Graphtech Black Tusq Xl Nut - Slotted St Style

Perfect, major difference with guitar

What I didn't know is that you CAN get this tusk XL nut in the ivory colour! But I kinda like the black now it's in... It didn't affect my tone that I could hear, the last one was just plain tusk, not the XL. Where I used pencil graphite to keep the strings moving. Of course with XL it's intrinsically self lubricating via what it's made of. This particular nut is pretty cool because you may not know if you have a flat or round bottom without removing the old nut. Well I work out, so I have a flat bottom. Where you just leave the tab on. If you have a round bottom, you can easily file the tab off. One thing! If you have a flat bottom, then with this nut, not all of your bottom will touch the timber. This when Graphtech say that their nuts have better tone because there's no cavities in them, like with bone etc. Well, with this nut you have two big cavities either side of the tab? Okay so, on my Strat this is the third nut, the first, the original nut was plastic and it was hollow!! It was okay... The next was one of these but just tusk not XL. It improved the tone!! The current one is the XL the tone didn't seem to change? Context: I also have the Graphtech metal body saddles with PTFE inserts. Now those DID improve the tone to a surprising degree! They put a smile on my face. And they are GREAT! Hardly any string breakages, more stable tuning. I think that the nuts don't notice as much because when fretting you aren't playing through the nut. You're playing from fret to saddle? And .. Concider Floyd Rose Guitars! They have a metal nut, and they still have great tone. So, will I buy the flat bottom version ? No... I'm happy with this one. I think that the flat bottom would only amount to a teeny improvement when playing open strings. I think that Graphtech are a great company! They don't make false claims, and they really believe in their products, I saw one of the founders on line. It's refreshing! So... That's it my review... Where I'll just say it one more time 'bottom' 😅

Worked well

I had a wayward Strat, one flick of whammy and it went badly out of tune! This is a classic Strat problem that most new guitars suffer from. After a frustrating couple of jams I decided to overhaul the guitar to improve tuning stability. This nut, locking tuners and bullet strings have certainly helped, it stays in tune much better, but still not 100%. But, I can live with it now and these things have helped me realise the potential of a great guitar. The fitting is a little battle for sure, don't be fooled into thinking this is a straight swap out. I had to do a lot of sanding and fetling to get this to sit right, I even had to reshape the neck on my guitar with a bit extra sanding down to get a central fit for the nut. This was probably more a guitar problem than a nut issue, but I want you to be aware this isn't always an easy job to get right and only tackle it if you have half an idea what to expect and aren't afraid of sanding, if like me you have to sand the neck, have some lemon oil handy to finish it off and use very high grade papers. That said, there are lots of videos on YouTube that you can watch to get a good idea what to do, so don't be frightened to have a go, just be well prepared. Once installed I couldn't really notice any improvement in tone, it might be a bit brighter on open strings. I think the strings still stick a little bit and I can't seem to get around this, that said maintaining stable tuning on a Strat is a dark art so it could be anything that causes this, hard to know for sure. If you have a wonky Strat, get one. It will help!

A cheap solution to the "ping" of string bending and tuning. I'm so satisfied with these nuts that it's a must have for all my guitars. The only problem is finding the right size for the nut you want to replace as there are so many different sizes. Paired with a set of matching string trees and you should have no binding problems and reduced tuning issues.

Not suitable for Harley Benton tele style guitars e.g. TE-20. The dimensions checked out fine, but the Harley Benton guitars have a wider neck radius (e.g. 13.7"), so they really need a flat bottomed nut that is slightly taller such as the TUSQ PT-5010.

Quick delivery and great product

I have bought loads of gear and spares from Absolute and have spoken to the guys too over the phone and at shows in the NEC each November, and they are so hlpful, such a good company to deal with, this nut is currently fitted on a 22 fret Mighty Mite Strat neck. Even though I don't use the tremolo, bending strings by finger is noise-less. It also seems to have increased the sustain, and it certainly has brightened the open string tones up. Whatever you need, speak to Absolute, they have a HUGE website too. BB

l'original ! parfait !

It needs some sanding adjusting, but if you are careful it is manageable to get it to measure. Replaced nut on my Fender Performer HSS Strat. Works well.

Montato su una Squier Stratocaster SE del 2004, sostituendo il suo originale (con parecchia fatica, dato che in questo esemplare c'era TANTISSIMA colla che mi ha costretto a frantumare il precedente, tagliarlo con una lametta ed estrarlo a pezzettini con una pinzetta). Personalmente, ho limato un po' la parte centrale (circa metà), sia per farlo entrare meglio nell'alloggio, che per avere un'altezza delle corde inferiore (gusti personali), e dopo l'installazione ho limato le parti sporgenti laterali di circa 1-2mm totali (ricordate sempre di mascherare con del nastro la zona intorno alla parte da lavorare con la carta abrasiva). Risultato molto soddisfacente! Tenuta dell'accordatura notevolmente migliorata (non ancora perfetta, ma le meccaniche sono le colpevoli), altezza delle corde sensibilmente più bassa di prima, e, adesso, conforme alle specifiche Fender. Colore piacevole (personale), anche in vista dell'installazione di nuove meccaniche autobloccanti nere. Decisamente consigliato, con 11 euro date nuova vita a uno strumento economico alzandone di parecchio la qualità percepita. Forse installazione non proprio per tutti, ma sicuramente non complessa (la parte più difficile è sicuramente la rimozione del precedente)

I originally purchased this for a Squier Strat (SSS) made in Indonesia. As this was the curved nut, it did not fit my Squier as I needed the flat nut (which I ended up purchasing separately (great service from Amazon on this one). To remove the old nut, I cut into the edges of the old nut using a razor blade (X-Acto knife) to loosen it and then used a small block of wood that I tapped on either side of the nut to loosen it more. Once the old nut started loosening, it was cake to remove. I then cleaned the space of old glue (mine was gummy) before pre-fitting the new nut. The new (flat) nut was a perfect fit and lined up perfectly with the old nut I removed (when I put them side to side, holding them up). I glued it using a small amount of wood glue that I brushed in. Just to make sure it cured well, I left the guitar alone for a couple days before I strung it up again (I was also busy). So, was it worth the effort to change the nut? Absolutely! First of all, it's really easy. Second of all, I no longer have strings binding and twanging loudly as I'm tuning. Tuning is much smoother and it has increased the sustain somewhat. As for the extent of the sound change/sustain, I'm not sure how much was due to the nut and how much was due to the new GraphTech saddles or GFS Steel block I installed. But, after doing these things, I can say the sound and sustain was dramatically better. I can attribute better tuning and smoother bending to this nut though.

fenderストラトキャスター56年型に使用しました。他のパーツではこのネック特有のRが合わずギターとナットの間に隙間ができてしまいましたが、これはセンターの突起を削り微調整できるので隙間なく仕上げることができました。弦の振動がダイレクトにヘッド部分に伝わるのでクリアな音になったと感じました