Active Band Man Chats - Nut Edition

What should we talk about this time?

This time, it’s about the nut!

The nut? That’s another pretty niche part…

Well, we’ve already covered the body, neck, and everything else, so only the niche parts are left.

That’s true, but… is there really that much to talk about?

Hmm, I guess bass nuts might have fewer types compared to guitar nuts.

I didn’t even know guitars had more variety to begin with (laughs).

I see (laughs). But before that! Let’s explain—what is a nut?

Please do.

According to Wikipedia!

Oh, you looked it up beforehand.

A fermented food made by fermenting well-steamed soybeans with natto bacteria. Generally refers to “stringy natto.” (Wikipedia)

Huh?

Well!?

That’s…

Heh heh…

That’s natto!!

Ugh, sharp!

Not “sharp” (laughs)…

Look, these days there are all kinds of sauce varieties, and even chopped natto!

You’re really sticking with the natto joke… are you still going with this? (laughs)

Sorry!

As long as you get it, it’s fine.

It’s not as sweet as sweetened natto, though…

Did you say something?

Anyway! …The nut is kind of hard to explain in words… The string wound around the tuning pegs on the head passes through the nut, runs along the fretboard, and reaches the bridge…!

Hmm, I don’t think beginners will get that. Here, take a look at this image.
This part right here.

Well, recently I had the nut slots filed and adjusted, and my guitar has been playing great, so I realized the nut is actually pretty important!

Exactly. It’s the contact point for the strings on the head.

Yeah, we tend to focus on the bridge, but I think the nut is just as important.

That’s so true…

So, about the different types of nuts.

Tell me.

It’s traditionally made of bone. Then there’s easy-to-process plastic, and also metal like brass.

That sounds like it would affect the tone quite a bit!

It does. Plastic gives a lighter sound, bone gives good note separation, and brass is said to reduce the difference in tone between fretted notes and open strings.

I see. So it kind of works like a zero fret… maybe?

That might be the case! There are also materials like ivory and synthetic ivory. I don’t have much experience with different nuts myself, but guitar nuts have some more unusual types too!

Oh? Like what?

On guitars with a Floyd Rose system, there are locking nuts!

Yeah, the type that needs a wrench.

And then, there are roller nuts!

Rollers?

Just like the name suggests, each string path on the nut has a little roller attached!

Wow, you don’t really see that on basses.

Right, because basically it’s meant to reduce tuning instability when using the tremolo arm.

I see, so the strings that move back and forth with the tremolo glide over the rollers on the nut… yeah, that wouldn’t be common on bass. Maybe on basses with a tremolo arm?

I used to play a guitar with a roller nut, and it was great. More than the tremolo aspect, I liked how even simple chords had this added metallic resonance.

So it actually affects the tone too.

It sounds really bright and shimmering!

Shimmering… yeah, that sounds like something you’d like.

I love it!

Normally, you only start noticing the nut when it wears down and the strings start slipping out, but if it actually changes the tone… it makes you want to try different ones.

Yeah. Looking at the Sound House website, they seem to start at around 1,000 yen… so it might be an easy part to try out.
→ Guitar parts / Guitar nut list
→ Bass parts / Bass nut list

You’re right. There are so many. And there really are a lot more for guitars. There are only two pages for bass, but eight pages for guitar… Hang in there, bass parts! (not really)

Hang in there! With bass, the contact area with the strings is larger, so the impact might be bigger too. Oh, this is interesting—this one lets you adjust the height for each string.

The nut really is deeper than I thought…

Sorry for treating it so casually until now.

Yeah, I honestly didn’t pay much attention to it either.

When I was using my Teisco guitar pretty hard, the nut actually came off, but I just kept playing it as is. Sorry for being so careless.

Wait, what do you mean?

You know, the strings press down on the nut from above, so I figured, “Maybe I don’t need to glue it back on,” and just kept using it like that…

I see. Actually, I’ve had a similar experience myself… sorry.

Heh heh.

Oh—looking at my main recording instrument, my Mike Lull Jazz Bass, the nut is two-toned. I wonder if it’s a combination of bone and brass? I never really paid attention to it before… I just noticed it now (laughs).

You’re right. That’s unusual.

Yeah… even when I searched online, I couldn’t find this spec. Maybe it’s rare? This might be a problem when it comes time to replace it (wry laugh).

Yeah, lack of compatibility can be tough. Kind of the fate of unusual instruments.

True… come to think of it, since I use headless instruments like Steinberger and Bacchus, my perspective on nuts is probably a bit different… (laughs)

Oh, I was trying not to bring that up (laughs). Anyway, that wraps up our surprisingly deep dive into nuts! Take care of your nut for a better instrument life! Because, everything is—?

Because of love!