Brass Nut??

[monradon]

I am trying a brass nut on my sons bass. Read alot that people seem to like them. My question is what for glue tite bond ??? Still want to be able to remove it if not please like the plastic one that was on this to be begin with. No one seems to know how brass works but most people say the sustain is improved ?? Any help is good.

[Tone2TheBone]

I don't know if sustain is that critical on a bass since the strings have more mass and will vibrate on their own real well. I did put on a brass nut once on a friend's Ibanez Artist and seemed to create a more solid connection to the neck. I used superglue at the time.....just a few drops and it worked. Probably the wrong kind of glue to use though.....you can search online for the right stuff to use.

[Spudman***]

The main guitar tech for the western US Ibanez importer near me uses super glue on the nuts..and loose frets.
For the frets he squeezes a tiny amount into the gap between the fret and the fingerboard - presses or hammers the fret into place - holds it either by hand or with duct tape - then uses a bit of acetone on a rag to wipe up the excess.
For the nuts he uses a tiny amount just to hold in in place.

[r_a_smith3530]

First, if you want really rich tone, 86 that hunk of brass and go for bone. As nice as Sir Fender Frankenbass sounded before, the polished bone nut that my buddy the guitar tech installed made it sound oh so much better! A very lovely warm tone, with all the sustain that one could ask for.

And never, ever, ever use super glue on wood! First, what super glue does manage to bond properly to will come with your nut/fret if it ever has to be removed again, taking neck wood with it. We are talking hunks of your axe's neck here. Second, super glue doesn't work as well with porous surfaces (i.e. wood). It was designed to be used with non-porous surfaces like metal and plastic. Personally, I would recommend Franklin's Titebond Wood Glue. It is a resin based glue, creates strong joints, cures overnight, and is sandable. Also, it is water soluble.

EDITED: Some of my knowledge is up to date, and then some of it is decades old, and that is the case with the use of super glue. When I made the comments above in the second paragraph, I was leaning back on fifteen year old technology. In speaking today with my friend the guitar tech, the subject of super glue came up, in large part because of this post, but also because he was about to do a partial refret on a guitar. As Steve explained it, super glue isn't just super glue anymore; it's very specialized stuff. Steve specifically mentioned refretting and nut replacement as areas where he would use a super glue of one form or another (he uses about six different types). He did say that he still prefers Titebond for use in neck repairs. Anyway, I just wanted to stand corrected.