Re: The Warmoth-installed Earvana jobs

[jay4321]

I have 3 of them, and at some point years from now the nuts will need replacement.

2 of the 3 guitars are played pretty frequently (3rd isn't assembled yet) and I'm not sure what my best option will be once the nuts go. The nut channel is wider than standard and (if I recall) the forward point is closer to the bridge than a standard nut, so simply cutting a wider nut doesn't sound like it would work.

The idea of having replacement compensated nuts custom-made is possible but might be more than the cost of replacing the necks themselves, which I like a lot. I also considered the idea of filling or shimming the channel to allow for a standard nut but that doesn't sound very appealing either. Is there any suggestion for customers that purchased these I haven't thought of? Could use an easy button here for sure. 

 

[Cagey]

I only have one guitar with an Earvana nut on it and have wondered the same thing. But, the way I look at it is I know Doug or somebody like him can mill the same thing quite easily. There's no magic to it; the technology is well-expressed, understood, and prior art exists so the patent, whoever holds it now, is invalid. That it exists at all is one of the many anomalies of the system, so to hell with that noise. I'm sure that's why Ernie Ball beat up on Earvana in the first place - to free it up. There wasn't enough money involved to even pay for the legal fees, so there was no money grab or profit motive involved. Look it up. It's a joke.

I'm sure the only reason everybody and their brother isn't making them now is fear of retribution, which probably isn't forthcoming but that hasn't been communicated by EB. So, it's all in limbo.

In the meantime, you can still buy those nuts from Earvana, last time I checked. They charge a ridiculous amount of money for them, but they're there. I expect that to change, but I don't know how fast. The tech wasn't a huge seller to begin with, as it's only marginally useful, but it's not without merit.

If you need a replacement RFN, I'd just remove your strings, give the nut a little tap on the side to dislodge it, and take it to a machinist. They'll be able to reproduce it easily for not much money and without fear of retribution, unless they start advertising it as a production part.

 

[swarfrat]

Warmoth doesn't (or wasn't) currently slotting for Earvana nuts, but that's the one that drops in the LSR roller nut slot. That's what the wider slot that encroaches on the fingerboard side is, an LSR slot.

The EBMM patent only impacted one particular model, and Earvana is still selling the Drop In Shelf Nuts which overhang the fingerboard. Both of mine I had to remove some stock from the bottom to get it to sit at the right height (which is with the shelf on or just kissing the fingerboard.)

Earvana sells 9.5" radius, and 12" radius DISN's for 1 11/16" nuts, and 12"/7.5" on 1 5/8" nuts, and the Warmoth compound radius is 10"-16".  I put a 9.5" radius nut on a Warmoth Compound radius, the gap is very very very slight, but I filed the shelf a couple thousandths to reduce it.  Earvana has some language in their literature that says "Do Not File the bottom of the nut". That's confusing because it applies only to their older Two Part nut that screws together, and the bottom they refer to there is the interface between the slab that goes in the nut slot and the shelf that screws onto it.  With a one piece drop in nut, or an LSR width nut this does not apply, and normal nut fitting procedures do.

I do concur that the unit is overpriced, but it's still the cheapest compensated nut retrofit, so it's unlikely to change. That would require a huge increase in volume, like Fender making it standard, and isn't likely to happen, between their apparent target size to trial attorneys and the people who would latch on to it and say forget about 1965, Fender really went downhill when...