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Post subject: Let's talk about our nuts...
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:31 am
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I have been working on a custom Strat project for over a year now and one of my last decisions is replacing the nut. I have read a ton but all--with the exception of good ol' plastic--come with all sorts of promises and all of the claims start to sound the same after a while. I have tried brass in the past but found them too soft and would prefer to stay away. Can anybody shed some light or offer some opinions on some of the other options and tell me if they are worth it? Bone, graphite, ivory, etc. I have heard a lot of good things about some of the graphite models but would like to avoid any modification if possible. Thanks for the feedback!


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Post subject: Going nuts
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:35 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Hi - Yes, I agree, you don't want to do anything that modifies the nut slot. After all, there is a reason the world has not gone over to roller nuts, or whatever.

In my view there are two ways to go. If you are up for making your own nut then I find Stewart MacDonald's slip-stone nut blanks as good as anything (www.stewmac.com). I've never needed to add lubrication to one of those.

If you want a ready-made nut then for a Strat I'd go for a GraphTech TUSQ one. They are a nice off-white colour, which is close enough to match most Fender plastic parts. They have a little "spacer" on the bottom which you remove if your nut slot is the curved type, or leave in place if the slot is flat (as most are). They are ready slotted, and on 9 1/2 inch radius Strat necks the slotting is good enough I have seldom needed to modify them for a reasonable set-up. So if you don't want to get into all that nut-filing voodoo, these are a good bet.

If you have a black pickguard, or just fancy a black nut, then GraphTech do a similar product made of black graphite.

Frankly, the differences between all the different materials may be real, but they are pretty minimal. Go for the one you think looks nice! If it really doesn't function so well (like brass), then is the time to think about it further.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:44 pm
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Hello Wickedmartini,

I replaced a plastic nut with a slab
of bone material, took me about
four hours to get it right. It did have
a pretty bad smell as I machined it,
But it worked great.

Cheers.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:30 am
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Thanks guys. I have been checking out the options that you have mentioned. The Trem-Nut looks interesting and I think a saddle replacement might be in order after that.


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