Brass nuts

[barrycreed]

I have a squier bronco bass, and will hopefully get my hands on an Epi EB0 over the next few months as well.

I have all the obvious mods in mind, pickup, bridge, wiring etc, but also looking at whether it's worth upgrading the nuts?

I've seen a few modded Epis for sale with brass or aluminium nuts and you can buy ready made Epi ones online.

In any case, worth upgrading the nuts on these two models? I assume stock nuts are plastic, and not sure if it would make a whole lot of difference either way.

I had a Dano guitar with an aluminium (I think) nut, and I liked it. Pretty resonant guitar for a "cheap" guitar.

[bloke_zero]

Not sure it'll do much except the open notes.  I hear brass makes it sound more like a fretted note, which I guess makes sense. Aluminium I'd have thought would dump more of the string energy into the neck, but I think the consensus is that the difference will be minimal.  I'd be interested to see how it goes if you do. I think it's one of those things that individually don't make a lot of difference but cumulatively make a bass feel good.

[John Cribbin]

Think it was the 80's when brass nuts became the next great thing.

That fad lasted 5 minutes, tells you all you need to know about brass nuts ....

[barrycreed]

I'll keep the brass nuts to the cold weather and myself then. Bone nut it is!

Edited October 27, 2020 by barrycreed

[LowMoFo]

On 27/10/2020 at 14:09, barrycreed said:

I'll keep the brass nuts to the cold weather and myself then. Bone nut it is!

Have you considered a tusq nut Barry?

I ask only because bone, being organic, has variable density throughout, meaning the response can vary across the nut.

Ibanez use tusq for their higher-end models. It’s a bit like carbon fibre, but uniformly denser, and is pre-impregnated with graphite so it’s permanently lubricated.

Graph-Tech make & supply them to different sizes & configurations for most neck widths.

Just a thought...

[LeftyJ]

I used to have a Japanese-made ESP Horizon guitar that had a woven-graphite nut. It was incredibly cool, totally unlike any other graphite nut I have seen. Just multiple densely packed laminates of woven carbon fibre, well lubricated and smooth, and the open strings rang with a beautiful clarity. I've never seen another one like it. 

[barrycreed]

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

I used to have a Japanese-made ESP Horizon guitar that had a woven-graphite nut. It was incredibly cool, totally unlike any other graphite nut I have seen. Just multiple densely packed laminates of woven carbon fibre, well lubricated and smooth, and the open strings rang with a beautiful clarity. I've never seen another one like it. 

So maybe graphite might be a better option?

[LowMoFo]

9 hours ago, barrycreed said:

So maybe graphite might be a better option?

It may well be. I guess it comes down to personal preference. I’ve not seen a single negative review of tusq nuts. That said, I have an 80s Westone bass with a brass nut, and I love the nut/strings/pup combination. On the flip side of that, I once read: “If brass was any good for nuts, it would be used on violins.”

I guess maybe try one of each, idk. Hope you find what you’re looking for.

[LeftyJ]

2 hours ago, LowMoFo said:

I once read: “If brass was any good for nuts, it would be used on violins.”

Don't violins mostly have wooden nuts? Makes sense on a fretless instrument, since it matches the tone of the fingerboard. The fretless Sandberg Bullet 5 I once owned had a rosewood nut too for this reason. 

Edited October 29, 2020 by LeftyJ

[Baloney Balderdash]

I prefer my nuts to be of flesh and blood.

To each their own, just be aware that it'll affect your ability to reproduce if you go through with this.

[barrycreed]

On 29/10/2020 at 03:01, LowMoFo said:

Have you considered a tusq nut Barry?

I ask only because bone, being organic, has variable density throughout, meaning the response can vary across the nut.

Ibanez use tusq for their higher-end models. It’s a bit like carbon fibre, but uniformly denser, and is pre-impregnated with graphite so it’s permanently lubricated.

Graph-Tech make & supply them to different sizes & configurations for most neck widths.

Just a thought...

No I had not considered one but would have no problem trying one.

[shoulderpet]

Honestly if the existing nut functions as it should I would leave it as is , a brass nut will only affect the tone of open strings, even then it is debateable, brass does look good though

[TheGreek]

Given the choice I'd have brass on all my basses. It may be "The Emperor's clothes" but I'm convinced you get better sustain and tones.