Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi

As above what nut size and material works best for you guys?




Cheers

I use 1/4" material. It works well and looks good to my eye

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Bone, 1/4", assuming you are talking about steel string acoustics.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I like 3/16" unbleached bone

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Anyone like tusq? And What width do you aim for

3/16 or 5 mm
Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

I hate Tusc. Since I am a repairman (mostly), I use what the client wants. On my OWN stuff - 100% bleached bone.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks for feedback ....Sorry another question. . what length do you guys go for generally go for 1"3/4 or 1"11/16 .. much difference in playability?

1/4" bone for me, thinner on electrics but I still use bone unless the customer wants something else. Tusq/plastic is a lot easier to work. As long as your nut slots are cut well I don't think it matters much for tone, but durability is not the same.

As for width, that is 100% player preference.

3/16" bone for me. Bleached or unbleached depending on what looks right. I may switch to 1/4" since I do nut compensation, and it looks a little thin with the high E string carved back by 1/16" or so.

As for nut width, 1 3/4" is the safest bet if you're not building it for a specific person. Some people prefer 1 11/16, but it's unplayable for my huge hands. I like 1 13/16" or 1 7/8".

My nuts evolved.... Seriously though originally they were 1/4" and toward the end they were 3/8". To my eye the most minimalistic nut is often the most eloquent looking.

I've always used bone and likely always will and this includes repairs as well as guitars that I built. On occasion I may use something like BRW or ebony when restoring something vintage to keep that vintage vibe, tone, and look. These days though my vintage nuts, ebony, BRW, etc. can have the slot bottoms filled with UV cured dental fillings which are as hard as bone. This gives us the option of remaining period correct but augmenting the materials of the day with modern technology that should result in a longer lasting nut too.

Duuh... that should read 3/16th....

Also I read more and I am not a fan of tusk either and we won't use it. Reason being that a well made and fitted nut has to be custom made for the instrument, period.... unless you are of course Martin or Taylor and can have them CNC produced in quantity. But we jump through so very many hoops to make a nut fit perfectly from all angles that the amount of time to craft a bone or Tusk nut is the same. As such why not use bone.

Regarding nut width I'm fine with 1 3/4" on acoustics but some d*eads I like a bit narrower and electrics I most certainly like narrower.

We get our bone from Chrislin Trading, Cristie Song and have been happy with it. It's Chinese bone and there are occasional rejects but I've yet to buy bone from anyone who didn't have some rejects, warped pieces, inclusions, etc. Chrislin is a good price, reliable, and easy and that works for me. We go though a lot of bone too...

We used to process our own but that takes time such as leaving it in the back yard chained to a tree for a year so the microbes can do the heavy lifting in terms of material removal. It's just way easier to by the stuff.

One last thing they say that bleached bone is 10% less dense. Don't know for a fact if this is true but I also don't believe that it makes any difference at all. On many of my guitars I sought out unbleached material with interesting figure and one highly polished it can look very, very cool and organic too.

For blanks, I buy the ProLine brand... same that Musicians Friend and Guitar Center sells. I buy them 5 at a pop from eBay - no shipping. They are really big, so if you need to make a nut for a Martin (slanted on the bottom), the blank will be tall enough. They are quality bone blanks, the best I've bought in years. Of course, for Strats - I just get Fender blanks from the local Fender service guy.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

While we are here, anyone try using buffalo horn?
I like the color, but know nothing about it.
Dan

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I've used it a few times at the clients request, but it is softer than bone. I prefer bone for the hardness.

I usually make my nut slot a little under ¼".

_________________
Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

You can get MOP for a 3/16" nut slot. Commonly used on mandolins mother of pearl makes a very durable nut. They are a little more money at about $11.00 each.

_________________
http://www.cushmanguitars.com/.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

I've used it too and also black Ram's horn and in both cases the material is way softer than bone so much so that I question if it's any harder than plastic...

When considering horn as a material think toe nail because that's basically what it is and it's about the same hardness too.

Tusk is heavily marketed with lots of ads in the trade rags so this is what clients have been conditioned, in some cases, to ask for. This is also yet another case of the client not necessarily always being right.... far from it. They ask for Tusk because it's what they think that they know.

We encounter this likely weekly and have yet to have a client decline bone when it's explained to them why bone is superior.

I wanted to add since we have some folks here who are new to nut making that there are other threads on the OLF that go into much more detail what a great nut is and might be worth a look.

