I just finished building my first guitar. This video finally provided an answer to the annoying string buzz I keep getting on a few strings. My nut is shaped slightly WRONG!!!! Thank you thank you. Time to go start making a new nut.....m
Another issue you may have if you make the "contact patch" too small is vibrations can pass beyond the nut, exciting the string behind the nut and sending back some interesting overtones. Like Goldilocks it needs to be just right.
The sustain on my new Taylor 414ce-R is incredible. I was originally against the V-Bracing, but the sustain is truly unreal. This was great. I love to Learn about All Things Guitar related.
This is gold! I thought I knew everything but you proved me wrong! Thanks a million times and keep up the great work. Love your videos. Peace and prosperity
I installed a titanium nut in my Stellarcvaster/Strat build so nut wear isn't anissue. and sustain is great after I adjusted the string tree to prevent string buss. the roller saddles in th4 bridge help with that as well.
Hi Chris. I recently ordered your plans for the V template. I am using it on my first full build. I wanted to attempt a design that is solid but not to fancy. I intend to incorporate a trem cavity instead of the through ferrells. Do you think there is enough material in that area of the body to cut the trem cavity? Thanks.
As always, you do a great job of communicating the concepts to make it easily digestible. How big of a role does friction (or lack of) at the nut play in affecting sustain? Keep up the great work Chris!
I play Bass guitar and my new Fender American Jazz Performer doesn’t seem to have much sustain. P.S. I did ditch the stock pick ups. They were just to Noisey. Love the New EMGX pick ups. Think the EMG noiseless pick ups killed a little bit of the sustain? And if so. Is there a better material nut than the stock one?
Did your bass have better sustain with the original pickups? If so, it's not the nut. In that case, I would talk to EMG and ask them for guidance. If your bass never had good sustain, it might be the nut. However, it may not be the material that's at fault. It may be poorly cut slots.
Great timing Chris, I’ve got to do my nut in a few weeks time :) btw I’m going to try corian for the nut so perhaps maybe a comparison of nut materials might be interesting? Bone, corian, metal, carbon fibre etc.
Usually, the harder, the more highs you get. It changes with different alloys. The harder the material, the quicker the strings will wear. So you have to make a compromise. Open strings will sound slightly different and it depends if that is a significant difference for you to care about it. Bone is a good compromise of tone and workability while they last quite a while. But it's good to experiment. All our ears are different. What's good for one can sound painful to the next, we all have to find out what adds or eliminates those frequencies we like or dislike and that will change as we age as well.
Is this an argument for a zero fret or, as I have on one of my guitars, a combined brass and bone nut? The brass is the contact point and the bone keeps the strings in line.
I have a 60’s Ibanez hollow body, and a 70’s Ibanez Les Paul Recording copy, both with zero frets, and they play well and stay in tune and have fantastic sustain. I like zero frets, as a result.
Can I ask a really dumb question to the hive mind here please? I replaced the nut on a s-style guitar (Vintage) the other day- but the new nut was fairly pants looking. I've decided to order a proper tusk type one sometime in the near future- so didn't bother to glue it down. Now, how much will this affect the tone? Surely the tension of the strings will hold it in place well enough? Or will that touch of looseness allow vibration & stop the 'solidity' passing the vibration on to the neck ==> sustain. ???
You ideally don't want any vibrations to pass into the neck, you want that energy in the string, running up and down between both defined deflection points. The longer the string has energy to move, the longer the pickups have something to work with, the longer the tone is audible. Any small gaps are counter productive. You don't want the nut to move, but you shouldn't have to press it in either. There should be no remaining glue in the slot, the bottom of the slot and the bottom of the nut has to match. So if you got a curvature in the bottom of your old nut, the new one needs it too. If it doesn't fall out easily or tries to slide out (probably not a problem with straight string pull, but try bending in the first few frets), it should be okay until the new one arrives. While you have the nut you don't like, try working on the first fret action to see what you like. Check on a good tuner or a decent app how much out of tune you get when you press down on the strings in the first fret.
@@onpsxmember Ahhh- OK. After ten minutes back in physics 101 there I have been thinking of sustain totally upside down of ... well years actually! I was thinking that a good heavy body (such as a LEs Paul) made from a righteous wood was giving sustain a bit like with an acoustic- but actually the reason for dense wood is as it DOESNT budge- so makes a solid bridge point which doesn't ring- it allows more sustain on the string by not absorbing the vibrations (maybe???). Also if both the nut & the bridge were allowing loads of energy 'in' (a sound wave) you would get a weird clash where the two would cancel each other out half way between the two. Thats why the point of contact between the nut & string is as small as possible to accept as little vibration into the neck. (Maybe! ;-) ). Interesting reply- cheers!
@@HighlineGuitars Yes- I think ill give it a try- seems worth it just for the 'broggle'. As I was thinking 'upside down' about the whole issue, here the more solid the nut the more it will retain vibration on the string (as well as less contact area apparent to the vibrating string). You 'all just need to get my head thinking straight about how much travel there should be in the string between nut & tuners during / after tuning & when bending & such like & I may be making some progress here. Cheers for the reply!
