Nut Material "What's Right For You"

You know, I was thinking about nut material for guitars and it was pretty obvious that this is one of the big things you can do to help with your tone.  In this post, I'm going to go over some of the materials that are commonly used for this purpose and explain the benefits and possible disadvantages of each material.  First, I need to grab a beer (Yuengling of course )

We'll start with the cheapest and work our way up to the good stuff.

• Molded Plastic - If your guitar has this, get rid of it as soon as possible.  This is just about the worst stuff you can have for nut material.  A lot of guitar manufacturers use this material because it's cheap and you can get it molded with the string slots already in the plastic.  It is also a tone suck, by this I mean that this material will not allow the guitar to sustain properly.  In other words, I don't recommend this stuff at all.
• Corian Material - This is a step up from the molded plastic, however, it is still not the greatest material to use.  Your sustain will increase slightly with this material but not enough to invest in this as your go to material to use for nuts.
• Tusq Nuts - These are from a company by the name of Graph Tech.  They make pretty decent stuff.  Again this is a polymer based material with high levels of heat and pressure to transfer string energy and allow the guitar to sustain much better.  For a synthetic material, I would recommend this for all around purposes.  
• Black Tusq Nuts - Again, this is a material from Graph Tech.  It is made with the same technique of high heat and pressure except that the material is infused with microscopic teflon that is much better than graphite.  If you have a guitar that has a tremolo of any kind, I would highly recommend this material.  You will notice better sustain than graphite as well as a material that won't bind up your strings and cause them to go out of tune.
• Micarta Material - This material is a synthetic bone substitute and one that has been used in Martin Guitars since the 1960's.  It is a little softer than bone and will wear out a little bit quicker with not quite as much sustain.  With that being said, this material is one of the better out there when it comes to bone like quality.  If it's good enough for Martin, it's probably good enough for just about anyone.
• White Bone Material - To me this is the cream of the crop for nut material.  First of all, it is extremely hard and dense which allows you to get all the sustain that you could ever want out of your guitar.  Second, because it is so hard, it also lasts quite a long time and does great with filing.  This is a material that luthiers have depended on for years, and there is a reason, it's just the best for most applications on guitars.  It also makes one hell of a bridge for acoustic instruments.

There are a couple of other materials that are used for nut material such as mother of pearl which is used mostly for high end banjo's, and brass which I have seen in use on basses mostly.  I would not recommend either of these materials for guitars, but of course that is for you to decide.  I hope this post helps you in your quest for the ultimate in tonal satisfaction, and please keep us posted on your thoughts as well.  Oh, and don't forget to pass the word about the blog, and as always, pics are on the way.

**If you have any questions about the tips in this blog, or would like to see a post about something we haven't covered, please email us at:guitarguruguys@gmail.com

What Else You Need At The Gig

If any of you have ever been on a gig and had a problem come up, then this post will be for you. I can't count the times that I have either had to piggy back on the other guitar players rig, or even worse had to play straight into the PA just because I didn't have something that I needed for the gig. I don't know if I ever really got smarter or just finally realized that I needed a back up plan just in case something didn't go right. In this post, I will explore the various things that you might need (Just In Case)

First of all, you will need an adult beverage of some kind. I personally recommend Yuengling. I hope my spelling is right on that, point is, it's a relatively cheap beer that tastes great. As you guys probably know by now, Guru 2 and myself are all about saving the precious and almighty dollar without sacrificing quality, tone, and in this case taste. Now, on to the list.

