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Nut material that damp hamonics

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Drop1

Mar 28, 2019
1,601
1,796
#1
Do any of you use a nut material for its lack
of sustain?
My open strings will ring for a good 20 plus seconds. It's kind of annoying actually.

The upper harmonics on my e strings do not sound very good (when slapped). Is there a a nut material someone could suggest to tone down the sustain a touch and maybe dampen some of those harmonics? I have used fret wraps, but I hate constantly fiddling with them.

I need a nut job anyway. Figured I could try to attack it at the source if possible.
 
#4
Drop1 said:
I dont want to go that extreme. I just figured if there were a nut material known for having less sustain than another type of material, I'd give it a try.
Click to expand...

A soft plastic, like Delrin or Styrene, for the nut will soften the sustain and ring.

Another quick thing you can try: A piece of soft string slipped under the strings and wedged back right against the face of the nut. A mini-damper. Or maybe a narrow (1/8" wide) strip of felt?
 
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#5
Bruce Johnson said:
A soft plastic, like Delrin or Styrene, for the nut will soften the sustain and ring.

Another quick thing you can try: A piece of soft string slipped under the strings and wedged back right against the face of the nut. A mini-damper. Or maybe a narrow (1/8" wide) strip of felt?
Click to expand...
I have some felt laying around. It may be overkill for what I want but I'll try it. I'm not looking to choke the notes, just ease the upper harmonics a touch. I can do a little at the nut, and a little at with the eq. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't work. Technically there is nothing wrong. My open e in particular just irrates me, especially when slapped. Trying to get a bit more roundess from it without changing strings.
 
#6
Drop1 said:
I have some felt laying around. It may be overkill for what I want but I'll try it. I'm not looking to choke the notes, just ease the upper harmonics a touch. I can do a little at the nut, and a little at with the eq. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't work. Technically there is nothing wrong. My open e in particular just irrates me, especially when slapped. Trying to get a bit more roundess from it without changing strings.
Click to expand...

Yes, try the felt. You can adjust the amount of damping by the width of the strip and how far it extends in front of the strings. I'm thinking an 1/8" wide strip may be all you need. And that could be a permanent solution. You may need to change out the felt strip every few string changes. Once you figure out the width of felt that works for you, you can trim the ends neatly and it will look neat and professional.
 
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#7
Bruce Johnson said:
Yes, try the felt. You can adjust the amount of damping by the width of the strip and how far it extends in front of the strings. I'm thinking an 1/8" wide strip may be all you need. And that could be a permanent solution. You may need to change out the felt strip every few string changes. Once you figure out the width of felt that works for you, you can trim the ends neatly and it will look neat and professional.
Click to expand...
I may try it at the bridge also. The nut has more string moment. Hell, I may try it at both ends at the same time, but I think that would be overkill.
 
#9
Bruce Johnson said:
A soft plastic, like Delrin or Styrene, for the nut will soften the sustain and ring.

Another quick thing you can try: A piece of soft string slipped under the strings and wedged back right against the face of the nut. A mini-damper. Or maybe a narrow (1/8" wide) strip of felt?
Click to expand...

I've used 2-3 pipecleaners, woven through the strings at the brudge.
 
#11
Would one of these work?
upload_2024-4-28_21-26-34.png
 
#14
I have fallen to that myself. . Instead of answering the OP question, simply react to a bottom comment.
Going to OP question, I do not think there is nut material that can tame harmonics and sustain while still leaving and acceptable tone in the bass.
 
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#16
kgbeast said:
I have fallen to that myself. . Instead of answering the OP question, simply react to a bottom comment.
Going to OP question, I do not think there is nut material that can tame harmonics and sustain while still leaving and acceptable tone in the bass.
Click to expand...
I'm not really trying to kill the harmonics, just reduce them a tiny bit. I think their is a list of which nut materials have the most sustain. I'll just work backwards and choose the material listed with the least sustain. It should be a soften material and therefor should have less pronounced upper harmonics. We will see. If not I'll just live with it. It's not that serious. Definitely not serious enough for me to deal with a getting a fret wrap to sit just right every time I pick the bass up.
 
#17
What kind of bass is it? With a Fender-style nut in a slot, you are a bit more limited but most types of plastic would be slightly softer/ more resilient than bone if that is what you have now. If it is a shelf type nut that sits at the end of the fingerboard, you could try a hard wood like ebony or boxwood. Any difference is going to be quite subtle but it sounds like that is all you are looking for, so it is worth a shot.
 
#18
Bloomfield said:
What kind of bass is it? With a Fender-style nut in a slot, you are a bit more limited but most types of plastic would be slightly softer/ more resilient than bone if that is what you have now. If it is a shelf type nut that sits at the end of the fingerboard, you could try a hard wood like ebony or boxwood. Any difference is going to be quite subtle but it sounds like that is all you are looking for, so it is worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Yes I'm being super picky about this. It's not technically a problem , just a small wish I have. Thr nut is on a shelf like you described at the very end of the board so I can use about anything
My gripe is 100% just with the open e so I may just keep some felt under it. I never did fully understand why the other strings upper harmonics sound so perfectly in tune but the e sounds a bit "off: , but ive noticed it on many instruments. I used a fret wrap for the longest time angled in a way where it just barely touched the e and left the other strings clear but maintaining that position is more fiddly than I care for.
 
#19
Drop1 said:
Yes I'm being super picky about this. It's not technically a problem , just a small wish I have. Thr nut is on a shelf like you described at the very end of the board so I can use about anything
My gripe is 100% just with the open e so I may just keep some felt under it. I never did fully understand why the other strings upper harmonics sound so perfectly in tune but the e sounds a bit "off: , but ive noticed it on many instruments. I used a fret wrap for the longest time angled in a way where it just barely touched the e and left the other strings clear but maintaining that position is more fiddly than I care for.
Click to expand...

A quick test of whether a different nut material will soften the sound the way you want is to slip a small round soft plastic rod under the strings, up tight against the face of the nut. So it's lifting the strings up, like a big Zero Fret. Bring it up to tune and see how the strings sound. That will tell you about how much the sustain and ringing will change by going to a soft plastic nut.
 
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#20
Bruce Johnson said:
A quick test of whether a different nut material will soften the sound the way you want is to slip a small round soft plastic rod under the strings, up tight against the face of the nut. So it's lifting the strings up, like a big Zero Fret. Bring it up to tune and see how the strings sound. That will tell you about how much the sustain and ringing will change by going to a soft plastic nut.
Click to expand...
I didn't think about that. I have tried it with metal before to check if my nut was inducing unwanted sounds from being worn, but I didn't try anything softer. Thanks.
 

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