Let's Talk About Our Nuts

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dayl
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Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by dayl »

I have a couple guitars that I want to make nuts for out of brass.

I need a point of reference. I would prefer to understand the theory or rule of thumb when setting nut height and string depth in relation to the fretboard and frets.

One will be for a LP and the other for a strat so any insight, theory or technical information would be cool.

Thanks

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by jeremyb »

The method I've seen was to sand a pencil down so the bottom is flat, literally half the girth of the pencil, then you put that flat side on your frets and use it to draw a line on your new nut, and thats the point you want to cut it down to, I think of it like a zero fret and it makes sense.
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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by NippleWrestler »

dayl wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 6:49 pm I have a couple guitars that I want to make nuts for out of brass.

I need a point of reference. I would prefer to understand the theory or rule of thumb when setting nut height and string depth in relation to the fretboard and frets.

One will be for a LP and the other for a strat so any insight, theory or technical information would be cool.

Thanks
Tune the string to pitch. Fret the string at the third fret. You want a teeny gap beween the top of the first fret wire and the bottom of the string. If the gap is big either nut comes down or slot gets deepened. If there's no gap, new nut or it gets shimmed if it's the same across all strings.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by Jay »

The last thing you want to do is overcut the slots in brass as shimming a brass nut looks nutty. The slot depths should be half the diameter of the string lying in it.

If you are unsure, you could start with a template nut first. Use some really dense wood, bone or hard plastic.

I quite like the brass nuts with 6 screws in them so you can adjust nut height almost on the fly.

I ll see if I can get a photo of one.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by Slowy »

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by GrantB »

Jay wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 7:57 pm The last thing you want to do is overcut the slots in brass as shimming a brass nut looks nutty. The slot depths should be half the diameter of the string lying in it.

If you are unsure, you could start with a template nut first. Use some really dense wood, bone or hard plastic.

I quite like the brass nuts with 6 screws in them so you can adjust nut height almost on the fly.

I ll see if I can get a photo of one.
interested!
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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by dayl »

Slowy wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 8:14 pm I've just harvested a lot of Macadamias.
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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by dayl »

Great info guys, thanks. Sounds doable without too much hassle.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by dayl »

Jay wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 7:57 pm
I quite like the brass nuts with 6 screws in them so you can adjust nut height almost on the fly.

I ll see if I can get a photo of one.
That's interesting.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by robthemac »

dayl wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 8:48 pm
Jay wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 7:57 pm
I quite like the brass nuts with 6 screws in them so you can adjust nut height almost on the fly.

I ll see if I can get a photo of one.
That's interesting.
I had a similar plastic adjustable nut on a Warwick bass. Was excellent.
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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by dayl »

I only have 8mm stock by the looks. I know that will clover the strat nut, but how high are lp nuts? Will 8mm cut it? I'm at work London have one in front of me

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by Molly »

I always liked the look of a fluted brass nut. No sonic benefit so far as I know.

Hmm... Can't find a pic of one. Just where the gap between the strings is largely removed with a round file.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by Molly »

Jay wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 7:57 pm The last thing you want to do is overcut the slots in brass as shimming a brass nut looks nutty. The slot depths should be half the diameter of the string lying in it.

If you are unsure, you could start with a template nut first. Use some really dense wood, bone or hard plastic.

I quite like the brass nuts with 6 screws in them so you can adjust nut height almost on the fly.

I ll see if I can get a photo of one.
Screenshot_20241025-034448_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20241025-034448_Chrome.jpg (236.05 KiB) Viewed 868 times
I liked the second version of the nut used on the old Strat Plus (the first wouldn't accommodate heavy strings). You could shim it like a Floyd.
Screenshot_20241025-034829_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20241025-034829_Chrome.jpg (254.34 KiB) Viewed 868 times
Actually, ugly now I see it again.There was a nicer roller version later still.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by NippleWrestler »

dayl wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 12:29 pm I only have 8mm stock by the looks. I know that will clover the strat nut, but how high are lp nuts? Will 8mm cut it? I'm at work London have one in front of me
You can always shim the underside if need be, or just buy a ready made brass nut from AliExpress for around $6.

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Re: Let's Talk About Our Nuts

Post by Jay »

Molly beat me to it but here is mine anyway...

Edit - looking closer, the Amazon one appears to use the same width slots for each screw. The screws on mine have individual slot widths to accommodate the different string diameters.

Edit - or maybe not :lol:


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