historic Nylon vs. Bone nut

[companydamned]

looking at comparisons between the nylon nuts the new historics come with and a good bone nut. Searching this topic has turned up mostly "i prefer ...." without much actual comparison or reason why. I'm looking for a comparison of the tone of each of these, even if it IS just on the open strings. Thanks!

[River]

All I can offer is that, on my guitars, bone requires more diligent lubrication than Nylon. I'd never be able to hear any tonal difference, as the guitars are too different to begin with.

[HOT-BRIT]

I believe either bone or nylon are excellent materials for construction of the nut

[Liam]

Nylon's kind of sticky as the string wears into it, so can cause some tuning difficulties. Not sure I'm mad keen on bone either. Corian has got a lot going for it.

Liam

[HOT-BRIT]

Originally Posted by Liam

Nylon's kind of sticky as the string wears into it, so can cause some tuning difficulties. Not sure I'm mad keen on bone either. Corian has got a lot going for it.

Liam

I never tried Corian, but thanks for the recommendation Liam, I will give it a try

[River]

Originally Posted by Liam

Nylon's kind of sticky as the string wears into it, so can cause some tuning difficulties. Not sure I'm mad keen on bone either. Corian has got a lot going for it.

Liam

Have you tried Graph-tech/graphite? I have their saddles, and the material seems ideal. I'm sure the color turns some off, but...

[jamman]

I happen to like the nylon. I have found that a few of my guitars have needed to have the slots widened a little to stop the pings they had and after that, I've never had any problems.In fact. I just bought some nylon blanks to replace the nut on my
50th. Comm V , because the sting sliced part of the nut off on the E string(#1). This is the 2nd. guitar(Gibson) that this has happened to. But never with the nylon nut.

[Tim Plains]

The vintage guys will prefer nylon because that's what originally came on the old bursts. Better or worst doesn't matter when it comes to historical accuracy.

Originally Posted by HOT-BRIT

I never tried Corian, but thanks for the recommendation Liam, I will give it a try

Corian is the material used on on historics up until 2009 and all current Gibson USA guitars.

[companydamned]

historical accuracy isn't too important to me, i'm after what works, looks, and sounds best, and since "best" is often subjective, I'm looking for first hand comparisons of each so I can make an educated guess. thanks for all the input so far and keep it coming!

[companydamned]

BTW, if anyone has any of those 4/6 nylon nut blanks that RS guitarworks got ahold of afew years ago and would be willing to part with one, I will pay quite handsomely for it. That is if it is true 4/6 nylon and not 6/6....

[RAG7890]

You could try Tusq from Graph Tech: -

Products*&*Ordering - Graph Tech

My Luthier friend finds Bone does not work that well in Humbucker style guitars (but does in Single Coil guitars like Strats & Teles). He never uses Nylon (which when I think about it would more than likely have damping properties). Cheers.

[companydamned]

I guess i should mention, it's a p-90 equipped R4 that I'm looking at for the nut swap

[r9in09]

you could go for half bone, half nylon

[HeadCase]

Never had a bone nut...
But I just got my favorite R9 back
w/ a 6/6 nylon installed. I love it!
No more "ping" that you get from the corian nuts
that older Historics have.

Yeah, I know nut sauce
will eliminate this for a while but, I'm lazy...

I think a bone nut still needs
periodic lubrication too...

Good luck.

[5F6-A]

Originally Posted by Liam

Nylon's kind of sticky as the string wears into it, so can cause some tuning difficulties. Not sure I'm mad keen on bone either. Corian has got a lot going for it.

Liam

Liam,

I have never experienced any sticking with nylon.... at all.
is it 6/6 nylon that you are using?

[Liam]

Originally Posted by 5F6-A

Liam,

I have never experienced any sticking with nylon.... at all.
is it 6/6 nylon that you are using?

It's whatever Gibson used in 1955, it's the original nut on my old Junior. Maybe Nylon 4/6.

The Nylon 6/6 nut on a my luthier built Junior "inspired" guitar isn't too bad, but the 50's one is really not great. But I don't want to file it too many times as it's the one the guitar was built with.

Liam

[5F6-A]

I understand...

[tommad]

I have a Yaron replica that is driving me nuts (no pun intended) with the nylon nut and the 1st string....it just plain sounds dull and sort of muted (no other strings do this) and doesn't ring out when open. I swapped the bridge with a relic'd Callaham to no avail; put the original back....it's GOT to be the nut.

What can I do in-house to fix this?

