CNC milled factory installed compensated nut

[arkivel]

Ok, I can't take it anymore, I tried, but it just has to be said.

What exactly are you compensating for with that set of brass nuts  :icon_jokercolor: ?

please forgive me, I am a bafoon

An Earvana/Ernie Ball style compensated nut will bring your guitar into almost perfect intonation. It makes an unbelievable difference on a 25.5 inch scale neck.

I can't understand how any strat player could go through life without one. The technology is a major breakthrough and should be standard on every new guitar.

 

[GoDrex]

I'm getting rid of the one I put on my cheap strat because the cheap plastic sucks - sitaring is good way to describe it. I like the way it works but the quality isn't good.

Finally got rid of the crap Earvana on my strat and put a Graphtech one in it's place. It's like a whole other guitar now. My high e-string is back. There's some semblance of tone hehehe Yeah the lower frets are sharp but it's OK. If Graphtech made a compensated nut I think I'd get one.

 

[arkivel]

did you have the OEM version or the two piece? I've heard that the Earvana nut is actually made of the same material Graphtech uses.

 

[GoDrex]

I had the two piece one and it's definitely not made from the same material. I don't know how to get one for a strat that isn't a two piece made from plastic.

 

[Orpheo]

strange, the 2 piece I have is exactly like my graphtech nuts....

 

[GoDrex]

Is it black? I was looking at the one I got from Warmoth for my LP type neck and that one might be that material. The one for my strat was a cream color and it just sucked. Like I said I liked how it worked but now that I've got a Graphtech nut in it's place the difference is like night and day.

 

[tfarny]

I've got the black two-piece and it's made from soft plastic. I ordered direct from the company, I think. I've really soured on it, at first it was great but then the slots started growing and the strings vibrating in the nut, I had a pro reslot it but now it's started doing it again. It really kills the tone. If I don't sell the neck it's on, I'll definitely replace it eventually.
Some reputable company like Warmoth or Graphtech really needs to start producing these things from high-quality materials, if so I think they'd become standard issue. Or if somebody out there wants to make me one from brass, corian, or bone, I've got the $$.

 

[dbw]

Anyone have an opinion on Buzz Feiten tuning system?  I don't like the idea of needing some wacky tuning method.

 

[tfarny]

dbw, the earvana doesn't need any wacky tuning at all, you have to re-intonate when you install it, that's all. It's just made of crappy materials, but it functions like any other nut, it just makes your notes in the lower ranges more in tune with each other. Chords sound sweeter, it's very noticeable.

 

[dbw]

Tfarny, I know the Earvana doesn't... but the Buzz Feiten DOES.  That's what I was saying.

 

[GoDrex]

It definitely is a drawback that you have to tune in a different way. With the earvana I'd just tune each string to pitch and it worked great.

I notice the the BF system now has a nut that's non-invasive. The older way you had to cut into the fret board.

edit - looking at their site it says if you don't have their special tuner you can just tune to all E's on each string:

E - Open

B - 5th fret

G - 9th fret

D - 14th fret

A - 7th fret

E - Open, 5th fret Harmonic

that's pretty simple

 

[dbw]

Yeah it's not too onerous... but I just want to stomp on my tuner and tune up while my drummer keeps the groove going... it's kind of a buzzkill to go, hold on guys, let me tune up... yes, I used to be able to use a tuner, but don't worry, open chords sound WAY BETTER with this nut!

 

[GoDrex]

http://www.truetemperament.com/  - would love to try one of those. The use Warmoth necks, btw.

 

[DiMitriR33]

there is no such thing a perfect temperment. the western scale is a mathematical accident, a guitar is an even tempered instrument although intonation is never perfect an ideal guitar never has a perfect harmony. there are many ways to tune a piano and most are called well tempered, they have better harmonies but only in some keys, there is always a wolf key or wolf tones in each key, any attempt to something better will put a deficiency somewhere else, and a guitar is a particular challenge do to the many different chord shapes. if you stick to one chord shape the open strings can be tune to pure intervals and you can move that shape up or down. good theory for slide players but most people wont stick to one shape.

other alternative is to have each note and there for each fret at each string intonated to the notes of a well tempered piano and have a particular set of wolf notes that you live with. or you can go fretless and like a violin you can tune open strings to pure harmonies and can use any chord form as long as your fingers hit the notes correctly and you have perfect pitch.

or you can stop worrying about intonation, get it close and play your instrument!

 

[Shmoopie]

http://www.truetemperament.com/  - would love to try one of those. The use Warmoth necks, btw.

??? what happens when you bend, wouldn't all go to sh :sign13: t ?

 

[dbw]

Well, that's the point of bending, isn't it.  The biggest problem is you can't play in any key!

 

[misplacedsanity]

Funky nut anyone........
http://www.guitarsetup.co.uk/TheFunkyNut.php

 

[arkivel]

there is no such thing a perfect temperment. the western scale is a mathematical accident, a guitar is an even tempered instrument although intonation is never perfect an ideal guitar never has a perfect harmony. there are many ways to tune a piano and most are called well tempered, they have better harmonies but only in some keys, there is always a wolf key or wolf tones in each key, any attempt to something better will put a deficiency somewhere else, and a guitar is a particular challenge do to the many different chord shapes. if you stick to one chord shape the open strings can be tune to pure intervals and you can move that shape up or down. good theory for slide players but most people wont stick to one shape.

other alternative is to have each note and there for each fret at each string intonated to the notes of a well tempered piano and have a particular set of wolf notes that you live with. or you can go fretless and like a violin you can tune open strings to pure harmonies and can use any chord form as long as your fingers hit the notes correctly and you have perfect pitch.

or you can stop worrying about intonation, get it close and play your instrument!

This is an issue of intonation not temperament. Western music and the guitar is based on an equal temperament scale for obvious reasons. The problem is that individual mass and string tension affect intonation and therefore the ability of a guitar to actually achieve equal temperament in the first place.

The "true tempered" guitar that was linked does not actually employ a true temperament scale. It's really an equal temperament scale, like any regular guitar, except it is more accurately intonated. The Earvana nut achieves exactly the same thing as this fancy neck, the only difference is that it's slightly less accurate. 3 notes on an Earvana fretboard are 1 or 2 cents off from a TT neck. Considering the massive difference in price, I'm not sure it's worth the fuss.

What is worth the fuss IMO is finding a compensated nut that is made of a decent material.

 

[GoDrex]

Funky nut anyone........
http://www.guitarsetup.co.uk/TheFunkyNut.php

Sorry, not flying to the UK to pay 160 pounds ($320) for that...

 

[tfarny]

BUT it looks exactly like what I would buy. No reason it should cost much more than a normal nut though. Does a custom nut cost as much as a mexi strat in the UK?