It's true! But how?

Many of us have been following Forum user Nikininja's quest for better intonation over the months. As we know, the placement of guitar frets is something of a compromise and not all notes sound properly in all positions on all strings in all keys. The problem is particuarly acute on the lower frets and with open chords. I leave Niki to talk about that further...

We've seen that gentleman fit the Earvana compensated nut to address the issue, with a fair degree of success. More recently he has wanted to make his own compensated nuts from bone - on this thread:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=21957

As we also know, Telecasters have their own tuning problems when they use traditional brass barrel saddles. It happens that Niki and I both use Wilkinson compensated Tele saddles to alleviate those issues, like these (if you don't know these saddles, look at the strings' breaking points on them):


Niki expressed the intention of making himself a compensated nut that was designed to work specifically with those saddles - and he offered to make me one too.

How could I refuse?

So my Ninja Nut has arrived. Here it is, along with the one it is to replace:


And a close up:


Note the accuracy of Niki's work. He has made the nut to match my 9.5 radius fingerboard:


Not having my guitar in front of him, Nick has left the top of the nut oversized so that I can make the final shaping and slotting adjustments. Having taken the slots to the right depth (I like them around 0.020 thou higher than the first fret) I find that sanding the top to match is quick if you use emery paper on a radiused sanding block of the right size:


Adjustments made and the guitar set up, here's the finished nut:


Observe the concave radius Niki has worked into the underside of the shelf where it overhangs the fingerboard. Nice work!:


So. How does it play?

I suspect Nikininja's ears are better than mine, because he seems more upset by lower fingerboard intonation issues than me - but even I can hear the difference with this Ninja Nut! It is particularly obvious when playing open chords such as E, A and D against one another. That D just sounds... sweeter.

Nice!

And that's how he has spoiled all my other guitars for me. Because now they just don't sound quite as good as the one that has been Ninja-ised!

Thank you very much, Nikininja! Respect to you...

- C

That even looks better than the earvana ones! (Which are a bit ugly IMHO)

Far too kind sir.

If you want any others just let me know.

_________________
No no and no

Sorry i missed the important question.
Has it helped with the bridge end intonation troubles at all.

_________________
No no and no

I agree with eddie, That nut looks every bit as good as any crafted nut I have seen. Well done Niki ( Brother in Arms )

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Awesome report there Ceri... well done Nik I am impressed with the workmanship and the name...."ninja nut". Definitley marketable. I see a bright new future for Mr. Nik. Can I get the marketing rights over here in the colonies?

Somewhere on a meadow in England is a 3 legged cow that moos everytime Ceri srikes a chord...

_________________
I'm not slow... and I'm not fast... just sort of halffast...

very nice

_________________
Stratohawk Guitar Works Custom Handwound Pickups-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stratoha ... page_panel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc72Re ... qfXXXkVTqA

Wow! Niks nuts are beautiful!

_________________

********
72 Custom Tele
50's Strat
Sqiuer Classic Vibe 50's P bass
Blues Junior
DG acoustic
Sparkly Thong

Lol, i thought he trashed your guitar, i was gonna say from what ive read, he seems like one of the nicest, most knowlegable guys on this fourm.

_________________
Paddle faster! I hear banjo music!

Wow. In addition to being highly functional, that nut is a beautifully fashioned thing. VERY nice work. The nut on my STrat-style guitar is a real work of art, but this is amazing.

The title of this thread seemed harsh....but what else could you have titled it..."Nikininja fixed my......."?

Good job, nikininja!

You *did* make spares, right?

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Your all far too kind. Its really just an adaptation of the earvana / stephen delpht nut.

http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/

I didnt use his measurements but measured the offsets for myself using strobosoft. Then plotted where the break point for each string needed to be. Fitted the prototype to my tele and checked it. Once i got that as good as possible i fashioned Ceri's nut along the same lines. There is the problem that no two guitars are identical so i left Ceri's nut slightly towards the first fret. And the base that slots into the neck slightly long. Ceri has been far too generous in his compliments. The base section has been trimmed and the front edge has been trimmed on certain strings too.

Anyway let me have a talk to a friend about knocking a good few up in his workshop. If that proves positive they will be up for sale at a very modest price. There will be no extortion in anything i'm involved in.

_________________
No no and no

Hi again: I really have not been too generous; not in the slightest!

You gave me a mil or so to play with widthwise, so I decided to use it to give the top e slightly more distance from the fingerboard edge than the bottom E. And I've obviously lowered the slots and the top of the nut to suit the fret height on the individual guitar.

Apart from that the nut is exactly as it arrived. It fitted the nut slot absolutely perfectly: not the slightest adjustment required. And I haven't touched the front edge - I simply wouldn't dare! You understand the science of that, Mr Ninja: I certainly don't.

Gotta say, I think it's a winning piece of kit, and you deserve every ounce of kudos that guys have been giving on this thread.

Nikininja is The Man!

- C

PS: I know you want a serious answer about the intonation at the saddles: I need to mess with my set up and tuner a bit more to decide about that. My foggy brain is trying to think through what's changed and not compared with how it was before in that aspect: I'll come back to you...

I like it! Very nice-looking

The title grabbed my attention in a second

That was the idea! I think we can tell from his tone that Niki is not offended...

Once again, thanks to Nikininja.

And goodnight y'all, from - C