Graphite nut

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Krystof01

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Hi,
I heard recentley about graphite nuts. I had always just sort of coloured the nut in with a pencil to line it with the lead/graphite (to keep in tune better (less friction between strings and nut when using tremolo) for those unaware).

I heard that you can buy them but I can't see them anywhere (I live in England).

Can you buy them?

Approx. how much?

Are they easy to fit?

Cheers,
Krystof.
 
All about nuts

Most nuts are pretty cheap, about $6-10 USD, with some going up to $25. It can be difficult to find one made for your guitar unless it's a Gibson or Fender. If you have a fender/gibson, I would just do a web search for something like "graphite nut" +gibson. If not, you may want to find a local guitar tech at a music store. They can get a "raw" piece of graphite and fit it to your guitar.

No experience installing, so your on your own for that.

mark
 
Graphite nuts are very brittle and mine broke at the low E slot.I do the pencil thing now to mastodon nut.Yep,ivory is illegal now but petrified mastadon tusk material is available (try Stew Mac) and legal,beats cow bone,plastic and (IMHO) graphite.

Tom
 
not so fast

before you launch into this, be prepared for the work it will entail. First, you'll need to unseat the original nut and take care not to take some of the surrounding neck/headstock finish off with it. Use an EXACTO blade and cut where it should "break" - to make it a clean break.

Before doing any of this, of course, if you like your current action down near fret zero, take measurements with an accurate scale for height off the fretboard. You must also carefully measure the spacing between adjacent strings.

When you install your new nut try to duplicate the height, which will take some trial and error with filing, and you'll want to do this only with special purpose nut files (Stewmac also sells these). I wouldn't start filing away with just anything. You should want each slot to be a good fit for the particular string gauge you use most often. If you cut big loose slots in there your sustain will suffer, and if the height of each string does not conform to the (possibly curved) fretboard, the action will be uneven. Too high: shitty action, intonation problems; too low: fret buzz with open chords.

So buy a spare to screw up for practice, along with the right tools. This adds up to a lot more than the $10 you originally expected to pay, but it's the only way to do it properly.
 
How many times do I have to say thanks....lol, thanks pchorman. I will carry on with the pencil for the time being but this is a certain future want. I'll wait until I can afford someone to do all my guitars that would benefit from them professionally or until I've got the bottle to risk fuckin' up and taking a shot at it myself.
 
Or until I get a guitar tech who I can blame, and make him work for free for 10 years until he's paid me back.

Send your CV's/applications to.........................
 
that must be an English expression..."got the bottle.."

tell me what the original, unadulterated expression is and what it means.
 
'Have you got the bottle?'

If you've got the bottle, you've got guts/courage.
If not your a fuckin' wimp who 'bottles it'.

You learn something everyday. So now, when your over in England..................
 
yes I see, and simple to remember; just supplant the word "bottle" with "balls", "nads", or "testicular diameter" and we're back in the states.

Now "bottle it" is a different twist altogether; there seems to be no one-for-one equivalent here. I wonder why the word bottle?

In general I dig those English expressions like "spot on", "go toss yourself you wanker", etc.
 
Well balls is certainly the true substitute for bottle I guess; I couldn't say I hear the latter two too much though.

Well what can I say, I've nothing to compare expressions to. You need to pick up on something someone (oh shit my guitar just fell over, you should have seen that catch) says before you realise that it's not familiar/commonplace.

OK, I'm going now you cock-sucking wanker,
Krystof.
 
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