Guitar Neck String Nut Materials |
| Materials |
Characteristics/Applications |
Sound |
Workability |
| Bone: |
Hard material with a vintage look, must be cut cleanly to keep strings from binding in slots. |
Bright and clear, with a detailed sound. |
Hard, dense material. Bad-smelling dust. |
| Brass: |
Hard material polishes well and looks good with gold hardware.
Great sustain for bass and slide guitar playing. |
Bright with very good sustain. |
Slow-working, dust can clog files, gets hot when power-sanded. |
| Nickel: |
Made of the same material as our fretwire (18% hard nickel/silver)
so it matches sound & look of frets. Polishes well. |
Very bright with excellent articulation and sustain. |
Very slow working, gets hot when power-sanded. |
Graph Tech TUSQ: |
A Graph Tech proprietary material which is precision engineered under high pressure and heat. It is specifically formulated to deliver an optimum sonic transfer rate. Stringent production methods create consistent material that is rich in tone and harmonic content. Standard TUSQ will have a slightly brighter sound than the Black TUSQ XL. |
Evenly balanced tone. |
Easy to cut, less shaping required with pre-molded blanks. |
Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL: |
Black TUSQ XL is a similar material to standard TUSQ but is also Teflon impregnated. Teflon is 500% slipperier than graphite. This is great for use on electric guitars that get tremolo use or have tuning stability issues. It is also great for someone who bends notes often. |
Well balanced tone with a bit more warmth. |
Easy to cut, less shaping required with pre-molded blanks. |
| Corian: |
Hard synthetic material takes a fine finish and is available in large oversized blanks. |
Balanced, clear, even sound. |
Cuts slowly but evenly. |
Width Dimensions |

Chrome
Black
Gold
|

These nuts are easily identified by the "R" number located on the bottom or in the case of left hand nuts it is an "L" number.
|
| Right Hand |
Left Hand |
|
R-2 = 1-5/8" Nut-Width
* R-3 = 1-11/16" Nut-Width Narrow
R-4 = 1-11/16" Nut-Width Wide
R-5 = 1-3/4" Nut-Width
|
L-2 = 1-5/8" Nut-Width
* L-3 = 1-11/16" Nut-Width Narrow
L-4 = 1-11/16" Nut-Width Wide
L-5 = 1-3/4" Nut-Width
|
|
*R3 &
*L3 = 1 11/16" Nut Width Narrow
Essentially, this nut is the 1 11/16" width, but the spread of the strings is pulled
in resembling the spread found
on a 1 5/8" nut.
|
Player Tips:
- R3 & L3 nuts work well with necks that have a 1 11/16" nut width and that are also bound. They are also popular with players wishing for a little more fret margin so as not to bend the strings beyond the fret ends.
- Light trem user? Check our the graphite nut or LSR nut
- Like to dive bomb? Go locking nut!
Tech Tips:
- There is a popular misconception that one may buy generic nuts to fit existing necks. If optimum results are
expected, this simply is not so. A nut must be cut to specific geometric parameters to function properly and these
parameters are dictated by the type of neck it is to be used on and the angle with which the strings break from the nut towards
the individual tuners.
- For fine adjustments to your nut slots use our File Set NFS8
|