making, use plexi-glas to practive on, if you have some. Although you can often get pieces of Corian really cheap or free from shops that make kitchen counters.

Your slot bottoms will be even more wear-resistant, if you bring the final depth by burnishing the slots, with the smooth rounded edge of feeler gauges, or whatever it takes.

Rob

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