Brass nut upgrade worth it??

[JamesFlashG]

The nut on my Warwick thumb is damaged and altough it is sill usable i want to get another nut before it get worse, I have been looking at gettings one of the Warwick brass Just a nut lll.

Other than durability does a brass nut provide benefits to the tone and/or sustain?? I will probably get a brass one either way so i dont end up having to replace it again but just interested to know.

[EBS_freak]

The JAN is a great invention. Slam it on. Forget about it. There's a lot of snake oil in this area.

I've got a nickel nut on one of my basses. Why? Purely cosmetic. I've had basses with bone, tusq, plastic, brass and other assorted metals. Not convinced there's anything to get worked up about personally.

[Grangur]

If it were a guitar with cheese-wires cutting the nut I'd say "brass or similar any day". But on a bass? Nahhhhh

[ChickenKiev]

I was considering doing this too. But for different reasons than for repairing and maintenance.

I play metal and I heard it makes open notes a bit more brighter and with more sustain. I was also going to load it with some stainless steel strings and use a pick.

I heard having a brass nut has benefits whatever style of music you play though.

I say go for it! Let us know how it goes.

[Jono Bolton]

When you're fretting a note, the nut material becomes irrelevant. If a brass nut did affect tone or sustain, it'd only be on open strings.

[JamesFlashG]

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1376661588' post='2177582']
When you're fretting a note, the nut material becomes irrelevant. If a brass nut did affect tone or sustain, it'd only be on open strings.
[/quote]
Yeah makes sense well im pretty sure i will get one of the from the warwick shop somtime soon, how do i remove the old nut? is it glued in place?

[ChickenKiev]

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1376661588' post='2177582']
When you're fretting a note, the nut material becomes irrelevant. If a brass nut did affect tone or sustain, it'd only be on open strings.
[/quote]

I've heard that it helps even when fretting.

Not sure on the physics behind it but it might be something like, even though you're fretting, vibrations still travel up and down the neck regardless.

Well, so I've read from different sources. Not sure if they're totally accurate though or it's just in their opinion.

[Fionn]

A brass nut will certainly aid the sustain and clarity of notes played on the open strings. On Warwick basses the frets are also made of brass so in my opinion it makes absolute sense for the nut to be of the same material. Then you'll get the same resonance from a either a fretted or open note. There is a good reason why Warwick have reverted to putting brass nuts on all of their current production basses.

[Mr. Foxen]

Nut makes a difference when fretting because the tensile wave still travels past your finger, and is damped, reflected or passes through the nut depending on frequency, and the nut properties effect where those different frequencies are. Plus the harder nut retains its shape better, so a correctly shaped nut will remain correctly shaped. You can demonstrate the importance of the string below the fretting point to tone but fretting a not and playing it, and still fretting it and cutting the string below the fretting point, then comparing tone, the difference is certainly audible.

[shizznit]

I have owned a few Warwicks and I have preferred the brass nuts over the composite Just-A-Nut for two reasons. First, the Just-A-Nut is so easy to break. I have owned two Warwicks with them installed and the both broke very easily. The one on my Thumb BO that I still have is on its last legs and I am desperate to replace it. Secondly, I think open notes sound better with the brass nuts for the same reason that Fionn mentioned.

[JamesFlashG]

thanks for help guys i am ordering the brass nut now... Only thing is i have option of set left or set right nut... My bass is right handed but i get the feeling the nut i need is 'set left' is that correct? feel a bit stupid asking this

[url="http://shop.warwick.de/?&c=35352310036&lang=en&smk=1&c=35352310036&lang=en&smk=1&modul=shop&site=article_details&article_id=D0929540001322750299A8078&article_category=D0216070001321517426A44513&collection_id=D0082303001341588738A1202&article_id=D0925936001322750299A8077"]http://shop.warwick....1322750299A8077[/url]

is what i'm looking at for right handed Thumb 4 string

[jimbobothy]

Well if you look at this photo the nut top tapers off towards the top of the headstock, and the 'set right' option seems to do the same when the E string groove is orientated the correct way around so I would suggest the 'set right' option sounds correct.

Edited August 25, 2013 by jimbobothy

[JamesFlashG]

yes your are correct Jim, I emailed warwick to confirm and it is the 'set right' for a right handed bass thanks!

[TomRichards]

Brass nut is one of the upgrades you can do to any bass and you will tell a difference immediately. At least I do.

For the record, Warwick did NOT have the adjustable nut first. Alembic was doing this since the '70s and Ned Steinberger also had one in 1984 on his Gibson 20/20 bass. They just marketed it much better.

