Martin Nut Question

[Lime1GT]

Hi, I have a Martin DCPA4 Rosewood guitar. Is there a replacement flat bottom nut for this guitar or do I have to buy the Tusq PQ-M644-00 nut with the angled bottom and sand it down? Tusq or bone would be fine. Would I have to make one myself?

[nikpearson]

Making a good nut requires a few specialist tools so unless you intend to do this regularly you may prefer to get a new nut made by a local guitar tech or luthier.

For me, a bone replacement will last longer and look better. Tusk is softer than bone and won’t polish up as nicely as bone. It also has the tendency to turn orange (think nicotine stain) over the years.

If you choose to make the nut yourself you can buy nut blanks for £2-3. You’ll need tools to shape the nut and cut the slots, the latter of which can be quite pricey. Whilst you can cut nut slots with needle files this takes more skill than using dedicated nut slotting files.

[phavriluk]

there's no such thing as a drop-in replacement nut. Each nut needs to be fitted to its particular guitar, for a whole slew of reasons. I suggest that OP find a luthier who will make and install a nut for OP's guitar. And as a byproduct of that, OP will be halfway into a good setup, the rest being facilitated by the absence of the nut. A new nut offers a good opportunity for a whole lot of fine tuning.

[dtpolk]

A tip on where to find bone material :Most large pet stores sell bags of beef bone as dog treats. They are cheap, clean and dry and I got several saddles and nuts out of the last bag. Note that this is raw material and you'll need tools to cut and shape whatever you make.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by dtpolk

A tip on where to find bone material :Most large pet stores sell bags of beef bone as dog treats. They are cheap, clean and dry and I got several saddles and nuts out of the last bag. Note that this is raw material and you'll need tools to cut and shape whatever you make.

A word of warning, bones from pet shops need a lot more drying before being used on guitars, if you do not dry them adequatley the bone leaches grease into the wood shelf and makes quite a bit of permanent damage to your guitar

Steve

[nikpearson]

No need to take any unnecessary risks with low quality bone, just buy a coupe, of blanks from a luthier supply or eBay.

[Lime1GT]

Thanks for the replies.

Originally Posted by phavriluk

there's no such thing as a drop-in replacement nut. Each nut needs to be fitted to its particular guitar, for a whole slew of reasons. I suggest that OP find a luthier who will make and install a nut for OP's guitar. And as a byproduct of that, OP will be halfway into a good setup, the rest being facilitated by the absence of the nut. A new nut offers a good opportunity for a whole lot of fine tuning.

I understand the Tusq nut still has to be fitted properly but I was merely looking to find the correct manufactured nut for my modern Martin. That way I don't have to set the string spacing. Seems Graph Tech only makes the older version I listed. I wrote Graph Tech later and they gave me a different number, PQ-6234-00 but local guitar shop says they don't have that number listed. Guess I'll have to write Graph Tech again. I do have a spare bone blank if I want to make a new nut myself.

[John Arnold]

A word of warning, bones from pet shops need a lot more drying before being used on guitars, if you do not dry them adequately the bone leaches grease into the wood shelf and makes quite a bit of permanent damage to your guitar

Most of the pet shop bone I have used has been bleached, and does not have that problem.