Q: I play a Martin D-28SW. I’ve been utilizing medium-gauge Martin Monel Tony Rice strings for a number of years and like them lots. A few of the strings, significantly the wound third, get a bit of caught when I’m tuning. If the string is a bit of sharp and I tune it down, the pitch drops too far. Once I tune again up, the string goes too sharp, with a bit of clicking sound. How can this slight however annoying tuning drawback be mounted?  —Invoice Pramuk, Napa, CA

A: What you’re experiencing is a quite common drawback—and, fortunately, one which’s simply remedied.

It pertains to the dimensions and form of the slots within the nut, which is a essential space the place a number of thousandths of an inch could make a giant distinction in your consolation, intonation, and tuning stability.

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The clicking you hear is the sound of string rigidity being launched from one facet of the nut to the opposite. That is fairly presumably as a result of bigger gauge of the Monel strings you talked about, which at .013–.056 are heavier than the .012–.052 set Martin doubtless put in on the guitar throughout meeting. Thicker strings would require the nut slots to be widened, making certain that they’ll go freely via the slots with none binding or pinching. Due to the break angle (the angle change between the fretboard and the headpiece) there’ll all the time be some downward stress from the string, so it’s vital that the slot be formed and completed appropriately, in addition to sized appropriately.

When appropriately minimize, a nut slot ought to have a U-shaped profile—straight partitions and a half-rounded backside. A typical drawback is slots with a V form—in these instances, downward stress causes the string to wedge itself into the narrowing backside of the V, and inevitably the string will pinch and bind in consequence. The slot backside needs to be easy and freed from “chatter marks,” the tough texture attributable to incorrect or incomplete submitting. I often measurement nut slots wherever from .003–.006 inches bigger than the said string diameter. This avoids any potential friction, even in instances the place the participant goes up a gauge.

Nut-slot depth is the opposite parameter that has a big effect. If the slots are filed too deeply, the open strings will buzz and the nut would require substitute or restore. Nonetheless, the far more widespread state of affairs is that the slots are shallow—on this case, the strings will likely be too far above the frets. Because of this, merely urgent the strings to the frets will bend them sharp. This impact will likely be most noticeable within the first few positions—and since that’s the place one often contains open strings alongside fretted ones, it’s often very noticeable. Throughout setup, most luthiers use feeler gauges or different measuring instruments to dial in a nut depth that permits minimal clearance above the frets with out buzzing. Completely different gamers and taking part in kinds generally require particular tweaks—for those who’re an open-position strummer, your excellent setup could be totally different from that of a fleet-fingered soloist.

This could be an excellent second to say the wide selection of nut supplies which can be accessible. Historically, nuts and saddles had been manufactured from natural bone, which is plentiful, sturdy, simply labored with hand instruments, and might be polished to a lovely completed floor. Some classic devices even have ivory nuts—fortunately, that’s now not performed! Bone stays the usual in opposition to which different supplies are evaluated, and there’s a widespread perception that it’s nonetheless the only option for tone.

Nonetheless, many different extra fashionable supplies have confirmed themselves as viable alternate options. Within the Seventies, brass nuts had been very fashionable, and a well-cut brass nut can carry out fairly properly. (Frets themselves are manufactured from a brass alloy, in spite of everything.) Synthetics comparable to Corian, Delrin, carbon fiber/graphite, and different composites are more and more utilized in each manufacturing guitars and handmade devices, and so they supply some compelling benefits in comparison with the previous customary: they’re simpler to machine with out chipping or cracking and might in some instances be molded to very shut tolerances, permitting for faster and extra correct setups in a manufacturing unit setting. Some nut supplies additionally incorporate graphite and different self-lubricating supplies, which assist alleviate pinching and binding points. 

Lastly, composite supplies are far more uniform and homogenous—bone, as a pure materials, varies fairly extensively in energy, density, and resilience, and never all items are assured to make good nuts. For these causes, many producers have gone over to composites for these elements, with wonderful outcomes—manufacturing unit setups on acoustic guitars have steadily improved within the final 15–20 years, which is nice information for gamers at each degree.

There’s appreciable debate amongst gamers concerning the results of nut materials on tone. The loudest voices in these discussions are often these advocating for bone, and it’s fairly true that the traditional American flattop tone contains bone nuts and saddles, nevertheless massive their contribution could also be. However there are numerous elements that have an effect on the tone of any given instrument, and plenty of of them are far more important: the properties of the highest, again and facet materials, measurement and place of the bracing, stiffness of the neck, and plenty of extra. Subsequent to those basic properties, nut and saddle materials make, in my expertise, a comparatively small affect—and within the case of the nut, an affect that’s solely heard when taking part in open strings. A terrific guitar will likely be nice whatever the nut materials, and a poor one often can’t be saved by a magic piece of bone.

In the end, the nut setup is much extra vital than the fabric—a poorly adjusted nut will make a guitar troublesome to play, exhausting to maintain in tune, and inconceivable to intonate—and that will likely be way more noticeable than any little tone distinction I can think about!

A professional luthier ought to be capable to fine-tune the nut on your strings in comparatively little time, and you’ll doubtless discover advantages to your motion and intonation, in addition to your tuning stability. These changes have presumably probably the most bang-for-your-buck of any funding you may make in your setup, and they’re going to repay each time you decide up the guitar.

Martin Keith is a luthier, restore and restoration knowledgeable, and dealing musician based mostly in Woodstock, New York. martinkeithguitars.com 

This text initially appeared within the November/December 2019 situation of Acoustic Guitar journal.

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