Vintage Danelectros all have aluminum nuts and they give the open strings part of that Dano tone. On a bass, you will notice that a brass nut adds a quality to the sound you don't get from a stock plastic nut. The next best nut would be bone, but if you are going bone you may as well go brass.

[ead]

I have a brass nut on one bass, and tbh I dont' really notice much difference.

[such]

I've changed the nut on my Marcus recently from plastic to brass and I do notice the difference. Granted, mostly just on open strings, but also, and I'm not sure if anyone mentioned that already, harmonics. Very obvious improvement there. If there was no difference, we could just as well have plastic-made bridges.

[JamesFlashG]

well i'm €119 down, seems a bit excessive for such a small item so I am hoping for a noticeable improvement but not expecting to be blown away

next bit of fun and games will be taking the old nut out and getting the brass one to fit nicely

Edited August 27, 2013 by JamesFlashG

[apa]

[quote name='JamesFlashG' timestamp='1377554159' post='2188869']
well i'm €119 down, see a bit excessive for such a small item so I am hoping for a noticeable improvement but not expecting to be blown away

next bit of fun and games will be taking the old nut out and getting the brass one to fit nicely
[/quote]

You paid how much for two bits of brass and two grub screws!!!!!!

[size=4]A[/size]

Edited August 26, 2013 by apa

[JamesFlashG]

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1377558675' post='2188901']
You paid how much for two bits of brass and two grub screws!!!!!!

[size=4]A[/size]
[/quote]

yeah I know right.... i'm guessing because its an official Warwick part just-a-nut lll but definitely a rip off price

[url="http://shop.warwick.de/?&c=35352310036&lang=en&smk=1&c=35352310036&lang=en&smk=1&modul=shop&site=article_details&article_id=D0925936001322750299A8077&article_category=D0216070001321517426A44513&collection_id=D0082303001341588738A1202&article_id=D0929540001322750299A8078"]http://shop.warwick....1322750299A8078[/url] + postage.

Once I have installed it will post my findings in here maybe do a before and after recording (with same settings) if anyone is interested in sound differences.

[apa]

while your at it you could take a few pics of it in taken apart so i can make my own

A

[tauzero]

Blimey. You can get a Just-A-Nut I for a tenth of that: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/abm_6240_webster_nut_bass.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/abm_6240_webster_nut_bass.htm[/url]

It's not just the sound with the Just-A-Nuts though, it also means you can get the nut height nicely sorted out without recourse to files (or angle grinders, depending on what sort of "guitar improver" you are).

[neepheid]

Brass nuts are shiny when you polish them thus they look good, and that's more than a good enough reason for me before we even get to durability and all the tonal debate.

[iiipopes]

There is nothing new in the world except what a player doesn't know. This entire debate was first entered into in the late '70's as folks looked for more ways to increase sustain of an instrument. The bottom line is this: does a player want more sustain or a different tone out of his open string notes than out of fretted notes? For me, the answer is, "No," so I retain the traditional bone nut. For those that say, "Yes," then are you willing to keep either shining up the brass or touching it up with clear enamel, like finger nail polish, to retain its shine, or are you willing to let it dull down over time? That is the bottom line to the brass nut debate, as discussed thirty-five to forty years ago. Unless a player frequently changes brand and gauge of strings, in over thirty-eight years of playing bass I have never found the occasion to need an adjustable nut. Moreover, one important down side is that brass is softer than the steel strings sitting in the slots, and it can wear faster than a traditional bone nut placed and set up by an experienced luthier, as indicated by the number of vintage instruments that retain their original nuts after decades of play.

[tauzero]

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1377634559' post='2189784']
Unless a player frequently changes brand and gauge of strings, in over thirty-eight years of playing bass I have never found the occasion to need an adjustable nut. Moreover, one important down side is that brass is softer than the steel strings sitting in the slots, and it can wear faster than a traditional bone nut placed and set up by an experienced luthier, as indicated by the number of vintage instruments that retain their original nuts after decades of play.
[/quote]

I've found it a very useful thing to have. I don't have them on all my basses, just the two Warwicks that came with them and two of the Antoniotsais.

You've just contradicted yourself as well - if a brass nut wears, it'll be advantageous to be able to adjust it.

[ead]

Does extra sustain matter? I seem to spend a fair amount of time muting notes when moving across strings as well as trying to stop other strings vibrating in sympathy when I'm playing (poor technique obviously) but it's rare you ever hear a note being allowed to ring out so why is sustain so highly valued?