Hi.
Welcome to TalkBass
Wuapo.
Asking about nuts always brings the hibernating comedians up over here, I'm sure it's nothing personal
.
As for cutting the nut, unless You're willing to pay a music shop to do it, you might as well buy some cheap tools and do it yourself.
The material for the practice pieces is un-important. Any piece of plastic, even soft one will do. A hard plastic may even serve as a permanent nut. Any hardwood is a good candidate as well. Bone is the traditional material and metals entered the scene in the 80's IIRC. Majority of the nuts are some sort of plastic though.
In addition to the material, You only need a flat file to shape the block to have two surfaces at exactly 90 at each other (facing the end of the fretboard and facing the surface of the headstock), and a round needle-file to file the slots.
If You buy a nut-block, You won't probably even need a flat file.
After You have the block, first file dents for E and G strings with the round file.
Then position the A and D between them with either equal gaps or equal centers, which-ever You prefer.
Assuming that the setup of the neck and the bridge are near enough, tune the strings up to the pitch and start lowering the nut slots until the action feels correct.
Then tune down, put a small spot of white glue between the nut and the headstock and restring.
Done.
About the only thing to look for is to have the highest point of the slot at the edge nearest to the fretboard, otherwise You won't be able to intonate nor tune the bass as the lenght of the first fret gap is incorrect.
I prefer Graphtech carbon impregnated plastic nuts, but any hard enough material will do, including metals if You have the patience to work on those.
Regards
Sam
