Tusk Nut or What

[RossJ]

What is a good overall material for a mandolin nut. I have an instrument with a walrus tusk nut and it has two issues. When playing, the tone is good on the fretted strings but the open strings are overly bright and overpower the chords rather than provide an even sound. The string grooves in the nut are very shallow (maybe .008” - .010”, less on the E), even on the G and D strings so I get some open string buzzing. The nut isn’t glued down, so I could file the grooves a bit deeper and shim under the nut to get the proper height back… or I could just replace the tusk nut, but with what material?.. bone? How deep compared to the string diameter should the string grooves be? I’ve carved several ebony nuts for fiddles, but this would be my first mandolin.... seems straight forward.

[Chris Gray]

I'd go with bone https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tool...hed-bone-nuts/

[sgosnell]

I like Tusq nuts. Less string binding. Shallow nut slots are preferable to deep ones, for multiple reasons. String buzz isn't likely caused by shallow nut slots, more likely by the nut slots being too low, and allowing very light contact with the first fret. Impossible to diagnose from long distance without seeing the instrument, though.

[rcc56]

The string height coming off the nut should be such that when the string is fretted between the 2nd and 3rd frets, the string should clear the first fret by a few thousndths of an inch. We like just a little more clearance for the G strings than for the E's.

One rule of thumb is that the ideal depth of the slots for the unwound strings should be the same as the string diameter, and at least half the string diameter for the wound strings. That's only a guide, which is not rigidly adhered to.

I sometimes shim and re-cut nuts.
For new mandolin nuts, I generally use bone, unless the instrument originally had a pearl nut. I've made ebony nuts for guitars upon request. I no longer make ebony mandolin nuts, the material between the pairs breaks out too easily.

Almost any other supplier charges half of what Stewmac charges for bone blanks.

[Harley Marty]

You can also get buzzing if the string is sitting or pivoting on the back side of the nut. Which will also affect the intonation of the instrument.

[Rick Lindstrom]

To elaborate on what Harley Marty said:

The nut slots should slope slightly towards the tuning head and form a break angle at the "front" of the nut adjacent to the fingerboard. Not making sure this is done properly is a common culprit with strings that buzz when open, but not when fretted.

If by some small chance you have a zero fret, all bets are off. And bone, done right, is just fine. Don't over-think it.

[Richard Mott]

Question for luthiers: Was the traditional use of pearl for mandolin nuts prompted more by tone or the higher polish it will take to reduce string friction?

[pops1]

I have been using a tusq graphite nut and like it a lot. It is black so if that bothers you there is that, but I like the lubrication and the strings go easily thru the nut and stay in tune better for me.

[sgosnell]

There are Tusq nuts that are white, really off-white, with the same lubricating properties. The color doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. I have a black nut on one of my guitars, and I like the look on that one.

I think the use of MOP is mostly for looks, but it's also hard and may result in a brighter sound. I'm not sure the nut material has a huge effect on tone, but I wouldn't say it has none.

[CES]

There are Tusq nuts that are white, really off-white, with the same lubricating properties. The color doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. I have a black nut on one of my guitars, and I like the look on that one.

I think the use of MOP is mostly for looks, but it's also hard and may result in a brighter sound. I'm not sure the nut material has a huge effect on tone, but I wouldn't say it has none.

Nut material at least has an effect on the open strings' tone , and I agree with you that MOP is probably a little brighter sounding. Probably not much if any effect on fretted strings. Our local Martin Certified repair guy has told me on a couple of occasions that he prefers bone on purely acoustic instruments, but he likes Tusq on instruments with pickups, particularly in the saddle. He feels like it gives a better sound through the pick-up than bone. My mandolins have all had bone nuts except for my Flatiron 1N, which was ebony iirc (though it may have been some sort of plastic; been 5 years + since I sold it), but I've had a couple of guitars with Tusq nuts/saddles that sound quite good and they don't require the lubrication that bone can. Either can work well, and there's probably not enough of a tone difference to really notice (at least to my middle aged ears).