Material for nut and bridge

[velo]

I'm new to making musical instruments, but have just made an octave mandolin. I used brass for the nut and the top of the bridge since I didn't have any other materials to hand. Just wondering what you lot think of using brass and what should I use instead. I'd be glad of any advice, thanks. (I've read somewhere that strings breaking might be a problem cos brass is too hard)

[John Kelly]

Brass can give you a bright sound when used for nut and saddle. I use bone as much as possible for both and have had good results with some Corian I acquired from a friend who got it from folk who make kitchen tops. It is stable and consistent and files and sands well. I often fit a zero fret to my instruments and when I do this i feel the nut material is not so important as the sound at that end is now coming from the string in contact with the zero fret; all the nut does in this case is provide a guide for string spacing.
The saddle I like to keep fairly wide so that I can file in compensation, especially for the 2nd strings. Make sure that whatever you use you cut the slots as accurately as you can and that they are just wide enough to let the string go through freely without binding. At the nut keep the slots shallow - just the depth of the string for the unwound strings and for the wound ones just about half of the string depth. Too deep a slot can cause binding problems with resulting tuning problems and possible string breakages.

[sunburst]

"Standard " materials are bone for the nut, ebony for the bridge. Those are tried and true materials, and it's hard to come up with "better" ones.

[Paul Busman]

I'm in the process of making a Corian nut for my IV kit and so far so good. The is nice and easy to cut, rough with a bandsaw and fine with a razor saw. Sanding and filing is easy too. I can't proceed any further with it until I'm done finishing the mando.
BTW-- I got my piece of Corian free at Home Depot. I asked them if they had any color sample pieces, and they did, in various colors. The pieces are about 2x2" and 1/2" thick which is enough to make a lot of mistakes and still end up with a good nut or two.

[Rob Grant]

FWIW: Brass is a bit heavy for a bridge saddle and will add unnecessary weight to the bridge. If you want to experiment with metal saddles and nuts, try aluminium. You can get some interesting tonal results with metallic saddles and nuts. Didn't 'ol Dave Apollan use an aluminium saddle on one of his Gibsons?

[velo]

Thanks everyone for your replies... very helpful. John, your mention of using a zero fret. I chose to use the nut as the zero (same as my Deering tenor banjo), thinking that it would give me scope for adjustment if necessary. I've noticed that some instruments have a zero fret and some use the nut - is there a best solution ? or is it down to personal preference ?

[Soundfarmer Pete]

I`m a big big fan of Corian (Gibsons are too) and echo the comments above ........originally devoloped for kitchen worktops!
BTW, my first road bike was an alloy MAC in a copy of a "featherbed" frame.......love to know where that one is now.

[Paul Hostetter]

Brass had a moment of fashionability for bridge saddles and nuts about 25 years ago, and was abandoned because it really didn't produce anything brighter, but did in fact suck sound from the strings, like a sound sink, and players eventually found that plain steel strings dug into the softer material which would grab and prevent the strings from sliding through slots.

Corian has been an industry standard for cheap, quick nuts for a long time. It chips easier than bone, and I replace them often. For a nut it's OK while it lasts. As John Hamlett already pointed out, there's a real good reason for the tried-and-true materials.

[John Kelly]

Thanks everyone for your replies... very helpful. John, your mention of using a zero fret. I chose to use the nut as the zero (same as my Deering tenor banjo), thinking that it would give me scope for adjustment if necessary. I've noticed that some instruments have a zero fret and some use the nut - is there a best solution ? or is it down to personal preference ?

The idea of the zero fret is that all notes, whether fretted or open string, are made with the string in contact with a fret, so helping consistency of tone; with no zero fret the open string sound is coming from the bone/corain/etc nut which may give a slightly different tone. I also like the zero fret for the consistent height I can get at the 1st fret. Yes, I can do this on the nut too when I leave out the zero fret but on mandolins in particular I just like using one - as you say yourself, a matter of personal preference (or customer preference).