I’ve just swapped out the terribly-cut Gibson nut out on my LP Studio for a Graphtech Tusq XL...what an improvement. Never swapped a nut over before, but this otherwise brilliant guitar really struggled to stay in tune and had barely any nut slots cut in at all, so action was high at the first fret as well as being a bugger to keep tuned.
Half hour job, some careful sanding down of the Tusq nut to just the right levels and it’s like a new guitar - it always played well (high slots notwithstanding) but it’s effortless now and stays in tune perfectly.
For the cost of £11 for the nut and half an hour of work it’s made a world of difference - highly recommend these Tusq nuts.
Comments
Personally I always use Tusq if possible. Last time I had a guitar in I had the option of waiting a bit longer for him to order in Tusq or just using whatever he had, can't remember if it was bone or another type of plastic, but I was happy to take whatever to avoid waiting. So I don't really care that much obviously but when this order of nut files arrives from America it'll be along with a TUSQ nut
It’s too soft - easy to work, but to me it doesn’t sound as good as either bone or harder plastic like Corian, it can snag the wound strings, and it wears quickly as meltedbuzzbox said.
It also discolours and goes orange with light exposure, although admittedly it does take a fair amount of time.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The thing that puts me off bone is that it's natural so not perfectly consistent. There could be some hollow bubbles or less dense parts within the bit used for the nut with no way of knowing afaik.
I've never done any kind of scientific tests regarding the lubrication of tusq, I just believe the claim so go with it for that reason. If the price was a lot higher I'd be more interested in checking that claim.
@icbm - when you say tusq wears quicker. What kind of time frame we talking? I've had one installed for about 5 years max with no issues so maybe you're meaning on a longer term than that.
I have no experience of Tusq but I’d be surprised if it was as bad as plastic.
The material has no effect on it bending out of tune, your improvement was from the nut being cut better.
I cut the slots in my new bone nut, and I worked on the slots in the original bone nut, using the same nut files and limited skills. I couldn’t get the plastic Gibson nut to work as it should, but the bone nut works fine. That’s what makes me think the material is a factor.
I've got a hagstrom with a Tusq nut. It's good.
Tusq is a type of plastic.
Corian is a type of plastic. Used by Martin among others.
Nylon is a type of plastic. Used by Gibson, including in the ‘golden era’.
There are literally hundreds of different types of plastic, of widely varying hardness and suitability for making a nut from.
The hardness is a factor - a harder material gives lower friction. Some types of plastic are also more inherently ‘slippery’ and reduce friction.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Some plastics make a dull thud, throw them away. Thankfully the really soft ones seen rare these days,
Tusq isn't one of them. It sounds fine. It is noticeably soft to work, which makes it easy to shape. Just need to be careful not to cut too deep if you are used to working on bone.
I much prefer bone once fully set up
Thigh bone from cattle is normally used. Its designed to support 1500lb animals. Inconsistencies do happen the closer you get to the marrow, but its pretty rare in the stocks sold.
Instagram
Do you believe the nut affects the tone of fretted notes, or that a zero fret effectively takes the nut out of the equation?
Genuine question, couldn't word it in a way that doesn't sound like I'm accusing you of something! I tend not to think it'll have any real impact on an electric guitar but acoustic perhaps it could?
Zero frets are comparatively rare. But note how quickly a NS zero fret will wear just from the friction when tuning. The same thing is happening to nuts, just over a wider area. I often use a SS zero fret to prevent the wear issue, but it does create a slight difference to the sound of open strings which isn't an issue on normal zero fret guitars.
Instagram
Really interesting. I've never played a zero fret instrument for more than a few minutes, they're pretty rare... Interesting that a zero fret is so prone to wear though, physics gotta physic I guess.