[DADGAD]

One baffling thing is that my Page CA that I got in January had a BRASS nut!!! For some strange reason the previous owner played the heck out of it and changed the nut. It looks odd but sounds good to me. I have been contemplating bone or nylon but I'll probably go with bone. Why did brass fall out of favor? I seem to get the impression that it became a fad in the 70's. Anyone still use it? Not to hijack the thread.

[roodyrocker]

Originally Posted by DADGAD

One baffling thing is that my Page CA that I got in January had a BRASS nut!!! For some strange reason the previous owner played the heck out of it and changed the nut. It looks odd but sounds good to me. I have been contemplating bone or nylon but I'll probably go with bone. Why did brass fall out of favor? I seem to get the impression that it became a fad in the 70's. Anyone still use it? Not to hijack the thread.

I'm glad you asked this. I was going to bring up brass as well. I only have one Les Paul with it and I bought it used with the brass nut already installed. It seems to work just fine so I have no intentions of changing it out. its a 74 Les Paul custom so I'm assuming as you stated that it was probably swapped sometime back in the 70's or possibly 80's since brass was more popular then. Anyone else want to educate us about brass nuts while we're on the subject?

Rudy

[DADGAD]

My brass nut was installed sometime in the last few years which struck me as odd considering that brass nuts are the least favored. I agree that it sounds fine to me and I am still on the fence on changing it. I have read that there are still people out there who do still use brass.

[joesnewmatch]

Originally Posted by DADGAD

My brass nut was installed sometime in the last few years ...

There's the making for a really great joke.

[roodyrocker]

Originally Posted by DADGAD

My brass nut was installed sometime in the last few years which struck me as odd considering that brass nuts are the least favored. I agree that it sounds fine to me and I am still on the fence on changing it. I have read that there are still people out there who do still use brass.

While not on a Les Paul, Malmsteen uses brass nuts on his Strats from what I recall. I figured I would leave mine alone since its not causing any problems and tuning is fine.

Rudy

[5F6-A]

Gordon Smith Guitars do use brass nut too to great effect.

[chachi83]

I'm not a fan of a brass nut on a Les Paul period. I'm not the best player, or the most tone consious but a brass nut on a Les Paul is like putting saur krout on Italian Sausage; It doesn't make any sence.

[Sterling # Sound]

Originally Posted by tommad

I have a Yaron replica that is driving me nuts (no pun intended) with the nylon nut and the 1st string....it just plain sounds dull and sort of muted (no other strings do this) and doesn't ring out when open. I swapped the bridge with a relic'd Callaham to no avail; put the original back....it's GOT to be the nut.

What can I do in-house to fix this?

I have one too and I have no issues . Perhaps it's a filing issue? Perhaps your action is very low on the treble strings and higher for the rest?

On other LP's I have had both bone and nylon and I'm not sure if I can hear a massive difference. Yes the bone does help a bit with high frequencies, but it can't 'correct' a guitar that's too dark for instance.

I also have an Earvana nut on an SG which works very well - both bright enough and slippery. Not sure what the material is, some kind of plastic which is apparently tougher than graphite.

[FennRx]

if you can hear the difference between bone an nylons nuts, you need to turn your amp up!

[scooter]

Originally Posted by DADGAD

My brass nut was installed sometime in the last few years which struck me as odd considering that brass nuts are the least favored. I agree that it sounds fine to me and I am still on the fence on changing it. I have read that there are still people out there who do still use brass.

My John Sykes Les Paul has one (Brass Nut). It was a fad in the 70's and seems to have gone away since then. The tone is obviously a bit geared for a hard rock or metal crowd. My impression is that its very bright and seems to provide a little more sustain for solos and lead work. The sykes has an ebony board as well, so we are talking about 2 different animals here. I like it for what it is on the Sykes guitar, but wouldnt opt for one on a historic.

[francè]

It's very difficoult, to my point of view, make comparison between bone and nylon, just because I've never change nut on my historic!


What I can say is that I try many historic from 2009 (Nylon nut) and I think they are on average very good Les Pauls.

[56lp]

Originally Posted by RAG7890

You could try Tusq from Graph Tech: -

Products*&*Ordering - Graph Tech

My Luthier friend finds Bone does not work that well in Humbucker style guitars (but does in Single Coil guitars like Strats & Teles). He never uses Nylon (which when I think about it would more than likely have damping properties). Cheers.

I have the Tusq from Graph Tech in my 55 LP Jr. and in my 71 LP Deluxe. I do not have any issues with strings sticking in the Tusq nuts.