Anyone have a brass nut on a P bass?

[IronSpatula]

Please remove whatever nut you have on your bass and replace it with a stick of soft pencil eraser. Tune, play. Sounds just like usually? No?

Have you actually done this? Have you seen it done?

I cant say nut material has no effect whatsoever on fretted notes. But I'm pretty confident that the difference between brass, bone, and any given hard synthetic would be too small to detect in any meaningful situation. And the differences among any of those hard materials (discernible or not) would surely be smaller than the difference between any hard material and something as soft as a pencil eraser.

If the test you described actually exists I would love to see the results. I'm not being sarcastic here, I'm actually curious. I bet if a stick was worked into a decently-cut wooden nut the fretted notes would sound fine. I have no idea about the pencil eraser though.

 

[GIBrat51]

Not on my P-Bass, no. I did put one on my '73 Rick 4001. I think there might be a touch more sustain vs. the original nut, but Ricks are sustain-monsters anyway. Also, the original nut was so boogered up (switched from lefty to righty and back-twice), that even AlexanderB's pencil eraser might have been an improvement. A/B ing it with my 4003 would be useless; very different strings. I agree that they probably change the open note; for better or worse would be, as with most things bass-wise, in the ear of the owner. And, IMO, fretting a string takes any nut out of the equation. I have basses with brass, aluminum, TusQ, bone, Mammoth Ivory (kneel before me!), and plastic nuts. Even have one with no nut at all. To me, they sound the way they sound; use whatever makes you happy!

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

If you are playing super super clean with lots of long sustained notes you MIGHT be able to tell a difference. Brass is definitely my favorite nut material, but it isn't a dealbreaker. Throw any amount of FX/Distortion (even just a little bit) and whatever you are getting from that nut is now pretty much cancelled out.

 

[AlexanderB]

Hey, guys, I admit I am being slightly provocative here, but also tounge in cheek.
This mostly because it is so tiresome to read "it makes no difference at all" about so many things that DO make a difference. A wenge/purpleheart/bubinga Warwick will NOT sound like a Precision just because you put a P pickup in it.
Maybe if you play flats with a pick through lo-fi pedal pre, into some muffled old tube amp into a generic, sealed, old 15" loudspeaker. Those guys also probably have never experienced a dead spot on a Fender.
My go-to tone is very clean through SS preamp/channel strip, QSC PA amp into an "extended range" speaker. String brand, setup, playing nuances, even minor changes to blend/VVT/tone etc (different basses...) are very audible.
Did a neck relief + Micro tilt angle + string height etc adjustment on my Fender Jazz a couple of years ago. Changed the tone alot, even with the exact same strings.

 

[DigthemLows]

Invalid Link RemovedI just like the look

 

[BassBeginer64]

To me the Brass Nut (Adjust Nut 3) seems to be a great way for adjustment on your strings, and durability, set and forget it, I like that.

 

[TomB]

My '72 jazz neck was so thin that the truss rod cavity was exposed below the nut which then cracked in the center - twice. A brass nut fixed that for good. I couldn't tell you if it affected the sound. It was a great-sounding bass before and after!

 

[charlie monroe]

My '72 jazz neck was so thin that the truss rod cavity was exposed below the nut which then cracked in the center - twice. A brass nut fixed that for good. I couldn't tell you if it affected the sound. It was a great-sounding bass before and after!

My '71 Jazz has a brass nut installed, but it had nothing to do with sound. On the very thin '70's necks, the truss rod route is deep enough in my case to actually leave a void below the nut. After the 2nd nut broke in the middle above that gap, I went for a brass one. Problem solved for 25 years since.

72 or 71?

 

[TomB]

72 or 71?

I've seen the serial number listed as both, though I was told it was a '72 when I bought it, so that's what I usually call it. I would believe either. No neck date was included. But yes, same bass in either case. You know us old folks, we keep telling the same stories over and over... .