Very well explained, but... What about a locking nut where the contact patch is as long as the entire nut and the string is even clamped down into the slot?? Just wondering..
A locking nut functions totally different then a slotted bone nut. In a slotted bone nut, the string can move back and forth in the slot whereas in a locking nut, it can't.
I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the compensated nut concept. I guess I'm too pitch sensitive -- playing an open D chord, for example, sometimes stops me in my tracks.
I don't understand why having the string only touch the end of the nut would increase sustain. I just assumed that so long as the last place the string touches is the end of the nut then tuning is good and sustain would be identical. Whats the difference?
@@HighlineGuitars That argument does not make sense to me. In either configuration the string from the tuner to where the string leaves the nut is muted. Which is exactly what we want isn't it?
@@Reginaldesq It's all about what happens between the nut and the bridge. If the contact patch at either end is excessively large, the open note loses clarity and sustain. The same thing can happen when you press the string to a fret. If the point of contact is small, the note will ring clear and long. If the fret is worn and flat, the point of contact is increased, which robs the note of clarity and sustain.
@@HighlineGuitars I agree that on a flat surface, such as a worn fret, the point of contact could conceivably change with string vibration which could affect sustain and clarity. On an angled surface, like a nut, it seems to me that only the final point of contact could make any difference since that contact point will not move or change much with string vibration.
I just finished building my first guitar. This video finally provided an answer to the annoying string buzz I keep getting on a few strings. My nut is shaped slightly WRONG!!!! Thank you thank you. Time to go start making a new nut.....m
Paul from PRS gives a good explanation of what materials of what the nut are made of. Makes a great difference. Hes a Master of tone and sustain!
I love how you explain and teach this art! Thank you Chris!
Great illustrations. The ideas come across well to me, and I look forward to the followup video showing the nut slotting.
extremely informative and helpful to me! Thanks!
Great advice. Lots of interesting insights.
Another issue you may have if you make the "contact patch" too small is vibrations can pass beyond the nut, exciting the string behind the nut and sending back some interesting overtones. Like Goldilocks it needs to be just right.
thank you so much for this knowledge of the nut-you are definitely very good at your skill and generous-please keep it coming
The sustain on my new Taylor 414ce-R is incredible. I was originally against the V-Bracing, but the sustain is truly unreal. This was great. I love to Learn about All Things Guitar related.
Your videos are very informative and I like that you always give the pros and cons involved.
This is gold! I thought I knew everything but you proved me wrong! Thanks a million times and keep up the great work. Love your videos. Peace and prosperity
THANK YOU ..THANK YOU..THANK YOU......FINALLY somebody breaking it down for me..wonderful job man!!!
I installed a titanium nut in my Stellarcvaster/Strat build so nut wear isn't anissue. and sustain is great after I adjusted the string tree to prevent string buss. the roller saddles in th4 bridge help with that as well.
I see that Guyker sells a ti nut. I will have to try one one an upcoming build.
Excellent video an process
Thanks for sharing
Keep up the great work...
Very good and useful information thank you!
You are welcome!
Does this apply equally to bass guitars? Any differences to consider? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Chris. I recently ordered your plans for the V template. I am using it on my first full build. I wanted to attempt a design that is solid but not to fancy. I intend to incorporate a trem cavity instead of the through ferrells. Do you think there is enough material in that area of the body to cut the trem cavity? Thanks.
There should be enough material for a tremolo cavity.
As always, you do a great job of communicating the concepts to make it easily digestible. How big of a role does friction (or lack of) at the nut play in affecting sustain? Keep up the great work Chris!
Nice tutorial, thank you!
Thank you for this video!
I play Bass guitar and my new Fender American Jazz Performer doesn’t seem to have much sustain. P.S. I did ditch the stock pick ups. They were just to Noisey.
Love the New EMGX pick ups. Think the EMG noiseless pick ups killed a little bit of the sustain? And if so. Is there a better material nut than the stock one?
Did your bass have better sustain with the original pickups? If so, it's not the nut. In that case, I would talk to EMG and ask them for guidance. If your bass never had good sustain, it might be the nut. However, it may not be the material that's at fault. It may be poorly cut slots.
Great timing Chris, I’ve got to do my nut in a few weeks time :) btw I’m going to try corian for the nut so perhaps maybe a comparison of nut materials might be interesting? Bone, corian, metal, carbon fibre etc.
Usually, the harder, the more highs you get. It changes with different alloys. The harder the material, the quicker the strings will wear. So you have to make a compromise. Open strings will sound slightly different and it depends if that is a significant difference for you to care about it. Bone is a good compromise of tone and workability while they last quite a while. But it's good to experiment. All our ears are different. What's good for one can sound painful to the next, we all have to find out what adds or eliminates those frequencies we like or dislike and that will change as we age as well.
Is this an argument for a zero fret or, as I have on one of my guitars, a combined brass and bone nut? The brass is the contact point and the bone keeps the strings in line.
Zero Glide nuts are fabulous. I have installed them on my Taylor, Ovation and Rickenbackers.
