Earvana nut

[Timmsie95]

Hey guys, long time no see! I have been so busy lately, I kinda drifted away from the forum life. How's everyone been?


So a few days ago, I got a MIM Tele in a trade, and I'm loving it. My first Fender electric  :bass:

I'm probably going to end up swapping everything but the body by the time I'm done with it (Hipshot bridge, Griplock tuners, black pickguard, Bare Knuckle pickups, Warmoth neck), and I'm looking at getting a roasted Maple neck.
I play in Drop C mainly, and I'm wondering if the Earvana nut would still benefit, or if it's most effective in standard tuning? Also, has anyone had any issues with buzzing with the Earvana nut? I play 11-54's, so I'm wondering if the thicker gauge strings could potentially buzz against the sides.

In the fret wire department, my luthier has said to me that he prefers evo frets over stainless, because they tend to move with the wood more naturally, and they're almost as durable as stainless. Thoughts? I'm sure the roasted Maple would move less than unroasted wood, so it probably won't be much of an issue.

That was long-winded, but any inputs is appreciated!
I'll post pics of the guitar at some point. Cheers!
ccasion14:

 

[Logrinn]

Hi Timmsie,

I actually got my first Warmoth neck with an Earvana nut, but I ended up getting a new neck with a normal Tusq nut instead. The reason was that I thought the Earvana nut worsened the intonation. Or rather, if I tuned the guitar using open strings (which I guess most do) the fretted notes sounded more off. If I tuned the guitar by fretting a string (harder to do) then I could get an ok result. Ok, but not great. So I ended up getting a new neck without the Earvana nut. And now everything is much better.

YMMV

 

[Cagey]

Earvana nuts are ok, but I wouldn't go out of my way to install one. Not because there's anything wrong with them - they're at least as good as any other nut, but they have a high intellectual property premium charge on them that's just baseless and silly. Manufacturing cost is nearly identical to a standard nut, and it isn't really even any kind of revolutionary idea. Probably should never have been patented in the first place. At any rate, they're basically only good for cowboy chords and if you have your nut set up properly, there's little benefit to be had even there.

As for EVO "moving" with the neck, I can't imagine what that guy's talking about. The stuff is nearly as hard as stainless steel, and it ain't goin' nowhere. I've installed a lot of it - nearly half my fretwire stock is EVO wire - and the only time it moves is when I pick it up to install it. Any temperature/humidity/mechanical stress severe enough to move EVO wire would absolutely destroy the wood it's mounted in long before the fretwire moved.

All that said, it's a wonderful wire to work with and play on. Slightly easier to level/crown/dress/polish than stainless while being nearly as hard, and substantially harder than nickel-silver so it plays like a dream. The only caveat would be that it has the appearance of something like 10ct gold alloy (there's no gold in it, it just looks that way), so you have to weigh that against the appearance of the rest of the hardware on the instrument. If you're using chrome or black hardware, stainless would almost certainly look better. With gold hardware, it adds a nice touch that you don't see on any production instruments.

Just be sure to use EVO or stainless if you're re-fretting an existing neck or fretting a new one. Even if your guy wants to charge more, it's worth it. And just so you know, some of us don't charge more.

 

[Timmsie95]

Great, thanks guys!

Agreed some thought, and the help of your input, I'm not going for an Earvana nut. Seems like a crazy upcharge for little benefit.

And with the EVO, I was thinking the same, looking at the hardness, it's damn near the same as stainless, so I can't see it being much different. I probably will do stainless then. The hardware is all chrome anyways.

Thanks again!

 

[amigarobbo]

I prefer the feel of Stainless to Evo, and the feel of both to standard 'silver' fretwire. There's not much in to be honest.

Unless a guitar has gold hardware, and i want the frets to match, and I've got a choice, stainless for me.

 

[Cagey]

The only time I can feel a difference between stainless and EVO is working it. Especially cutting. Cutting up a roll of stainless is a little more work than a roll of EVO. Or at least it was until I got the latest set of cutters. Those things are the whip. Now I could even cut the stuff left-handed if I wanted to. Cut up a 1lb roll (~54') of stainless into 2' lengths and then 1 set of frets this past weekend and it was nothing. Then, bevelling takes a little longer with stainless. Past that, you can't tell, and playing them feels the same.

 

[JD0x0]

I have a La Cabronita w/ an earvana nut. Intonation is SPOT ON especially on those pesky 'cowboy chords' which almost always have some intonation flaws

 

[swarfrat]

I have more than one. I like it. It is over priced though.

 

[mayfly]

I tried an Earvana nut on one of my warmoth telecasters.  It's fine, but the difference isn't enough to make me want to do it again.  YMMV and all that.

 

[Timmsie95]

Thanks for all the input, I'm probably sticking with stainless & a standard graphtech nut. Here's a shot of my tele with my other guitarist's Squier Jazzmaster  :hello2: nothing special, but I'm quite happy with it. It'll be great once I get all the upgrades for it.