• One Backpack - You will need this to carry all of your goodies. It does not have to be fancy, but I do recommend that it is black in color. Black tends not to show up as much when it is sitting behind your amp in a smoke filled bar. Of course you can get a bright orange, pink, yellow, or whatever color floats you boat. Keep in mind that this will stand out like a turd in a punch bowl if you know what I mean.
• 1 Small Flashlight - This is probably the most important thing you will undoubtedly need. I like the little mag lights that you can hook on you key chain. I usually clip it to the zipper of my backpack. I definitely would not get anything too huge, you don't want to blind your audience, you just want to be able to see the problem.
• 3 Sets of Strings - This should be a no brainer. Guitar players break strings. One cool idea that I use is an old CD case for this. You can use each CD holder to carry a different gauge of string, and instead of fumbling through a pack to find what you need, you can simply flip through the CD case instead. This has saved me an enormous amount of time.
• 1 Set of Wire Pliers / Cutters - Nothing looks worse than a guy who changes a string in between songs and leaves a foot of guitar string hanging off the end of the head stock. It takes one second to cut the string. This will also give the lead singer time to look even cooler in front of the crowd. If he/she is like the lead singers that I have worked with, they will love the extra attention and you will still look like a pro.
• 1 Extra Set of Tubes - If you have a tube amp, this is something that is a must have. I have been in several situations where if I had just had some extra power tubes, I would have been able to continue on my own rig.
• Screw Drivers - I usually carry #1, #2, #3 size standard head and the same thing in the flat head variety. Trust me you will use all of them at some point, so just keep them in the bag and you will always have them.
• Extra Cables - This is another must have. I would carry 2 of each kind of cable that you might need. Guitar cables, short patch cables for your pedals, and of course an extension cord. Get one that is at least 25 feet long. This will help insure that your rig is running on a different circuit than the PA. This helps with ground loops as well.
• Batteries - Most of your pedals probably run on 9 volt batteries, so keep 1 extra for every pedal that you use.
• Mic for Your Amp - Some clubs provide sound, and that is great, and some do not. Also, some that do provide sound, don't provide mics. I like to carry a Shure 57 and a 30 ft mic cable. That way I'm covered either way.
• Line 6 Pod - This is not a must have by any means, but it is a nice thing to have around. The reason being is because let's say worst case scenario, everything and every base that you have tried to cover goes wrong at the gig. Having this little thing in you arsenal will allow you to plug straight into the PA and still achieve a decent tone that will get you through the night.

Most of the things in this list are pretty basic common sense kind of things that believe it or not will come in quite handy when the need arises. I wish that someone had told me before I made several of these mistakes on my own. I hope these tips and tricks help you out and make for a more relaxing and enjoyable gig. Also, remember to drink plenty of fluids while playing, it can get pretty hot on stage. Yes, beer counts as a fluid.

**If you have any questions about the tips in this blog, or would like to see a post about something we haven't covered, please email us at: guitarguruguys@gmail.com

Guitar Repair Workspace

In this post, we'll look at a quick way to get a useful guitar workspace set up. Most professional luthiers or service centers will have a bench set up, where they are able to have a dedicated work area for the instruments being repaired. Most of these will consist of some sort of mat with a neck rest at the end, so the guitar can be cradled, and be somewhat secure when performing repairs. If you have looked into any of these for your home, you know they can get quite expensive, but I'm here to show you a quick way to get a workspace set up, using items you already have at home. It isn't intended to be a permanent solution, but it will certainly do the job, and only takes a matter of minutes to get set up. Here's what you'll need:

• A large, clean, dry towel
• A small, clean, dry towel
• A bag of rice or dried beans (I prefer rice, but beans will work if you don't have any bags of rice in the kitchen)
• A book- any regular paperback should work- about 2" when it is laid face down.
• A cold beer- why not?

Now, let's set up the workspace:

1. Clear off your kitchen table, or any other surface that is big enough for you to lay your guitar on.


2. Lay out the large towel on the table, so we don't scratch, ding, or nick the guitar or the table.


3. Place the book near the end of the towel.


4. Put the bag of rice/beans on the book.


5. Now cover the bag with the small towel.


6. Now, straighten out your hand like you are about to karate chop the middle of the pile of book, beans, and towel you just made, and nudge an indention in the bag.

Your finished workspace should look like this:

Folks, you have just made a perfectly acceptable and useful guitar bench w/ neck rest, and I would put it up against any pro space out there to do most of the jobs you'll need to do. And you did it with items that you already had in your home. Who loves ya?

