JasonR Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 My low E string buzzes on the 1st fret due to a poor job done by a repair guy in a city I no longer live in... I want to replace the nut with Tusq, but can't find a "drop-in" replacement. UNLESS...the 1-11/16 for acoustics is correct. Or will the string slots be the wrong size? I don't want to try to use a blank. Any ideas on pre-cut, drop-in replacements? Thanks!
GuitArtMan Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 Does it buzz when your fret at the first fret, or when you play the open string (and are assuming the the buzz is the 1st fret)? Sometimes if the neck is to straight, you can get buzzing off of the nut and/or lower frets. If this isn't the case, you have propper relief in the neck and you care getting buzzes off of the nut (i.e. open strings) then yes you need a new nut. Sorry, I'm not up on drop in nuts and I also prefer bone. Hopefully someone else will pop in here.
Cryoman Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 Drop-in nuts are usually pretty unsatisfying since guitars are all a little different (and action at the nut end is a personal preference.) For a nice Heritage guitar, a bone nut made specifically for your guitar and playing is a good investment in my opinion. Please do a search for several articles on how to do a bone nut for yourself. It's cheap, easy and satisfying.... An acoustic "drop in" will likely not be right for your Heritage electric as the fret grooves will be oversized for the electric string set you'll use. It's ideal to have string slots just slightly larger than the string ( .002" or .003") Cheers, Cryoman. PS. If you are in Albuquerque I'll make one for you / with you. PS. Don't forget "Tusq is plastic" (no matter what the marketing says....)
rooster Posted October 7, 2009 Posted October 7, 2009 Drop-in nuts are usually pretty unsatisfying since guitars are all a little different (and action at the nut end is a personal preference.) For a nice Heritage guitar, a bone nut made specifically for your guitar and playing is a good investment in my opinion. Please do a search for several articles on how to do a bone nut for yourself. It's cheap, easy and satisfying.... An acoustic "drop in" will likely not be right for your Heritage electric as the fret grooves will be oversized for the electric string set you'll use. It's ideal to have string slots just slightly larger than the string ( .002" or .003") Cheers, Cryoman. PS. If you are in Albuquerque I'll make one for you / with you. PS. Don't forget "Tusq is plastic" (no matter what the marketing says....) Um... I'd recommend that if you haven't cut a nut before, and don't have the tools, you'd be better off getting an experienced.... uh..... nutsmith to make one for you. I've done about 100 of them, and the proper tools to do it right can run you quite a bit, along with the expertise to make a nut that does justice to a Heritage guitar. FWIW, Tusq can work very well; it's not as nice as bone, but I use Earvana nuts on my guitars, and they are built out of Tusq, and stay in tune as well as sound really nice. They lack some of the character of bone, but they are probably the best substitute on the market right now in terms of sound vs. slipperyness (I have Stetsbars on two of my H150s). Also, do you tech in Abq at one of the shops? I grew up there, and used to have Steve Maase do all the work for my stuff. He was very good. Nowadays, I do all my own work (Phoenix), as well as stuff for many other people, but only as a sideline to my day job. rooster.
JasonR Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 Many thanks. I think I'll have a custom nut done for me out of a TUSQ blank. I'm a fan of TUSQ...it's on both ends of my Martin. Turns out that most of the high priced vintage guitars from the 50s-60s from Gibson had plastic nuts (some form of nylon, I believe). And just look what people say about them!! Plus, as far as I know, the nut really only tonally affects open nuts. Fretted notes will have to rely on the flesh of my fingers!
Cryoman Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 Well.... I was hoping you'd take a look at some posts others and I have written here on doing your own nuts. It just plain simple if you have any slight mechanical aptitude. Fret files are the expensive part but replacing a single nut on a single guitar will pay for a good set of fret files (as opposed to paying a luther/tech the typical $75 for a custom nut). I've done at least 50 (all for myself, friends, etc) and have dorked up maybe 2 in those 50 attempts and started with a new blank. Camel bone blanks ordered through e-bay are about $2.50 each so you can take 10 trys and still buy a $50 set of fret files for the $75 cost of a luthier.... Please do a search on HOC and read the posts and see if it peaks your curiosity. It's really exciting and rewarding to cut your own nut and have it set up just the way you like it for your playing.... Cheers, Cryoman PS. I don't think those vintage guitars had Tusq or plastic nuts (although not 100% sure). Plastic has come into favor in recent days because its cheap and can be cut automatically on a PLEK machine. Bone nuts take about of 1/2 to 1 hour of hand labor and that's just too much money for a production guitar at today's labor rates....
yoslate Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 For those of you newer to the HOC, FYI, Cryoman's nuts are exemplary! They've been on display here several times.
big bob Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 For those of you newer to the HOC, FYI, Cryoman's nuts are exemplary! They've been on display here several times. LOL ROTFLAMO!!!
Mikenov Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 I have no idea what those letters mean but that was pretty good there Yoslate!
Cryoman Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks Yoslate! I hope my girlfriend, Mary, thinks they are exemplary, too. (Although she's gonna be unhappy about me displaying them here... :'O Cheers, Cryoman
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