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11-03-2009, 06:01 AM
| | | | The wisdom of a nut extension
I've been thinking about buying a particular 7/8 bass recently but am somewhat deterred by the size, in particular the string length (43.5"). The luthier has suggested putting a nut extension on the bass, getting the length down to 42.5" - closer to what I'm actually used to. But is a nut extension actually a good idea? What would I need to consider before going ahead with it?
It's otherwise a really beautiful instrument, and the story goes that it belonged to Frank Sinatra's bassist on his ill-fated Australian tour of 1974, and presumably captured on this recording (Read the comments in the blog to get part of the story of the tour!)
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11-03-2009, 09:40 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago | | | If you add 1/2" to the nut and bring the bridge up 1/2", the note at the heel will stay the same and getting over the shoulders will be the same.
Is this how he is going to do it?
If you add 1" to the nut and leave the bridge alone, you'll change the note at the heel and the notes over the shoulders will be farther up the neck, maybe not ideal for playability. Maybe you already know this. |
11-03-2009, 09:47 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Germany | | | you can easily check out how it will be if you put something like a matchstick or a small cable (that works as a capo) under the strings at the position your luthier suggested.
so you can get the feel of the shorter stringlength and the moved reference points
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‘To get ze good tone you must grip bass hard’. (S.Koussevitzky)
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11-04-2009, 01:07 AM
|  | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bassist14  a matchstick or a small cable (that works as a capo) under the strings at the position your luthier suggested.
so you can get the feel of the shorter stringlength and the moved reference points | +1. a couple of cable-ties work well for this, one under, one over.
Or you could just get used to the long string length. You're a tallish guy Andrew, yeah? Give it a bash, its not SO hard ...
Personally, I don't like false nuts. Something make-shift about them that annoys me. But that's just me. |
11-04-2009, 06:56 AM
| | | | Thanks guys. I'm not sure whether he was suggesting moving the bridge, but I did figure that otherwise the heel note would shift. I might give the matchstick idea a crack. Something about false nuts bothers me, too.
I'm tallish, yeah, but have had issues with my hands and don't want to give them any more stress than I have to! |
11-04-2009, 11:54 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada | | | Something to consider from a purely mechanical perspective is that if your fingerboard is too thin and/or the tuner pegs not far enough back in the pegbox, the angle of the strings as they bend back across the nut may not be enough to prevent buzzing. It's difficult to make a general rule, but at a guess I'd say about a 1cm thick fingerboard between A and D at the nut would be a safe-ish minimum for a short 'dropped' nut. The longer the nut gets, the thicker should be the fingerboard to allow a buzz-free angle into the grooves. It's possible to put a metal fret of some sort into a dropped nut, to force a proper angle a little bit behind the fingerboard end, but that's getting complicated. Just saying you need a certain minimum pressure on the leading edge of the nut grooves, else things get buzzy.
From my experience with making scales shorter on large basses, the players usually become unsatisfied with the reduced volume of the bass after a time. Sure, it's easier to play a shorter scale... but in my opinion it's a bit silly to buy too big a bass. Better to buy a bass appropriate for your size and preferences, and choose based on existing sound rather than modifying a bass and hoping for the best with the resulting sound. |
11-04-2009, 01:19 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: NYC | | | I played a 43.5" bass for 35 years (I'm 5'8") with no problems. |
11-05-2009, 12:31 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bozeman Montana | | At my Ripe-Age of 58 years-old .... Only having taken-up-playing The UpRight for bluegrass and old-timey in the past 3-years with Kay and Epiphone strang-lengths of maybe 41.5 to 42.2 Inches .... I have no-doubt .... A Nut-Extension is-just-what-I-have-been-needing to be My Best at what I do  .
Your mileage may diiffffffer ... Carry-On Folks.
Last edited by MT Spaces : 11-05-2009 at 12:42 AM.
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11-05-2009, 12:38 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bozeman Montana | | | Double-post .... Note To Self .... Make-up some Lies to cover yer-ass.
Visit Montana sometime ..... Visit someone other than me ....
Most Folks up-here are friendly ... I am not one of Those.
Last edited by MT Spaces : 11-05-2009 at 12:48 AM.
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11-05-2009, 03:35 AM
| | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Knebel Double-post .... Note To Self .... Make-up some Lies to cover yer-ass.
Visit Montana sometime ..... Visit someone other than me ....
Most Folks up-here are friendly ... I am not one of Those. | to quote my kids ... W T F?? we're talking false nuts here, not real ones!! 
Last edited by Matthew Tucker : 11-05-2009 at 03:38 AM.
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