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Anyone else like brass nuts?
- Thread starter DaveParker39
- Start date
I had brass nuts on the three basses I assembled (below) and really liked the results. For my latest round of builds I've been using Zero Glide zero frets on Fender OEM roasted necks and those have also worked out well. I've always liked zero frets and the fellow who installed them said it was a pretty straightforward process.
Actually that picture makes it look like there's a huge gap under the zero fret - there isn't. This one shows detail maybe a bit better?
If that neck was never intended to have a zero fret, the first fretted note is probably on the flat side.
I was looking for a 40mm nut and someone in the luthier forum mentioned an adjustable brass nut in that width. The design is such that I think I can switch between EADG and BEAD tunings without worrying about slit widths, so I picked it up. Haven't installed it, so I don't have an opinion yet.
It's all I use. I had a plastic nut break one time. Replaced it with a brass one. Was so impressed I have replaced every nut one every Bass since except Basses that have zero frets.
After purchasing it, i took it to my local luthier (Highland Music - they have a PLECK!) who did the setup and showed me how the screws work (each screw just raise and lower the string height at the nut as it's turned and nothing else, so i think they can be at any angle, depending on how high or low i want that action.
Another nice thing about a brass nut is they barely wear any appreciable amount over time. If the slots do wind up too deep from over-filing, etc. they can be filled with brass brazing rod or silver solder and re-slotted, which effectively brings the nut back to a new condition.
The slots are cut twice, at 90 degrees from one another. This way the slot lines up with the string every quarter turn of the height-adjustment screw.
Im on my second bass build with a brass nut, I like it aesthetically, but havent heard any audible difference from other nut materials. Its nice bass jewelry, but tarnishes as quick as you'd expect. I almost bought one of those Warwick "Just-a-Nuts" with the screw height adjusters, but they want stupid money for them, and as @Turnaround said, they really serve no useful purpose. On the downside, its a lot more work to make them unless you can find a pre-cut blank. Axemasters sells them on Ebay for most common bass types and nut widths, I bought one for my Ric clone build, and it was a perfect fit and required only final polish and cutting the slots to depth. They claim its made from "musical bell brass", which may or not actually exist, but hey....marketing.
Here's an exception: I owned a '72 Jazz in which the truss rod cavity was hollowed under the nut. Plastic nuts cracked in the middle eventually. A brass nut solved the problem permanently. I don't recall any sonic effect from the change.
Turnaround
Commercial User
The way they design the Zero Glide it intonates properly. The nut face is stepped back toward the headstock so the fret sits at the proper break point.
Does the crown of the zero sit at where the fingerboard edge of the nut usually sits?
I've never had issues with the nut turning green, but I imagine results would vary according to the chemistry of each individual's perspiration. Mine just tend to look dull after awhile. Once they are polished up, an application of laquer would slow down the tarnishing for awhile.
Most brass is coated.
I have a brass nut on my TWB.
It has never been green.
And I don't polish it.