**If you have any questions about the tips in this blog, or would like to see a post about something we haven't covered, please email us at: guitarguruguys@gmail.com

Adjusting Intonation

Today, I want to take a few moments to go over the simple procedure of adjusting the intonation on a tune-o-matic style bridge. Most people pay $50 to $100 bucks to get some dude at their local music store to do this simple but tedious task. My question is why? If you have a good tuner and a small flat head screw driver, you can achieve the same if not better results at no cost to yourself except time. Let's assume that your guitar is set up the way that you want it as far as string height, pick-up height, truss rod ect... If not, don't worry, we will have posts on these subjects as well. Guru 2 has already posted about set ups, so check that out as well.

Now, let's get a list of what you are going to need to do this simple task.

• A decent tuner - I have a couple of strobe tuners that I love. These are the most accurate and the most expensive. I have done set ups with boss tu-12 tuners and had decent results. This is about as cheap of a tuner as I am comfortable using and I like the fact that it has a dial that idicates how sharp or flat a particular note may be. If you want to fork over serious money for a strobe, have at it, but unless you are doing set ups for a living, I don't really see the need for it.



• Small Flat Head Screw Driver - This is what you will use to adjust the screws behind each one of the saddles on the bridge itself. If you don't have a screw driver, go to Home Depot and spend $5 bucks on one.



• Guitar Cable - You will use this to plug into the tuner from your guitar. Not too complicated on this one

Alright, lets get started. First of all plug your guitar into the tuner and tune the guitar to standard tuning (440). I hope that if you play guitar that you know how to tune a guitar as well, but if you don't it's from low to high ( E,A,D,G,B,E ). make sure that your guitar is in tune before you start checking for intonation issues. Now that the guitar is in tune, you can begin to check the intonation at the twelvth fret. To do this, simply press the string down at the twelvth fret and look at the tuner to see which way the dial is going. Flat is usually left and sharp is usually right. To make the adjustments, you will simply use the little flat head screw driver and turn the screws on the back side of the tun-o-matic. When you make the adjustments to the screws on the back side, you will notice that you will see the tuner changing pitch either flat or sharp depending on which way you are turning the screw. The idea is to get the open string and the fretted 12th fret to be the same pitch. This is why it is important to check your tuning after each adjustment that you make. This is important, I know that it sounds tedious, but it will yield the best results. You repeat this process on each string and remember to double check the tuning each time. One more thing that I like to do is to take a q-tip and put a little bit of oil on the tip and lube up each one of the saddles before you get going on this. It will keep the strings from binding up on you while adjusting the saddles on the tune-o-matic. With the oil, a little bit goes a long way. If you get done and look like you have been in a body building contest, you have gone too far with the oil.

Now, does this sound that complicated. This is usually something that you would pay $50 bucks to get done. I personally think that is crazy! Good luck, and please comment with any questions and either myself or Guru 2 will be happy to assist. We are still working on some pictures for the blog as well as a new web site that will revolutionize guitar repair forever. As good as I am with guitars, I am pretty slow when it comes to photo shop and editing pictures, but don't worry, they are on the way.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Jimbagodonuts for the photos. You are a true credit to the world of photography.

**If you have any questions about the tips in this blog, or would like to see a post about something we haven't covered, please email us at: guitarguruguys@gmail.com

Your Truss Rod

In this post we'll take a look into the truss rod. I'm not going to get too fixated on being as technically acurate as possible here. We'll just cover what we have to in order to make sure your neck is playable and comfortable.

Like I mentioned in the previous "Setups" post, your truss rod is useful to counteract the tension placed on the neck by the strings when they are tuned to pitch. Your strings are pulling the neck forward. Your truss rod is pulling the neck back. It is simply a metal rod that runs the length of the guitar neck, and it will have a bolt or some sort of screw top (either hex, or phillips in most cases) that can be turned in either direction to tighten or loosen the rod. The tighter it is- the more you are pulling your neck back.

One quick thing to mention, is that a truss rod adjustment is not always a quick process. It isn't necessarily a long process, but you should allow yourself a bit of time (this is for those impatient people out there- just so you're not expecting to breeze through this... don't worry though, I'm impatient too). Additionally, you shouldn't need to make this adjustment all that often. I know guys who go tweaking on this every time they change their strings, and it is just not necessary unless you have some problems with your guitar. If your neck feels like it is playing fine, and you aren't noticing anything weird like fret buzz or higher action in the middle of your neck, then you are probably in good shape.