Nut making is one of the most overlooked functions that Luthiers do. For me making a nut was a necessary evil when I was back in the days of being crazed to do the final set-up of a newly built guitar. I found myself rushing through it, greatly underestimating the very high value that a decent nut provides.

At one school that I know of it's often said that you have to make about 100 nuts before you really get the hang of it. This school provides inexpensive and abundant corian for students to make practice nuts with. Corian is great for this function and can make a decent nut as well but bone is still superior.

If you are new to nut making it might be useful and prudent to get some corian drops (often free...) and practice first. When you can make a nut with:

1) Proper string spacing between the strings

2) Proper string spacing from the edge of the neck

3) Complete, gapless contact with the slot that the nut fits in and complete, gapless fit with the fret board end

4) A snug fit in the slot that the nut fits in - I like to be able to lift up the guitar a bit by just the nut before it wants to come out

5) Nut slots that are approximately 1/2 the set-back angle of a traditional acoustic guitar, around 7 - 8 degrees

6) No humps in the slots

7) Strings breaking cleanly off the leading edge of the nut slots

8) Nut slot depth cut correctly - this is a big deal and very important to player comfort as well as success

9) Slots cut to a shape that will not bind - not a fan of V shaped slots for this reason

10) Slots cut to not bind if the steward of the instrument say switched from 12's to 13's

11) All scratches sanded away

12) The ends fit flush with the sides of the neck and most excess material has been removed

13) No sharp peaks where the nut sides transition to the nut top surface, I have a PRS like this and hate it... where's my file...

14) Once scratches are sanded away the nut is polished to a gleaming shine (that kind of looks like plastic.... ) You can polish your nuts... with micro mesh pads or do what we do and make yourself a nut buffer

Once all this is said and done and the nut looks, works, and fits great I glue mine in with a small drop on the end of the fret board only. I like thick CA for this so I have lots of time to get those uber flush nut sides perfectly positioned left to right.

Final nut slot depth is cut, or at least I do after the nut is installed AND relief is set.

Using accelerator and CA to glue in a nut can impart discoloration or staining to some of the nut slots so I just hold my nuts in place for 30 seconds or so. Sorry if this is too much information and the visual is killing me here....

Now what I am describing here are what we call professional standards. YMMV but back in my day when I would hear that this is how the pros do it that's what I shot for too.

The 100 nut thing is of course a case by case basis and some folks will get a decent nut way faster than others. The question always remains what is the criteria for a decent nut so that's why I listed some above for those who appreciate the next level and/or what the expectation is with the paying customer crowd. Remember if you sell your stuff there is an expectation that you subscribe to professional standards - at least there is to me... Of course we see all manner of ill fitted and poorly made nuts with lots of cosmetic issues as well. But it does not have to be this way and simply going to school on say Martin or Taylor is a good way forward too.

Personally I find nut making when not rushed... to be a very enjoyable pastime and it makes me think of what it must have been like back in the day to do scrimshaw, etc.

Most of all though we go to all manner of trouble to build our creations when at the end of the day it's a tool for musicians and as such playability has to be there. Very slight differences, things that can't even be seen by most folks may represent the difference between a great nut and a so, so nut. Nut slot depth is super critical to making the instrument very easy to play.

It's amazing that something as small and seemingly inconsequential as a stinkin plastic nut excreted by Chinese injection molding equipment by the millions can make such a huge difference in playability, appearances, longevity, and ultimately value.

Nuts matter....

Several years back there were a couple of guys selling a product that I believe they called Iboney, to be used for nuts and saddles. It was bone that they claimed they had picked up in the desert and was naturally hardened. Well it was harder than regular bone though I think its possible that they put it through some type of chemical process. Haven't looked nor heard of it for a while. Anyone heard of it or if people are still using it?

OK, the teenager in me can't stop chuckling. Love that guitars have so many parts that are named seemingly with double entendre in mind. Just recently I heard a group of serious people discussing relative merits of a flatter bottom versus a rounder bottom.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

3/16" and bone

_________________
guitarsbygiltzow.com

I like ivory. Warthog is very hard, Mammoth a bit softer but very colorful - blue greys, tan , cream, and chocolate shades. Nice veining and the "bark" outer layer has an interesting texture. Bone is also good, and for "cheap" formica instruments I use corian - glacier white seems a bit harder than cameo or the colored sheets, but still not comparable to bone.
I think horn, if not properly cared for, can lose its luster and delaminate (at least I've seen that happen with hair combs made from horn).