This overview will help shed some light on the styles and benefits of today’s guitar nut and saddle options. The pre–war style bracing of that Gibson provides great bass control, so I liked the ivory nut in that it added to the clarity. Bone is the traditional choice of material for acoustic guitar nuts. The texture and the material’s ability to self–lubricate will affect the strings’ ease of movement when tuning, bending, or using a capo. However hard to work with, the fossil ivory is the best–looking nut around. do you play mostly with a pick or play fingerstyle. I've even seen a saddle made out of aluminum. However, as you can see on the comparison chart below, nut widths vary across guitars, catering to a wide range of players with different preferences in this area. Nut width is usually represented in inches, usually as a fractional measurement e.g. Please check the fields highlighted in red. Nut width also plays an important role with regard to playability but it gets less focus than it should, which is a shame because it has an immediate impact on the playability of the guitar, particularly for your fretting hand. now let’s see how each common nut material meets the specifications of a good nut. On the other hand many guitarists prefer a narrower nut width, especially those with a smaller hand span as it makes reaching the individual strings much easier. Last updated: October 29, 2019 by Nate 3 Comments. Hey! You could also start to get problems with keeping the guitar in tune with a cheap plastic nut. I have seen nuts made out of brass, steel, ebony, and petrified wood. Fossil Ivory can also look fantastic – like unbleached bone – if the aesthetics are important to you. Hello liked your article on guitar nuts, That has left me with a question, Has lexon which is a bullet resistant material or carbon fibre been used? If you are reasonably new to guitar and in the market for a new guitar, chances are you have preferences with regard to the brand, body shape, tonewoods, particularly the soundboard, perhaps the neck profile, and of course how the guitar sounds and plays. No spam, nothing to sell, just sharing good info. Bone helps to produce a great balanced tone on acoustic guitars with a great attack into the note and better sustain. Without a nut the strings would not line up properly and make playing the guitar very difficult if not impossible. The nut has a few very important functions. How The Acoustic Guitar Works (A SIMPLE GUIDE), The Best Acoustic Guitar Strings for a Warm Sound, The Difference Between Electric And Acoustic Guitar Strings, Short Scale Acoustic Guitars – Everything You Wanted to Know. To the non guitarists eye this would be almost unnoticeable but without it the guitar simply could not function as an instrument. Irich True Bone Bridge Saddle and Nut with 2Pcs Sand Paper, Set of 6 String Guitar Saddle and Nut, Replacement Parts for Acoustic and Folk Guitar 4.6 out of 5 stars 146 £4.99 £ 4 . Blisstime 2 Sets (4pcs) 6 String Acoustic Guitar Bone Bridge Saddle and Nut, Made of Real Bone with … Graph Tech’s TUSQ nuts, for example. 1.750“ or millimeters e.g. It has concern me to read reviews of Fender guitars in the $400 range that use plastic nuts and saddles. Then your guitar would be unplayable as the strings would lie against the fretboard, unable to vibrate. 99 £6.99 £6.99 As with every aspect of guitar, it matters quite a lot if you care enough to pay attention to subtleties. And that’s pretty much the only point of bleaching the bone – to make it look whiter. GBP Do you rate the nut material as being important? Sustain. The list below includes guitars of all price ranges, including the Martin D28 (RRP $3,599) through to the less expensive Epiphone DR100 (RRP $232). But how much do these things actually matter? Flash Plastic: O.k. To be honest I actually prefer the look of natural bone over the bleached stuff so I don’t think it even has that advantage! As a whole, however, fossilized ivory can be harder to come by than more common materials like bone and high–grade plastic. Acoustic Guitars that Play like Electrics, Acoustic Guitar Setup Cost [How Much to Pay]. Nut width is the term used to describe the width of the nut, the white plastic or bone component on your acoustic guitar that separates the fretboard from the headstock.. Most guitarists over time will have a preference with regard to nut width, but there are other factors to consider if considering the playability of your acoustic guitar. I have found that the tone — when compared to bone and synthetic bone — is thinner using TUSQ nuts, even though they market a better bass response. I don’t get it. If I misunderstood or misjudged Fender products in this price range? The material of the nut will affect sustain – either in a good way or a bad way. Nut width refers to the width of the nut, which resides at the end of the fretboard nearest the headstock. May this article serve as a subjective guide or at least something to pick apart piece by piece with your buds at the guitar store. No spam, nothing to sell,just sharing good info. are an important little part of a guitar. Acoustic Guitar Set Up's Adjusting Action For Playability & Tone. It is worth noting here that I have included Fossil Ivory only here. Top Photo by Roadside Guitars [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr, Filed Under: Buying Guides, Guitar selection. United Kingdom, So take that as you will. Bleached bone, however, is a waste of time and looks lame. But too low and you risk getting the dreaded fret buzz! Guitar players debate everything. Bone also self–lubricates, meaning it pairs better with that annoying B–string. Your Price $ 11.60 msrp:13.65,lowPrice:11.6. Friends suggested that I resurface the fossil ivory with bone, but I ended up deciding to go with a bone nut altogether. You’ll likely have to replace it at some stage anyway and if you replace it now with a better material you will also get the tonal advantages. Fossilized ivory, on the other hand, is the legal alternative to ivory and is comparable to bone in open–string tonal quality. 1 3/4“. Acoustic guitar nuts (and no I don’t mean people who are nuts for acoustic guitars!) They’re brittle and hard to work with, leading to weak open string sounds and setup issues that normally demand an entirely new nut to rectify. If the strings are too high then the guitar will be difficult and hard work to play and it could affect the intonation. How Nut Material Impacts the Tone of an Acoustic Guitar. It’s equally important to understand that the influence of nut material on tone can be undermined by poor setup. The material of the nut on an acoustic guitar will affect the overall tonality of the guitar. String spacing as a result is measured directly at the saddle, or in other instances, and for different manufacturers this measurement is taken at the 14th fret.