Nut Sauce

[Doughboy]

I've been a Floyd Rose guy forever, so tuning was never a problem. But wanting more vintage looking guitars, I've gone the Wilkinson trem route. Although it looks cool, tuning has become a major pain.I tried WD40 & it didn't help too much & reverse winding the strings did nothing.

I read about Nut Sauce online & tried it out. It's pricey ay $19 for a 1cc syringe, but whatever is in it, worked wonders. No more creaky tuning noises, string tree friction or much of anything else. Although it's not as good as a Floyd, my tuning problems have all but disappeared.

 

[tfarny]

Use files to widen your nut slots to at least .03 (or more) wider than the strings themselves, then put a dash of pencil lead in each slot and the bottom of your trees. No more tuning problems, don't care if the nut is bone graphite or plastic. WD40 is a cleaner not a lube. Nut sauce, grease, whatever, it's graphite. Pencil lead.

 

[Doughboy]

What size/type file would you suggest?

 

[tfarny]

The set that Warmoth sells. If you have a baritone or something weird, buy additional sizes from Stew Mac. the problem is always that the slots are too narrow.

 

[line6man]

I use GHS Graphit All.  I'm fairly sure that it's the same stuff that's in the Nut Sauce.

Cost me $4 for the tube, and it's lasted me about 6 years now.

 

[simple]

I bought that nut sause and used it a couple of times now. Seems to work but yeah, expensive. It does look better than the black colored pencil lead/Vaseline mixture.

 

[AprioriMark]

I was always under the impression that the stuff in pencil lead was not the same as lubricating graphite.

-Mark

 

[Finch]

im having a hard time taking this thread seriously haha All I keep thinking is "nut sauce...hehehehehe"

 

[Steve_Karl]

Pencil lead has been working for me for decades.

 

[Doughboy]

I've tried the pencil lead & WD40 routes & although they worked a little, they were nothing compared to Nut Sauce. Whatever is in there works very well for none tremolo guitars.

They do recommend that you used it on all saddles & nuts, even locking ones, but I think that's a waste. But for regular guitars, it's been pretty good so far.

My next build is going to have Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL & hopefully that's a step up from my Corina nut.

 

[tfarny]

Your slots are too narrow if you have tuning problems at the nut. The string shouldn't bind in the nut or in the string tree, I don't know why this is complicated for people. Every guitar I've ever touched with tuning problems was fixed by filing out the slots to a proper width. The strings shouldn't even be "in" the nut, but rather "on" the nut and held down by tension from behind, exactly like every bridge ever made.

 

[shanejw]

I like the GHS stuff.  It's way cheaper and works great.

 

[DangerousR6]

I was almost afraid to look in this thread....

 

[Cagey]

...I tried WD40 & it didn't help too much & reverse winding the strings did nothing.

I read about Nut Sauce online & tried it out. It's pricey ay $19 for a 1cc syringe, but whatever is in it, worked wonders. No more creaky tuning noises, string tree friction or much of anything else. Although it's not as good as a Floyd, my tuning problems have all but disappeared.

Many people try to get miracles out of WD40 and fail. It's not designed to be a lubricant, and in many cases, will actually make things worse. It's an oil-based penetrating solvent. While it will lubricate temporarily, over time it will wreck things. I can't think of a single thing on a guitar that WD40 would be good for.

As for reverse-winding strings, I don't know where that silly idea ever came from, but I wish it would go away. Gears are cut and ground to bear a load in a particular direction, and won't mesh properly otherwise, You'll have problems with backlash and wear, and any problem you might think you're fixing will actually get worse.

The advice given previously about getting the nut properly configured is most important. Also, locking tuners are hugely beneficial. Best money you'll ever spend on guitar hardware.

 

[Steve_Karl]

You reminded me of an old "on the road" story from when I was touring Canada in the late 70's.

The other guitar player in the band ( his nick name was "mad dog" ) had a Les Paul standard and was getting annoyed that his intonation wouldn't stay where he wanted it, supposedly because the saddles kept moving when he played it in his ... "mad dog" style.
He fixed that real good with a tube of super glue. 
Very soon after that he traded it in at a music store for an other guitar.

 

[Doughboy]

As for reverse-winding strings, I don't know where that silly idea ever came from, but I wish it would go away. Gears are cut and ground to bear a load in a particular direction, and won't mesh properly otherwise, You'll have problems with backlash and wear, and any problem you might think you're fixing will actually get worse.


By reverse winding, I mean winding the strings from down to up on the tuning machine. This does help a lot as it eliminates a lot of downward pressure & string friction.

 

[Cagey]

I see. I hadn't considered whether the wraps ascended or descended the peg. It's been a lot of years since I've had a guitar that had more than a single wrap on a tuning peg. I save all my returnable beer cans until I can afford locking tuners. Usually only takes a couple weeks <grin>

But, if winding the strings at the pegs in such a way as to raise them and thereby lower the angle to the nut were a Good Thing, why use staggered tuners or install string trees? Why use tilt-back headstocks? Clearly, many people believe increasing the angle of incidence to the string nut is a preferable situation.

Personally, I don't use tilt-back headstocks or string trees. I just make sure I've got staggered locking tuners and a good nut, and I don't have any problem.