OffsetGuitars.com

Anyone here put a bone nut on their offset? I've got a Fender AVRI Jazzmaster (9.5 radius) that I want to buy a preslotted bone nut for (vs paying a tech $70 to cut one).

If you have, where did you buy yours?

bone nuts are overrated. honestly, the graphtech ones are cheaper, easier to cut and just as good IMHO.

In my opinion, you'll save a lot of headaches if you pay the tech to cut the bone nut. The slotted bone nuts still need work, and it's really important to have smooth slots, correct height, correct slope, and correct string spacing, especially with bone .

schoolie wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:06 am

In my opinion, you'll save a lot of headaches if you pay the tech to cut the bone nut. The slotted bone nuts still need work, and it's really important to have smooth slots, correct height, correct slope, and correct string spacing, especially with bone .

I think this is good advice. $70 isn't that much in the long run.

I wouldn't expect any tonal improvements because of the nut, but the bone ones certainly do look a lot nicer.

Go for a luthier cut bone nut, once it's done, cut properly and setup it's 100% worth it. Never to be thought about again unless you change string gauge on a regular basis

I usually buy stuff like that from Guitar Parts Factory, but there are heaps of places https://www.guitarpartsfactory.us/inde ... 4&limit=50

I will echo the comments above that even a pre-slotted nut is highly unlikely to fit straight in and be perfect. Expect some work in finessing the overall nut dimensions, as well as slot geometry.

I buy pre-slotted bone nuts from a UK supplier (cheaper than Graphtech too FWIW ), but I have a set of nut files, which are necessary to cut the slots to the correct depth as pre-slotted ones only have 'guide' marks on them. By the time you add a set of decent files on to the job (and an extra nut incase of mistakes) you'll be over the cost of paying to have it done. If you plan on doing more, as I did, then fair enough, but for a one of job, you may as well pay someone.

Even the Graphtech ones don't have the slots cut to the optimum depth, which I find makes such a difference to how well the guitar plays on the lower frets (and whether it goes 'sharp' due the slots being too high as well). FWIW the guy who does my frets won't use Graphtech, which I think says it all.

Thx all! Lot's of good advice here, and I think I will just take it in and have a tech cut a bone nut for me.

Just to follow up on my own post - I had a bone nut cut for myJazzmaster at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar here in Seattle. They did a great job. I dropped off one of my Marr Jaguars yesterday to have a set of Fralin pickups (+5% overwound) installed when I picked up the Jazzmaster. After returning home and playing the Jazzmaster for a bit, I called M&M Guitar Bar back and asked them to also install a bone nut on the Jaguar.

I just had a bone nut added to my Stratocaster... I don't regret it or anything, I don't know that it changed the sound.

Frankly I paid for it as part of a setup and then later had to do the setup anyway, which reminds me why I don't pay for setups. But the nut looks fine and all.

I don't think I'll be doing it on too many other guitars.

imo the idea that changing the nut material will alter the sound of a guitar in any significant way is very silly to me.

adamrobertt wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:15 am

imo the idea that changing the nut material will alter the sound of a guitar in any significant way is very silly to me.

I suppose it depends what style you play, big open cowboy chords would surely sound different depending on the nut material. If you're playing funk at the 7th fret then yeah, negligible.

I tried one of those earvana nuts when I was younger and more impressionable, the intonation was negligible but my god the sound of that thing was dire. Killed off any open string really quickly.

Sorry to hijack this and ask if anyone can confirm what the radius of the pre-slotted Graphtech tusq nuts are?

soul1 wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:01 pm

Sorry to hijack this and ask if anyone can confirm what the radius of the pre-slotted Graphtech tusq nuts are?

those slots primarily exist as guides- you'll still need to file them after installation.

adamrobertt wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:15 am

imo the idea that changing the nut material will alter the sound of a guitar in any significant way is very silly to me.

I think I would probably agree with this on electric guitar, anyway. Probably it would be more different on acoustic.

Or maybe not. I have acoustics with bone nuts and acoustics with the plastic, I don't really notice any difference I would ascribe to the nut.