Anyone ever used an ebony nut?

[Bandersnatch Reverb]

Well the title sums up the question -

I've got some nice hard ebony to make one out of, but thought I'd ask before I went thru the trouble.

[mrbook]

I had an old (1930s) Gibson guitar with an ebony nut and thought it was great. Martin also used them on some lower end models, I believe. I've thought of trying it on a mandolin, but haven't yet, and do plan to have one on the guitar I'm building.

[Michael Lewis]

Ebony will work as a nut, but it isn't the ideal material because it is softer than most common nut materials(bone, ivory, brass, graphite, pearl, etc). High tension strings on a mandolin will wear out an ebony nut fairly quickly.

[slowpoke]

Michael,
If an ebony nut will wear out fairly quickly, do ebony saddles 'wear out' too and need to be re-slotted from time to time? #Thanks.

Jim

[Bill Snyder]

Fiddles use ebony nuts.

[Jim Rowland]

I've used ebony nuts on guitars. Chipping is the biggest problem.
Jim

[Mike Crocker]

I've seen them on a number of instruments as stated above, and on many "folk" instruments (ie, non-pro made)...another way of getting a different timbre from an instrument. I saw one once which I'm pretty sure was soaked in crazy glue to harden it. The nice thing about nut material is that it's easily changed if you're not pleased with the results.

Peace, Mooh.

[Michael Lewis]

Slowpoke, yes, from time to time ebony saddles wear out and need to be changed, but the nut end of the strings is where the motion is mostly because the machines are there and the other ends of the strings are fixed to the tail piece. So the nut recieves much more friction and wear.

Curious, the fiddles use much lower tension strings than mandolins and they are usually flat wound too, so much less wear there.

[Luthier Vandross]

Unfretted notes do not well match fretted notes, on ebony nutted instruments. Traditionally, ebony nuts go with fretless ebony boards... seeing any pattern?




M

[Darryl Wolfe]

Norman Blake uses ebony nuts. The first Loar I owned had one (Norman owned it), but the original pearl was in the case. The ebony had a warmer softer tone. Norman swears by them, but I personally did not care for it. Putting the pearl nut back on yielded a more metallic brighter tone

[MartinD_GibsonA]

Bought a '24 A-Jr nearly three years ago. #Had a worn ebony nut *and* bridge when I got it. #Replaced both with ebony again. #Wouldn't use anything else on this particular instrument! #Sure they might wear out more quickly, but the tone I get is worth the extra down time and money.

Don Smith

[labraid]

All a matter of what you're in for. Many of my mandos are meant to be somewhat mellow sounding, ebony is awesome for that. I did not find any difference between fretted and unfretted notes' timbre. All sounded equal which is why I went ahead with it. That really is the key, afterall. You could have "The SuperOne A-Quality BRIGHT" material for a nut, but if it doesn't give the same intonation as the fretted notes it is pointless. A bright instrument requires a dense nut, and a mellow one a less dense one. All matched to the instrument and it's purpose in life.
Just been my experience so far...

Brian

[Luthier Vandross]

From now on, when I say anything about mandolins, let's stipulate that I am talking about Loar copies.




M

[labraid]

Sounds like a snappy siggy, Randy.... (or shall we call ye the elusive Randy "M" Wood Vandross? er, what's your name? )

[Rob Grant]

'Nother thing to consider is variation in varieties of ebony and variations within the same tree! I use a bit of local ebony (North Queensland,Oz) and nearby New Guinea ebony for instrument building. Often there seems to be slight differences in the hardness of the timber (orientation of grain or fibre density?).

[John Flynn]

A bright instrument requires a dense nut, and a mellow one a less dense one

OldTymer: That is great info, good to know. I am curious about something though. I have also been told that mother of pearl nuts make for a mellower sound than, say, bone, micarta or ivory, even though MOP is harder than the others. What is your take on that? Is it "hard" without being "dense?" Is it an exception to the rule?

[Luthier Vandross]

Hey, I'm not Randy.. (in the English sense.. possibly)

I just jammed a buncha Jazz with Curtis Burch, and his wailing mado player dood. WOOHOO!

So, off topic, but quite a jewel..

So, there is Grisman... Bill Monroe is walking along, sees Dave thrashing around jazzing, and Bill walks up to Dave, and says, "All that hair on a man, I don't like the looks of that, not a bit!" and Dave says, "Well, ya know Bill, Beethoven had long hair." and Bill says, "What'd he do? He never did any of my songs!".

hah

Curtis, Ricky, and Friends is quite a show, take them in, if you get a chance.


Miles

[LGS]

I've used a split nut(bone G&D - ebony A&E) for over 25 years on my F5. I hasn't worn much. But, I put some lead from a pencil in there every other string change.
LGS