Quote:
Originally Posted by mcintalker  The "suspect in question" does in fact drop in to the Fender nut slot and then the shelves lean over or rest on top of the fingerboard. I haven't seen the acoustic ones yet, nor the one I ordered for my Epi Night Hawk.
In Nashville they call (or perhaps used to) these kind of intonated nuts
" shelved". Some of the nut slots are also cut back further into the nut body, by the way.
My acoustic guitars, especially the 12 strings, got louder once I had these nuts made. I theorized that it was because the strings were more in tune with each other ( the octaves) and in better sympathy, harmonically. A friend who also had his guitars and bass done, and I both noticed we were using less EQ on tracks with these instruments and that they blended better- more readily. I am used to it now after 13 years, and want to do it to my new guitars and basses (baritone, and mandolin). This will be my first Earvana experience, though I have tried all the Feiten guitars run across in shops.
RE butchered guitars; I've been asked to fix some that didn't "deserve" to be repaired. As a guitar teacher, I would be exposed to some very creative "fixery" and be asked if they (the student-to-be) could learn on this "guitar shaped" object-clunker-turd. LOL |
It seems like the Earvana nut has been available now for maybe 10 years or so. I installed one on a strat several years ago, and I don't recall having too much trouble with fitting it to the slot. I don't remember the packaging having the term "drop in" on it, but it's the same product. I've had no experience with their other products. I've made hundreds of nuts from scratch - usually from bone. However, I've never tried making a "shelved" or "compensated" nut. Perhaps I'll give it a try on one of my own guitars some time.
There is a very in depth article article written by Greg Byers published in
American Lutherie #47 1996. His article, which is based on the compiled results of numerous experiments, explains how he came up with a design that looks a lot like the Earvana nut. The back issue is available from The Guild of American Luthiers, and is reprinted in their
Big Red Book of American Lutherie vol 4.
I think that your observation regarding improved volume after having "shelved" nuts installed on your acoustic guitars is indeed valid. Don Teeter, in his book
The Acoustic Guitar, he remarks about improved volume after installing an accurately compensated saddle on an acoustic guitar. He also makes mention of "advancing" the nut a-la-Buzz Feiton, however his book predated Feiton's innovations by a couple of decades.
Check out this link to a website dedicated to the history of Microfrets Guitars:
Microfrets Pages
These instruments (made in the late 60's!) had adjustable nuts (similar to the Earvana, but adjustable), locking saddles, and wireless transmitters.
I was involved in a discussion here on GS a couple of months ago regarding the Earvana nut:
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/guita...-dont-get.html
I should confess that in this post, I am regurgitating information (from my own posts and from others') from that particular thread.
Since we are kind of off-topic on this particular thread, perhaps any further discussion involving the Earvana nut should take place there.
Re butchered guitars: I have had to turn down quite a few repair jobs where the "butchery" was so severe that the cost of the repair work exceeded the value of the instrument. On "good' guitars (Martins, Gibsons, Fenders), they are usually worth fixing. However, it's always easier to do it right the first time than to have to undo crappy work, which often involves replacing entire chunks of wood, or carefully sanding off haphazardly applied super-glue, and so-on. I also hate to see a nice guitar with a nut that has been replaced sloppily, which is what inspired me to go off on the rant in my first post on this thread.