Brass nut yes or no

[jjk2007]

I've been wanting to get the latest brass just-a-nut for my Warwick for a bit now. They're pretty pricey though.

 

[Vanceman]

I had a dog with brass nuts and no hind legs... I called him Sparky.

 

[jbybj]

Tone, schmone, it's of no consequence. What is great about a brass nut, at least the alembic ones I know, is that they're very hard to break and they're adjustable. For me, that's worth the price of admission right there.

 

[ModuMan]

I've been wanting to get the latest brass just-a-nut for my Warwick for a bit now. They're pretty pricey though.

I just got a new brass JAN III for my SSI 4-string. Shiny! Yeah, they do cost a few bucks.

Tone, schmone, it's of no consequence. What is great about a brass nut, at least the alembic ones I know, is that they're very hard to break and they're adjustable. For me, that's worth the price of admission right there.

Completely agree. While choice of material may be debatable, adjustability is key!

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

should be a poll
I say "meh" or Carrots.

Once you fret a note, the nut means NOTHING.

 

[Kmonk]

My Alembics have brass nuts and they sound great. I've never owned any other bass with a brass nut but might give it a shot.

 

[Ken J]

I want my bass to sound like wood, not a big hunk of brass.

+1
That's why I play fretless
Prefer a bone nut
A luthier friend of mine ages whale bone in his third floor attic for decades
Watched him pull out coffee cans of bone and carve and sand them down.

 

[malthumb]

I'm not sure if "you" even exist. You keep using the same photos over and over. lol

Of course I exist. I'm a 14 yr old kid in Montana who likes to post on Internet forums whenev.......ummmm.......nevermind

 

[malthumb]

Tone, schmone, it's of no consequence. What is great about a brass nut, at least the alembic ones I know, is that they're very hard to break and they're adjustable. For me, that's worth the price of admission right there.

My Alembics have brass nuts and they sound great. I've never owned any other bass with a brass nut but might give it a shot.

Yeah, my first intro to brass nuts was on my Alembics. And the whole adjustability thing is great. But I never noticed the tonal effects until I had the two Sabres, one with, one without.

Funny thing is that the one that came with, I didn't add it. And when I bought the bass it was from a Craigslist seller in San Francisco area. A condition of the sale was that he deliver it to my pals at Alembic and have them ship it to me. Wonder what they thought when they saw the brass nut.

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

What I hear..

Bass with standard plastic nut/sounds like strings and wood with slight metallic zing
Bass with brass nut/sounds like strings and wood with additional unwanted ringing noise

I don't think it actually changes anything. It just adds some zing to the what's there.

 

[wisconsindead]

I understand where people are coming from on the nut having no impact but lets think about what a string would sound like if it didn't experience the tension from the tuning pegs. You need the pull from the pegs which go over the nut to produce a legitimate note/vibration. So dont both the pegs and nut still have an impact on the vibration of the body/string which relates to tone and sustain? Just a postulation. I'd like to talk to a physics prof about this.

I have two Music Man Sabres. The '79 has a stock nut. The '80 has a brass nut. They wear the same strings. The '80 has better sustain and (imho) clearer, bell like tone, particularly with open strings.

Couldn't this also be due to other factors?

And I have no idea about whether the material of a nut impacts the tone/sustain. Never used a brass nut.

 

[Humbled]

When I bust a nut, I replace with bone as quickly as possible.


I'm actually serious. Whatever's on it is fine with me until I must replace it because of damage. Then I like bone because it, well, it looks, um... ...nice.

 

[west al]

I had a brass nut on a Fender Precision, and didn't notice any difference from the standard factory nut.

 

[Maxdusty]

I wouldn't go out of my way to replace my existing nuts with brass ones. (lol- my wife would say otherwise)
I do have one bass with one, and I think it sounds great but I think it's contribution to the overall sound of the bass is minimal. That being said, yes, I do hear and feel an overall difference when I open fret a note, ever so slightly.
It'll last a long time, durable - I guess that's the bigger advantage of the nuts than the sound quality.

 

[Baird6869]

I like them because they look cool and never seem to break (IME).

Sound-wise? I maybe notice a bit better tone on open strings, but blind, I doubt I could notice a difference.

 

[Stick_Player]

So you have a wooden nut?

Yes, on my Double Bass I do.

 

[mellowinman]

There once was a man from Madras...

 

[Deleted member 264575]

So you have a wooden nut?

This one apparently has a maple nut. :
Made In USSR / VINTAGE 70s RODEN Soviet USSR AXE Electric Bass Guitar
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Deleted member 264575]

I don't think it actually changes anything. It just adds some zing to the what's there.

My MM 'Ray' has a LOT of zing (brass nut). I was considering getting the string mutes working to calm it down a bit. Now 'ya got me wondering...

 

[Mark4]

I've thought about it. Frets are metal, and a metal nut might help open strings sound more like fretted. The zero fret on my Hohner headless seems to have that kind of effect, but a brass nut isn't a zero fret. It's different, and I don't have enough experience with brass nuts to say for sure. One thing that I do know makes a big difference, however, is a properly cut/filed nut. My set of nut files was one of my best bass-related purchases. Perhaps some of the difference folks here has more to do with going from a poorly cut nut to one that's cut right, than to the difference in materials.