Brass NUTS...anyone use them?

[dmraco]

I am looking at installing a brass nut...for asthetic pusposes mostly...I like the gold color.  I was wondering how they effect tone...harmonics. 

I have had brass rollers on a kahler before and they warm things up a bit...jst curious.

 

[jay4321]

Purely anecdotal, and poor sample size, etc etc etc, but

Had one in a 70s or 80s Strat, it was wearing a bit when I got it. It was replaced to bone and I didn't really hear any noticeable change. I didn't spend much time on it before reselling it as sounded pretty lame though it played well enough. I haven't seen many people raving about brass nuts lately.

 

[Cagey]

I had one back in the '70s on a Gibson Melody Maker, and I didn't notice any effect from it, either. The thought at the time was it would help both sustain and character, but even if it could it would only influence open strings anyway. So, they're fine for aesthetics.

That same guitar had a brass block installed under the bridge for the same reason. Also pointless.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

No brass nuts, but I do have a set of brass balls.....

Lame, I know, but I couldn't resist.

When I was a kid my first guitar was a used '68 telecaster.  Back in the early 80's it was just a used guitar, not a vintage guitar like it is today.  I used to do all my own work on it, even though I didn't have a clue what I was doing.  The original nut fell apart and the place where I took lessons had brass nuts on the wall.  I assumed that's the only thing that was available so I bought one.  I didn't even know that you had to file out the string slots.  Needless to say, it was a disaster.

Eventually I got a regular nut installed at a different music shop and the telecaster played a lot better.  My recollections of the brass nut are not favorable, but its probably more because of how I had installed it than any inherent properties of the brass.

 

[Jusatele]

nah, I have balls of steel

:icon_jokercolor:

 

[ericar]

I have one on my Malmsteen strat and it grabs the strings a lot and makes trem use bad. I can't imagine it makes any difference in the sound. I also have one on a Paul Stanley Iceman that is half brass and half plastic. It also grabs the strings. I would never install one. I find the graphtec ( i think thats the name) are the best for letting strings move easy.

 

[dmraco]

I have one on my Malmsteen strat and it grabs the strings a lot and makes trem use bad. I can't imagine it makes any difference in the sound. I also have one on a Paul Stanley Iceman that is half brass and half plastic. It also grabs the strings. I would never install one. I find the graphtec ( i think thats the name) are the best for letting strings move easy.

Thanks for the tips.  Not using a whammy but it is good to know...

 

[m4rk0]

I have one on an old 70s ibanez lp and I like it.. I am actually considering installing one on my new wenge neck.. I have a brass nut lying around, but it has a curved bottom, and unfortunately I do not have a neck with a curved slot.
I guess that LSR nuts are also made out of brass..

 

[FirebirdFloyd]

Both my Tele and my Strat have them. Personally, I enjoy the effect it gives to the open strings. Also, I my twisted mentality, I figure if my saddles are metal, why shouldn't my nut be too? lol
But seriously, lubicate the nut and you should have no issues with the trem. Also, slide guitar sounds AMAZING with a brass nut. (IMHO)
Cheers,
Johnny

 

[back2thefutre]

I want brass frets.

 

[Orpheo]

I've made 3 brass nuts for my les pauls, and I don't like 'm. they grab the strings, even when they're cut liberally and lubricated with graphite powder. they sound rather bright to my ears,, and you get a lot of buzzing around. like fretbuzz, but a little bit less bad, I'd say. i changed them for graphtech's all over. Result?! awesome! the tone is more even, binding goes easier, the harmonics squeel better. its a little less bright, which I liked about brass, but overall, graphtech is for me the way to go. oh, and MUCH less tuning issues! well worth the 6.7 euro's, excluding shipment.

 

[Disco Scottie]

I also have one on a Paul Stanley Iceman that is half brass and half plastic. It also grabs the strings.

I have one of the those myself, and mine does the same thing.

 

[ericar]

Yeah. every once in a while while tuning or bending a string you will here a ting sound. That is the string binding then letting go. Very annoying.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I want brass frets.

Frets are brass. Nickle is added to them to make them look like silver.

 

[swarfrat]

I don't think I'd be bragging about it if I were sportin prosthetics guys. Just sayin.

 

[OzziePete]

Seen quite a few, otherwise decent, guitars butchered to accommodate a brass nut in the late 70s/early 80s.

IIRC, the brass nut does add a slightly more metallic tone to the sound of the guitar...Kinda a little, very little ,like all that metal that is on a dobro does to an acoustic guitar.

It was claimed, if my fried brain is working correcktly, that the brass nut improved sustain. I felt that was the case, but the trade off being that metallic ring to it. How much sustain? Well the tone and it's sustain qualities are like other facets of the tone we hear, it's a sum of all parts on that thar gee-tar, so if you had a brass nut it added a bit 'moar', then if plonked a Badass bridge that added some , then hotted up the pickups with DiMarzios instead of the stock standard.........6 months down the track you have an entirely new guitar to what you started with..... :doh:

 

[showdown]

I've had a couple of basses with brass nuts, but I haven't noticed a significant difference between them and the instruments with graphite/corian/bone nuts.

 

[Disco Scottie]

Forgot to mention I had an '81 Kramer strathead with a brass nut and trem bridge/block. It was trebly as all hell, almost like an icepick bridge Strat sound. even though it had humbuckers.