| Author |
Topic: TUSQ XL nut material |
Tom Campbell
From:
Houston, Texas, USA
|
Posted 28 Feb 2018 10:38 am |
|
I'm thinking of using Graph Tech's TUSQ XL material for a nut. I would be using this nut with the multibender. It's Teflon impregnated so as to provide a slick release/return for string pulls.
This product is used on regular guitars that have a lot of "whammy-bar" use/misuse.
Anyone familiar with this product? |
|
|
 |
Mick Hearn
From:
United Kingdom
|
Posted 28 Feb 2018 12:41 pm
|
|
I have not tried the nuts but do have their bridge saddles installed on a Fender Jaguar. Helped with sustain.
_________________
MSA Classic 12 string Universal, Remington Steelmaster D8, National D8 Console x 2, George Boards Lap Steel, National New Yorker. |
|
|
|
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
|
Posted 1 Mar 2018 8:19 pm
|
|
Well, it does what it's supposed to, and well. I used to do a lot of fretwork and setups and such and I ended up preferring bone, for the most part. The Tusq stuff is a bearing material designed to resist scratching by metal. So there you are, with a METAL nut file in your hand, designed to scratch grooves into nuts, negotiating with the stuff.  Bear down a little, nothing happens. Bear down a little more, still - not a scratch. Bear down a LITTLE BIT MORE... too much happens! The best thing I found was to use abrasive papers, starting at 220 or 320, and lock it into a vise with a little brass plate on either side to put a positive STOP depth for the notches. You're use is somewhat less finicky as far as exacting height requirements, though I'd still set up to use the stop plates. I was just... well it was bad enough getting suckered into doing fret jobs for cheapskate students and bandmates, who then want a Tusq nut and then ARGUE over the $10 per blank price.
"But it's so easy!"
"Great, so do it yourself! I'll loan you the book I learned from..."
"But I don't have the right files..."
"I'll loan you the files...."
"But you know how, so..."
"So you ask your auto mechanic to INSTALL $27 WORTH OF A NEW STARTER 'UNTIL YOU GET CAUGHT UP'..." howza 'bout half a new tire.... Grrr, gnash, etc.  |
|
|
|
Tom Campbell
From:
Houston, Texas, USA
|
Posted 2 Mar 2018 6:40 am
|
|
Thanks for the "slot depth" tip.
I plan on practicing on a nut, the same size, that is made out of a very tough nylon material. This material is from a "blade-stop" used on commercial bindery paper cutters...it will stop a 50 lb. hydraulic blade. It is also very slick...might even be great for a guitar nut. |
|
|
|
