Aahhh, all of the talent here is coming out ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

No offense taken, I like a good play on forum handles/nick-names. (tomhug is actually the first 3 letters of my first name, and the first the letters of my last name. I always find that when I pick a "clever" handle for forums, I wind up hating my choice after a month or so, so now I just keep it simple and use the same one everywhere.)

I do think that the nut makes a difference, both sonically and functionally. I happen to play with a lot of partial chords and open strings, so it might even make more difference to my style than someone who is barring or playing lead all the time. I agree that once a note is fretted, the nut is out of the equation.

My reason for going with bone is that I felt is had the sonic and functional characteristics I wanted. I had a graphite nut on there and it sounded great, but the strings wore the slots down too quickly. I wanted something a little harder.

The other important aspect is the string break with regards to tuning. A badly formed nut will hinder quick tuning. A well cut nut (whether corian, bone, fossilized ivory, or plastic) will facilitate quick tuning.

For those keeping score at home, I have just ruined my first "practice" nut. (Filing too vigorously - snapped off a corner of the melamine). Good thing I planned for this. On to attempt #2

I've seen nuts, saddles and bridge pins for acoustics made from fossil ivory and yes, they are things of beauty. I've never been able to hear a difference in tone even on acoustics. I've played guitars pre and post and either my ear isn't that good or the difference was so subtle that only a person intimately familiar with the guitar could hear the difference. Spending about a half hour with any given acoustic isn't enough to get to know her on that personal of a basis. The owner all said they could hear a difference but also admitted the placebo effect could be at play.

The picks and other objects shown here out of fossil ivory are absolutely beautiful though.

Jeff

thank you Ceri for that great post!
I understand it now and have always noticed the difference in intonation,or out of tune notes along the neck...I don't have perfect pitch but can hear these things.Being a slide player also makes you aware of being sharp or flat,you can adjust your slide position,maybe that's why I hear it when the notes are fretted.
Now I have been given something else to consider.
Also since it's been mentioned,I have tried so many different slides over the years and can say that I still go back to those Coricidin bottles that I've been using since the '70s...the glass still sounds the best...so far my 2nd choice at present is Rocky Mountain slides,made from some sort of clay and glazed,sounds pretty cool.
Brass is my choice for acoustic...and I can't hear a difference in fret nuts.

Well OK, I'm willing to concede that the nut material makes no noticeable difference to the sound.

All this nut talk has inspired me however to attempt a home made nut using some of my ivory.
One made with the nice golden coloured stuff will look sweet on my infamous 'Naked MIM build"

I'm pretty sure I can shape the nut. I'm not to sure about the slots. What are those tools called? Nut files? I'll have to look for some online.

Although Mammoth ivory is an ethical material, I'm sure the Green types haven't seen the destruction caused by mining the stuff. Heavy machinery is used to blast megalitres of water into a bank of Permafrost to expose the buried skeletons, leaving a filthy eroded mess......... I guess the elephants are happy though.

....Mark.

Judging by your question about nut files, I am going to suggest you go to lowes, or Home Depot and get some free corian to practice on before you cut your Ivory.
Judging by your other work you more than have the skills to cut a nice nut.(that just sounds wrong!!) but it does take a bit of practice to get the angle of the nut slots right, I always like to practice on scrap, or free material.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Yeah Cheers Twelvebar, good tip. I'm not familiar with Corian, but I assume it's a a plastic building product.
Honestly mate, where I live it would be easier and cheaper to just order a couple of blanks through the post. You're right about about the need to practice though
....Mark.

Mark

May I suggest a set of files for nut slotting. These used to be sold by a shop called Normans Nuts. Some fella called GuitarGeek is selling them now.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Guitar-Bass-Nut-Slot-Cutting-System-/330556912801?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4cf6ba34a1

Anyhow I have a set, I prefer them to my Hosco files. Also you get a laminated card with 12,6,7,Bass and Mandolin fretboards drawn on it, with strings. All you do is mark the width your blank needs to be. Slide it along the template till it touches both sides of the neck outline. Then mark where Norman/GuitarGeek has the strings marked.

Hey presto, accurate string spacing in seconds.
The guy takes his time to deliver (if it is Norman under a different name). I think I waited 3 weeks US to UK. However it's a really easy system to use. Also the shape of the file gives a really nice rounded bottom to the slot.

If you really want to get a nice smooth cut on the bottom of the nut slots then I recommend a set of welding tip cleaners.

They cost 2 quid at most.

Good luck with it all mate.

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No no and no

+1

I'm very pleased with my set.



They double up as feeler gauges too which is handy.



So far I've only used them to make minor adjustments to pre-slotted nuts...



...And for a hobbyist they're perfect, but I have read a few bad reviews saying they blunt easily. Those reviews were probably by Guitar Techs that are cutting nuts all the time. If like me you use them 10-15 time a year they're ideal.

Andy

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Pending Greatness

A set of those is now on my shopping list!

Nice one, Nick.

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Andy you'll love em. Be warned though, don't use em for anything other than smoothing out. Let the file do the work, the tip cleaner do the final bit of finesse.

I once tried to do a high E slot with the tip cleaner. I ended up with a diagonal cut .

Dunno why anyone thinks Normans nut files go blunt. I've hacked away at all sorts with mine. Including a attempt at a granite nut. Still going strong.

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No no and no

Will do mate.


This is good to hear.

They really do work very well and for £40 including P&P ($68) they're an absolute bargain.

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Hey Boxbang...how do the ivory picks sound?

Rebelsoul, Are you suggesting that plectra made from exotic materials have distinctive individual sound qualities ?

Save your money mate. Stick to plastic. Better still, use those little tags from bread bags.



OK I'm kidding, the ivory picks are nice to play, really smooth, they glide over the strings. They sound similar to bone, but with a lovely warm round tone and much more tactile than bone. I can get them a bit brighter sounding by sharpening the pick more. The reason I don't use them all the time is that I like a larger triangle pick and haven't made one yet.
My pick of choice is an antique Tortoiseshell and the ivory comes pretty close to that for sound and feel. These two materials stand alone IMO. It's all about the fine texture.
Other hard materials such as shell and bone are OK but they just don't seem to slip off the string as well. Even highly polished Agate tends to snag a tiny bit.
Please note that the Hawksbill Turtle is a protected species and I do not condone the slaughter of these beautiful creatures. If you don't want to spend big buck$ on pre-ban antique picks, I can recommend ''Red bears" as a synthetic alternative.
As far as the ivory picks go, yeah try them. They're special.

Thanks Niki n Andy for the nut file info. The Aussie dollar is way up but.........
I don't know if I would make enough nuts to justify such a specialist tool, but we'll see.

Goodonyaz

....Mark.

Thanks Mark,
I've never tried many different "exotic" picks but one that was a little different was sent to me by the guy who makes the Rocky Mountain slides....they are made from buffalo horn,and they are a nice slick feeling pick but too thick,I'm used to the Fender mediums and have used them for many years.
I've seen picks made from a little bit of everything,but I would still like to try different things,finding the right thing in the right thickness is the trick,thanks for the description and advice.