I have a 60’s Ibanez hollow body, and a 70’s Ibanez Les Paul Recording copy, both with zero frets, and they play well and stay in tune and have fantastic sustain. I like zero frets, as a result.
Do you think the mass of the nut affects sustain - higher mass for longer sustain?
Yes, higher mass equals better sustain.
very good explaination.thanks a lot
Can I ask a really dumb question to the hive mind here please?
I replaced the nut on a s-style guitar (Vintage) the other day- but the new nut was fairly pants looking.
I've decided to order a proper tusk type one sometime in the near future- so didn't bother to glue it down.
Now, how much will this affect the tone? Surely the tension of the strings will hold it in place well enough?
Or will that touch of looseness allow vibration & stop the 'solidity' passing the vibration on to the neck ==> sustain.
???
You ideally don't want any vibrations to pass into the neck, you want that energy in the string, running up and down between both defined deflection points. The longer the string has energy to move, the longer the pickups have something to work with, the longer the tone is audible. Any small gaps are counter productive. You don't want the nut to move, but you shouldn't have to press it in either. There should be no remaining glue in the slot, the bottom of the slot and the bottom of the nut has to match. So if you got a curvature in the bottom of your old nut, the new one needs it too. If it doesn't fall out easily or tries to slide out (probably not a problem with straight string pull, but try bending in the first few frets), it should be okay until the new one arrives. While you have the nut you don't like, try working on the first fret action to see what you like. Check on a good tuner or a decent app how much out of tune you get when you press down on the strings in the first fret.
Glue will fill the microgaps between the nut and the wood, which in theory will improve sustain.
@@onpsxmember Ahhh- OK. After ten minutes back in physics 101 there I have been thinking of sustain totally upside down of ... well years actually!
I was thinking that a good heavy body (such as a LEs Paul) made from a righteous wood was giving sustain a bit like with an acoustic- but actually the reason for dense wood is as it DOESNT budge- so makes a solid bridge point which doesn't ring- it allows more sustain on the string by not absorbing the vibrations (maybe???).
Also if both the nut & the bridge were allowing loads of energy 'in' (a sound wave) you would get a weird clash where the two would cancel each other out half way between the two.
Thats why the point of contact between the nut & string is as small as possible to accept as little vibration into the neck. (Maybe! ;-) ).
Interesting reply- cheers!
@@HighlineGuitars Yes- I think ill give it a try- seems worth it just for the 'broggle'.
As I was thinking 'upside down' about the whole issue, here the more solid the nut the more it will retain vibration on the string (as well as less contact area apparent to the vibrating string).
You 'all just need to get my head thinking straight about how much travel there should be in the string between nut & tuners during / after tuning & when bending & such like & I may be making some progress here.
Cheers for the reply!
Very well explained, but...
What about a locking nut where the contact patch is as long as the entire nut and the string is even clamped down into the slot??
Just wondering..
A locking nut functions totally different then a slotted bone nut. In a slotted bone nut, the string can move back and forth in the slot whereas in a locking nut, it can't.
thank you
Sustain issues are from bolton necks and long scale lengths
I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the compensated nut concept. I guess I'm too pitch sensitive -- playing an open D chord, for example, sometimes stops me in my tracks.
Compensated nuts are a great idea... in theory. Since they can't be adjusted to account for string changes, they are sort of a crapshoot.
I don't understand why having the string only touch the end of the nut would increase sustain. I just assumed that so long as the last place the string touches is the end of the nut then tuning is good and sustain would be identical. Whats the difference?
Think of the contact patch as a muting device. The bigger the contact patch, the more it mutes the string.
@@HighlineGuitars That argument does not make sense to me. In either configuration the string from the tuner to where the string leaves the nut is muted. Which is exactly what we want isn't it?
@@Reginaldesq It's all about what happens between the nut and the bridge. If the contact patch at either end is excessively large, the open note loses clarity and sustain. The same thing can happen when you press the string to a fret. If the point of contact is small, the note will ring clear and long. If the fret is worn and flat, the point of contact is increased, which robs the note of clarity and sustain.
@@HighlineGuitars I agree that on a flat surface, such as a worn fret, the point of contact could conceivably change with string vibration which could affect sustain and clarity. On an angled surface, like a nut, it seems to me that only the final point of contact could make any difference since that contact point will not move or change much with string vibration.
Nice!
So useful!
Remind me if. You would....... is the slot. V or U ?
I make 'em U.
A bolton neck and thinking a nut will solve your sustain issues?
I don't understand what you mean.
nut vs zero fret
what is your opinion?
I prefer a bone nut. They are easier to make and replace when necessary.
I guess with a locking nut it's a moot point.
Sort of. There are good locking nuts and bad ones. However, the bad ones can be replaced ore improved on with a fine toothed file.
Feed the algorithm
Did they give you a scythe as well?
NUTS are good but shaking the SHAFT makes the note ring out!
Also hitting hard near the G-STRING.
You meant the asylum
My first 1st
Never do this mod! You will get more sustain but very lifeless and dull sound!