Brass Nuts

[Jono Bolton]

Hi

I'm thinking about having a brass nut fitted to my Marcus Miller to increase the sustain. It already has a Badass bridge on it, but I'm looking to fit a brass nut to really get it ringing. I'm currently using a Graphtech Tusq nut on it which isn't bad for only six quid, but would it be worth the expense of having a brass nut made and fitted? The tech I normally go to charges £45 for a new brass nut. Would a brass nut be a significant enough improvement to justify the outlay? I use D'addario Prosteels strings as they're the brightest sounding strings I've found, so I don't think a change of strings would be enough.

Has anyone else had a brass nut fitted, and what are their experiences?

Cheers

Jono

[Tinman]

I have a brass nut fitted in my Shuker and I couldn't really say that it sustains more or less than any of my other basses. Certainly, it doesn't ring any longer than my Stingray.

[henry norton]

Brass didn't make much, if any difference to the standard plastic job fitted to my Precision - it's also easy to forget if it [i]did[/i] make a difference it would only be on the open strings. (Hope I'm not sounding too condescending).

[Jono Bolton]

[quote name='henry norton' post='788547' date='Mar 28 2010, 03:07 PM']Brass didn't make much, if any difference to the standard plastic job fitted to my Precision - it's also easy to forget if it [i]did[/i] make a difference it would only be on the open strings. (Hope I'm not sounding too condescending). [/quote]

Not at all, it's a good point, something I hadn't thought of.

I would say though that the Tusq nut I've got on my basses have made a noticable difference over the bog standard plastic ones I've had previously, I found that the notes tended to die quite quickly. I'm mostly curious to find out if brass would make enough of a difference to justify the money.

[Doddy]

Bear in mind that as soon as you fret a note it makes absolutely no difference
what the nut is made.

[Bay Splayer]

brass nuts....

no.... its the way i walk


i`ll get me coat

[acidbass]

[quote name='Doddy' post='788607' date='Mar 28 2010, 04:14 PM']Bear in mind that as soon as you fret a note it makes absolutely no difference
what the nut is made.[/quote]

I guess you could say though that if the nut is made of the same material as the fret, that the voicing of the open note would be closer to the fretted notes?

Just a thought!

[Happy Jack]

Surely this is just a fashion thing?

I can't imagine anyone being able to hear the difference between a bass with a brass nut and an identical bass with a plastic nut. Take that comparison into a band mix and any chance, no matter how infinitesimal, disappears completely.

It looks kinda purdy ... and that's it, really.

[Mr. Foxen]

It is also handy for earthing the strings if you have a monorail type bridge.

[4 Strings]

My Musicman has a brass nut. Polishes up nice.

[shinhoman]

do you really need your sustain to be that long?

how often do you let one ring note for more than a few seconds?

x

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='acidbass' post='790631' date='Mar 30 2010, 02:35 PM']I guess you could say though that if the nut is made of the same material as the fret, that the voicing of the open note would be closer to the fretted notes?

Just a thought![/quote]

Nah it's not really, you can still hear the difference with open strings.

A zero fret, on the other hand...

[peted]

I had the plastic nut on my Precision replaced with a brass one and it doesn't make any difference to sustain (or any other part of the waveform envelope as far as I can tell). I think it's just more hard-wearing and helps with string grounding as mentioned previously.

[4 Strings]

I have put a Hip Shot Extender on my Musicman, which has the brass nut, and it works well. Probably would with the plastic nut also but maybe it will wear less - over a prolonged period of 'extending'.

There can be no sonic difference from a fretted note with a brass nut. With an open string there may well be slight difference but I very, very rarely play open strings (apart from low E) as the tone is completely different to fretted notes anyway. Maybe a lot of Mark King style slapping in E would make it worthwhile.

Surely the only reason to replace a perfectly good plastic or bone nut with brass is because it looks like brass. I remember in the 80s this was popular, even graphite nuts to ease tuning. Makes no odds to me though.