Mincer
Well-known member
I am going to replace the nut on my Silo Special with a TUSQ nut (probably the graohite-impregnated one). Is the nut slot of the Silo Special curved or flat on the bottom?
- Thread starter Mincer
- Start date
DrKev
Moderator
I don't know the answer to the question and I'm sure somebody will be along to answer shortly but there are three things to note...
1) Some TUSQ nuts have a small protruding tab in the centre of the curved lower surface to allow for flat-bottomed nut slots. If the nut slot is curved, you can cut back the tab to match the radius of the slot bottom (which, I'm guessing, will be the same radius as the fingerboard).
2) If your Silhouette Special has the EBMM compensated nut, the TUSQ nut may be too narrow and the front edge of the nut may be in the wrong position (which could lead to tuning and intonation problems). If you are putting the TUSQ nut into a nut slot for a compensated nut a good luthier or guitar tech should be able to make sure the front of the nut is in the right position and add material as necessary to adequately fill the nut slot.
3) From what I can see on the TUSQ website, their pre-cut nuts have a much wider string spacing, and are longer, than the nut on your Silhouette Special. They are not 'drop-in' replacements. If you really want a TUSQ nut, I'd suggest you find a good luthier who can make a custom nut from a TUSQ blank. Alternatively, if you call customer service it might be possible to send you out a nut which will be the right length and string spacing.
FWIW, the EBMM nuts are made from melamine, which is a very hard wearing and durable material, ideal for nuts. I like TUSQ nuts, in fact I'm happy to recommend them on non-EBMM guitars. But I'm very impressed with the melamine nut on my Silo Special (which is compensated).
1) Some TUSQ nuts have a small protruding tab in the centre of the curved lower surface to allow for flat-bottomed nut slots. If the nut slot is curved, you can cut back the tab to match the radius of the slot bottom (which, I'm guessing, will be the same radius as the fingerboard).
2) If your Silhouette Special has the EBMM compensated nut, the TUSQ nut may be too narrow and the front edge of the nut may be in the wrong position (which could lead to tuning and intonation problems). If you are putting the TUSQ nut into a nut slot for a compensated nut a good luthier or guitar tech should be able to make sure the front of the nut is in the right position and add material as necessary to adequately fill the nut slot.
3) From what I can see on the TUSQ website, their pre-cut nuts have a much wider string spacing, and are longer, than the nut on your Silhouette Special. They are not 'drop-in' replacements. If you really want a TUSQ nut, I'd suggest you find a good luthier who can make a custom nut from a TUSQ blank. Alternatively, if you call customer service it might be possible to send you out a nut which will be the right length and string spacing.
FWIW, the EBMM nuts are made from melamine, which is a very hard wearing and durable material, ideal for nuts. I like TUSQ nuts, in fact I'm happy to recommend them on non-EBMM guitars. But I'm very impressed with the melamine nut on my Silo Special (which is compensated).
