"Ping" sound when tuning G and B strings/Noise at the nut

[Les Paul John]

I’ve been using graphite pencil “lead” since the early 80s. Never had a reason for anyth8ng else.

Side note, the Gibson Nylon nuts on the Historic require nothing and the guitars stay in tune tremendously well. I wish Gibson used them on all their guitars and made spare parts available.

 

[MSB]

View attachment 336838 four years ago I fitted a roller bridge and a roller nut

no, zero, binding anywhere now, strings glide with no friction, tuning is constant

no cutting, filing, lubing needed

honestly I don't know why more guitarists, never mind, it just never occurred to them.....

where are you getting that nut and roller bridge? I have only had one roller bridge (never a nut) and wasn't really a fan, but it was the factory nashville on an original midtown standard, so take that for what its worth.

 

[mdubya]

Yes, you can lube the nut and that will probably end the sound. But the string should not be ping-ing to begin with, and the fact it is doing so generally indicates binding in the nut slot, or some other irregularity in the way the slot is (mis-)cut. It's easy to wreck a nut, so maybe living with an imperfect setup is good enough, and better than risking making things worse, but for me, personally, glitches like ping-ing are best addressed by fixing the problem, not hiding it.

Excellent post. The nut pictured above was supposedly cut by "the best tech in the area." The graphite marks show the shortcomings in how the nut was cut. The G string was binding and would fret out of tune then stay out of tune when played open after fretting. The guitar was taken back to the tech who said the nut was perfect and it was a mystery to him why the guitar wouldn't stay in tune. His fret work was excellent, though. And once I started lubing the nut, it stays in tune perfectly and plays great. Although, by the photo, it is obviously time for more fret work.

I do have a Memphis '59 335 RI with a nylon nut. It is cut well and I do not lube it. They cut the bridge saddles too deeply on the E, B, and G strings though, which required replacement to ensure the strings wouldn't hit the back of the bridge. It is always something.

We often hear the cry of "properly cut nut" in these threads, but while that is true, it isn't so easy.

I have a bone nut that is cut well, but I still use No. 2 graphite, just to be sure. And thus, I never have problems with that guitar.

 

[Sconnie]

I bought a single stick of pure graphite from Michael's well over a decade ago, haven't even needed to sharpen it yet, cost me less than a buck. Less is more.

I lick my thumb or use my sweaty palm to remove the excess after scraping across the nut slot. Less is more.

 

[GibsonKramer]

I don't bother with lube...

Naw... when I grabbed any guitar, I grab each string around the 12th fret, and stretch.

Then I tune from flat, up...

 

[PierM]

We often hear the cry of "properly cut nut" in these threads, but while that is true, it isn't so easy.

That's because bone needs a much finer sanding, inside the slots, as it's pretty rough after the file job. It just need more attention and ultra fine sand paper.

The worse guitar I ever had, with this problem, was a Memphis ES-Les Paul with a pretty rough bone nut, that I recently fixed that way, only with slot sandind. Now it's just perfect, no lube needed.

I'm pretty sure that at the factory, they just do nothing. They just cut the slots and that's it. That is (in my book) just half of the job to prepare a nut. I'm not saying that lube is useless, but it's not a permanent solution for rough slots.

 

[Gibsonrocknroll]

When I change my strings I lube the nut and saddles with big bends nut sauce. I have no issues.

 

[rogue3]

Not to be lost in the *lube your nut thing*...are the slots cut correctly for the string size you are using?(if this hasn't already been asked?).cheers.

 

[MSB]

^ exactly, if its cut correctly, you don't need lube, not that that hurts, but it shouldn't be necessary

 

[GreekPower]

I bought a lub guys. Thank you all so much. The closest luthier is 2 hours away (by car). The lube now is good. I will replace the nut when I will refret my ZW. Thank you all again!

 

[ehb]

Good to lube da nuts every now and then...