dazco
02-06-2009, 12:45 PM
In that other thread a couple weeks ago it was debated whether bone sounds better and whether it affects the fretted string. In that thread I was one of those who suggested bone affects the tone of fretted strings as well as open. but i said i decided to change to a slipstone nut for tuning stability because i figured it's too subtle to worry about the slight tonal advantage.
Well, i'm here to tell you i'm back to bone. And furthermore, if you have shimmed your nut, remove it and make another ! I've had bone in all my guitars now for years after i first realized bone sounds better both open and fretted. But over the years you tend to forget just how big a difference it was. So i tried slipstone. But also, my bone nut had worn to where i had to shim it maybe 6 months ago. So today i tried that bone nut again with a shim and realized it sounded better than the slipstone....enough to where i decided i must go back to bone. But i wasn't about to use the same bone nut and shim it, so i made a new bone nut. Wow, the difference between the slipstone and shimmed bone was considerable, but the difference between a shimmed bone nut and a new perfect bone nut was even more obvious ! And this is on fretted strings just as much as open.
Just thought i'd post this to further solidify the fact that the nut makes a big difference on your guitar's overall tone and that if you are using some material other than bone or another known good material, or your nut is shimmed, make a new bone nut or have someone do it for you if you don't know how. It's more than worth it ! And by the way, i A/B'd the 3 scenarios by removing the neck so i could swap out the nuts and be playing again in about 1 minute so that there wasn't enough time between each test to forget the last tone i heard. trust me, if you have good ears and you try that you will see what i mean. And lastly, the new bone nut surprised me with how much bigger the low end was over the shimmed bone or slipstone.
Well, i'm here to tell you i'm back to bone. And furthermore, if you have shimmed your nut, remove it and make another ! I've had bone in all my guitars now for years after i first realized bone sounds better both open and fretted. But over the years you tend to forget just how big a difference it was. So i tried slipstone. But also, my bone nut had worn to where i had to shim it maybe 6 months ago. So today i tried that bone nut again with a shim and realized it sounded better than the slipstone....enough to where i decided i must go back to bone. But i wasn't about to use the same bone nut and shim it, so i made a new bone nut. Wow, the difference between the slipstone and shimmed bone was considerable, but the difference between a shimmed bone nut and a new perfect bone nut was even more obvious ! And this is on fretted strings just as much as open.
Just thought i'd post this to further solidify the fact that the nut makes a big difference on your guitar's overall tone and that if you are using some material other than bone or another known good material, or your nut is shimmed, make a new bone nut or have someone do it for you if you don't know how. It's more than worth it ! And by the way, i A/B'd the 3 scenarios by removing the neck so i could swap out the nuts and be playing again in about 1 minute so that there wasn't enough time between each test to forget the last tone i heard. trust me, if you have good ears and you try that you will see what i mean. And lastly, the new bone nut surprised me with how much bigger the low end was over the shimmed bone or slipstone.