Metropoulos Forum

Hey there,

I have a Les Paul and was thinking about having a brass nut installed . .

I have the standard nut and it kind of sticks, and I was thinking about having a brass nut installed . .

has anyone had any luck with this ?

Thanks

Logan

A brass nut wont resolve a stickig problem. It will give you a different tone. By sticking I'm assuming you are having one or more strings grabbing at the nut and (usually) going sharp after tuning or sticking while bringing the strings up to pitch. Try some graphite lubricant (in a pinch scrape a little from a pencil lead) in the nut slots. If that does'nt help, a good repairman can re-file the nut slots, they may have rough or sharp edges that need some attention. If you replace the nut, I'd recommend a bone nut. Most gibsons come with synthetic nut material. hope that helps, Joe

Yes, it'll make the tone brighter. I had a brass nut on a '80 ES Artist (an ES-335 with active electronics). Swapped it for a bone nut and the tone warmed up. The sticking/binding is a sign that the nut needs adjusting or replacing. A bone nut is the way to go unless you're really looking to brighten up the guitar.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BIBNS

I use this stuff on all my pauls, no more tuning problems and no more string breakage.

lol lube your nuts!

Cheech wrote:lol lube your nuts!

I have a secretary for that.

Good advice on the nut. Brass nuts make the open strings sound thin IMHO, and with a little work and lube yours could be OK.

Ha ha . . .. ha ha ha

He said "Nuts"

Personally i wouldn't do it. I had a Paul once that had a brass nut on it when i got it.. I had an original one put back on it and to me it was substantially better. Not as bright and thin sounding. The tech agreed...

Really ?

LP and sounding thin is not what I am going after so it sounds like I need either a nut made of graphite or bone . . .

Correct ?

I think the PRS guitars all have beefy graphite nuts I believe. Is the the way to go?

Thanks Pleximan

The only time the difference in nut material makes a difference is when you are playing open strings. Once your finger hits the fretboard the material the nut is made out of is removed from the equation.

Most LP owners go for a bone nut. I did and its great, though the tech I took it too didn't do a great job of shaping it so I did that myself.

bone is a breeze to hone! if you screw up a brass one, it's toast.

honing your bone ?

NY Chief wrote:honing your bone ?

And oiling it too..

better than havin' brass nuts! especially when electrical storms are near...