Okay, let's go....

Here are the tools we need:

• The appropriate truss rod tool for your guitar. Don't get duped into spending top dollar for one of these, as you can get any of these at your local hardware store on the cheap. Check w/ the guitar manufacturer if you're not sure what type of wrench or screwdriver you will need to adjust the rod before you get to cranking- the last thing we need is to strip the nut out! Some popular sizes are 5/16th deep-socket, 4 and 5mm hex or allen wrench, and a #2 phillips screwdriver.
• Go ahead and get that phillips head out anyways.
• A capo. If you don't have one, you can get a great capo for around $15, and you're guaranteed to use it in the future too. 2 birds. 1 stone.
• A single .009, and .010, and .011 gauge string... or a micrometer if you've got one handy. I would check with your local guitar shop for bulk strings you can get singles of though, cause you'll be able to get them for pennies.
• A new set of strings

Now that you have all of your supplies, get your kitchen table or bench cleared off, and set up your workspace so you can have a place to make your adjustment.


Before you change out your strings, you'll want to eyeball the curve of your neck; this is also referred to as sighting your neck. This just means that you are looking straight down the edge of the neck with the headstock closest to your face. Because your strings are perfectly straight when they are on the guitar and tuned up, it gives you a pretty good reference for what is going on with the neck.


With the guitar face up on the workbench, and capo the 1st fret. Now fret the low E string at the 12th fret and we're going to measure the gap between the string and the top of the 6th fret with our free hand. If you have that micrometer handy, go ahead and put it up there- if not, use those single 9, 10, and 11 strings we talked about earlier. Industry standard for most electric guitars is going to be around .009" - .010". If you can just pass the .009 string between the 6th fret and the string, then you are in the ballpark. If you are way higher than that, then we're going to want to tighten the truss rod. If you are touching the string, you have hump in the neck, and we need to loosen it, and let those strings pull the neck forward. (Feel free to use the .010 and .011 strings for a measurement that suits you best)


Now is a good time to think about where on the neck your truss rod nut access is. Most guitars nowadays are made with the truss rod nut to have easy access at the headstock just above the nut, but some bolt-on neck guitars are still built with the access at the bottom of the neck, and you'll have to remove the neck to make the adjustment. This can sometimes be a pain in the neck (sorry guys- couldn't resist that one...) and require more patience than others, as you'll need to make sure you're making the proper adjustments the first time around, so you don't have to spend time taking the strings and neck back off the guitar.


Now, go ahead and take off the strings (and neck- if applicable) and make your adjustment. If you need to loosen the rod, you are going to be turning counterclockwise, tightening is clockwise. Make no more than a quarter turn in the appropriate direction for you- if you were pretty close on the initial inspection, make the turn even less (if you notice very stubborn resistance when making turns, or it is not even moving at all- PLEASE DON'T FORCE IT!!- your truss rod may have a problem like stripped threads or the nut may be bottomed out). I wish I could tell you exactly how much to turn, but every guitar is different. By the second or third time doing this, you'll know exactly how much you'll need for your guitar, and the whole process will go a lot quicker.


Go ahead and get out a beer- you deserve one for hangin' in there so far.


String up that guitar, stretch out those new strings, and take another look using the capo method we used above. Are you looking good yet? You should pretty much be there. I always wait about an hour before I get a good reading, because the new strings will put a bit more pressure on the neck, and because it can take a little time for the neck to settle where it will end up. Wood doesn't always bend as quickly as we want it to...


If you find that you over or under adjusted, just repeat the adjustment instructions in the desired direction. No need to take the strings back off unless you have to take the neck off too.


Please leave us some comments on how it works out for you if it is your first time around. We're working with our photographer to get some good clear photos on here (should make this a little easier to work through).


As always, thanks for checking out the blog- and tell your friends about us!!

**If you have any questions about the tips in this blog, or would like to see a post about something we haven't covered, please email us at: guitarguruguys@gmail.com