need some input! what is the "best" material for the nut??

[jz]

Yeah, I agree too - unbleached cow bone is best for Les Pauls.

[vanhalen5150]

Brass.

[shakti]

FWIW, the bone nute I had on my R8 was an unbleached one which was fitted by Historic Makeovers. It was a great nut, but eventually got worn out(?) so some strings were buzzing on open strings. The nylon 4/6 nut was, IMHO, slightly more open sounding on open strings. My luthier said it was really hard to work with, very dense stuff...

I recycled the unbleached bone nut on a Relic Strat, and it worked beautifully there!

[Structo]

I like making bone nuts for my fixed bridge guitars and the Graph Tech black nuts on the trem equipped guitars.

But, I am slowly changing those over to bone. I just think it sounds better on the open strings.

I also use a newly marketed nut lube on the slots which helps the string to slide through.

The real secret to a properly shaped nut is the grooves obviously, making them wide enough so the strings don't get pinched and also the proper angle of the slot towards the tuners.

When I first started making bone nuts I must have went through about 6 blanks before I got one right.
Now I can make one in less than an hour.
A Dremel tool with a sanding drum on it works great to rough in the shape.

If your neck has a curved slot for the nut it's simple to just trace that curve onto the blank, then adjust the width of the nut so it fits tightly, not too tight but not loose.

Then you can mark your slots. I do use the Stew Mac nut slot ruler. It works great and will space the bass strings properly so your strings don't get crowed out by them.

Then I use feeler gauges to give the first frets clearance but whatever I decide is needed on the guitar.
I generally make the slots 3-4 thousandths wider than the string gauge so the string won't bind in the slot.

[lidesnowi]

I use a Titanium grade 2 nut on one of my guitars,works and sounds excellent
and Delrin/unbleached bone on the other ones.