Originally Posted by
The Golden Boy
Does a bone nut make a difference? To me, it's not a matter of looks or tone- the biggest thing a nut can do is allow the string to move in it. When you hear that *ping* either tuning or bending- that's your nut (or your saddles) releasing. It's not so much of a big deal on a bass, but with a guitar, as you play the strings bend- if you bend enough, the string can catch in the nut, and then there's greater pressure on one side and the guitar is out of tune. I may have bone nuts in my older guitars, but I use graphite powder in the slots regardless. I've changed my saddles to GraphTech- best $30 in gear I've spent. I didn't know you could play a whole set and not have to tune.
If the nut is broken or the slots are too wide then of course it needs to be changed. But if it’s fitted correctly, I would bet $$$ you couldn’t hear the difference between a cheap plastic, and the same size Graph Tech TUSQ. The nut is taken out of the equation unless you’re hitting open strings anyway. On the other hand, what musician will admit to this, we’d swear that we could hear a mouse peeing on cotton 50 yards away, and he’s peeing in the key of F#.
Now quid pro quo:
Tell me why one crank is better than another, other than weight. I saw a crank on CL for $250, that’s twice what my bike is worth.