Best electric guitar nuts according to redditors

I know a lot of people think that replacing a nut should be like replacing an auto brake pad--pull the old one out, install new, identical one--but it's actually more like replacing a crown on your tooth.

A nut should be made for your specific guitar, and since it would be made from a blank piece of material, left or right doesn't matter.

My belief's aside, you can find left-handed nuts from specialty nut manufactures:

https://www.amazon.com/Graph-Tech-Slotted-Guitar-PT-6060-L0/dp/B006QGG4V6

https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/parts-c4/nuts-c105/graph-tech-m75/left-handed-t1277

But making a new nut fit a guitar exactly is only done by skilled hand work. The above nuts may be "good enough", depending on how discriminating you are.

Good question! Particularly on the SE models for some reason mainly the G string tends to get stuck,out of tune. The nut isn't setup properly on a good amount of these. I just did another one last month. I can either file it down or I replace them with a graptech/tusq nut.


http://www.amazon.com/Graph-Tech-Black-TUSQ-Electric/dp/B0037NVSYY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425655941&sr=8-1&keywords=PRS+SE+nut


Other than that issue with a nice setup these guitars a awesome one to have in the arsenal. They are versatile, comfortable and able to be played for extended periods of time.

had the same problem and it did turn out to be a rough saddle. I also found that using a little dollop of graphite lube .( https://www.amazon.com/StewMac-Graphite-Lubricant-Hardware-Container/dp/B01N76VR7J/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=graphite+guitar+lube&qid=1564876163&s=gateway&sr=8-2 )on the saddle right underneath where the string sits helps too. A pencil will work in a pinch but I recommend a dedicated product. You use so little the stuff lasts forever and works better. This again proves my motto for life: When in doubt: Lube.

The only issue you'll encounter is that the stock nut is slotted for 9s and the bridge is set up for 9's. Switching to a 10's is a good excuse to replace the nut with one of these graphtech's. It fixed the issuse I was getting with the g string getting stuck in the nut and improved the tuning stability of my SE.

Here is a PDF detailing the details of the guitar as well as the p/n. Since it's a Bone Nut, THIS should work just fine.

I searched for what a left-handed guitar nut looks like, and, coming from someone who's not exactly a guitar player, I see this and my first thought was, "What's the difference? Is this a scam?" Then I saw that the grooves are slightly different from each other...

So, thank you for the info on ambidextrous guitars. It seems like you love guitars. Are you a musician?

With a preslotted nut like this require filing? or is this just something I can glue in the socket? Sorry for noob questions, never had to deal with this.

Fender Vintage Style Stratocaster/Telecaster Electric Guitar Pre-Slotted Bone Nut https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FW84QMI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_17W8BbAXQV6MW

Strat all the way for the Chili Peppers.

I'd recommend Squier Classic Vibe since they come with proper AlNiCo Pickups, so it'll sound great, and the main problems are the input jack and gloss neck. The neck is completely subjective, so you might actually dig that, and a new input jack is like $15 max, and it's about as easy as it can get when it comes to soldering. Even if you pay someone to do it for you, you'll still save money over what you would pay for a MIM Strat.

The one that looks the most like John's main Strat is the '60s Classic Vibe

If you have the $600, I'd say put locking tuners on to make string changes eaiser, a new nut for tuning stability and tone on open strings, and a good input jack since Squier's are notorious for their loose input jacks.

That's just a regular Stratocaster style nut. They can be made out of any number of materials like plastic, bone, Tusq or metal.

A "zero fret" is when you have a slightly larger fret located just before the nut itself, but they're not very common and it's not what you have in this case.

Here's an example of what you need. This one is made of bone, but there are other materials too.

https://www.amazon.com/Kmise-Electric-Guitar-Fender-Replacement/dp/B009GT0KNI/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1505487173&sr=1-1&keywords=Stratocaster+replacement+nut


Be sure to measure the width and thickness of your current, so you can get a similarly sized replacement, then watch lots of vids on YouTube before you go forward with the job. It's not hard, but the more you now about the process, the better. Expect to have to do a bit of reshaping to it, as well. The dimensions will be close but probably not perfect.

• [Wilkinson] (http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/All_Hardware_and_Parts_by_Instrument/Electric_Guitar_Parts/Electric_Guitar_Bridges_and_Tailpieces/Electric_Guitar_Tremolos/Wilkinson_Gotoh_VS-100N_Tremolo.html) trem. Drill press would be ideal for the post holes, but you could also just clamp a guide to the body.
  
• LSR nut. Unless you have access to a router jig, I would suggest a rectangular file matching the LSR's dimensions to clean up and deepen the slot you're going to start with a super fine cut saw.
  
• Locking Tuners. Staggered, so no more string trees. Super stable tuning when paired with the Wilkinson and LSR, even after divebombs. Those "F" tuners have a super accurate 18:1 gear ratio. I also like that particular design because they're stabilized with a pair of incorporated pegs that slip into pre-drilled holes, instead of relying on a tiny little screw.
  
  I can't comment on the Gen 4 Noiseless, as I've never used them. My wiring is more like a Les Paul, with dual HB, three way switch and push-pulls for coil splits. This is a pretty good resource for wiring ideas, if you're looking for inspiration. Generally speaking, you'll also want to replace the switches and pots with Switchcraft, CTS, etc. My guess is that the MIM's come with Alpha, but I could be wrong.
  
  EDIT: Keep in mind, when researching wiring diagrams, that "Noiseless" usually means humbucker. It might look like a single coil, but it will be two coils stacked one on top of the other. Check manufacturer specs to confirm whether you're dealing with four or two wires, then plan accordingly.

GFS has some pretty decent loaded pickguards for real cheap. (http://www.guitarfetish.com/Pre-Wired-Pickguards_c_25.html)

Take your guitar and your new pickguard to a local guitar shop and have them throw it in and setup the guitar. They will make all the adjustments necessary, and your upgrade and setup should come out to less then 150 bucks.

Some other cheap upgrades for a squier that usually make it a ton better:

Brass trem block and nut. Increases resonance and sustain (http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Stratocaster-Brass-Nut/dp/B003B07LI0) (http://www.guitarfetish.com/Import-105mm-Spaced-Brass-Tremolo-Block_p_1146.html)

Locking tuners (http://www.guitarfetish.com/Wilkinson-EZ-LOK-locking-Tuners-6-inline-for-Fender-Headstocks_p_881.html)

The acoustic can last quite awhile compared to my electrics, which usually need a string change every month because of breakage.

As an experiment I put a TUSQ nut on one of my electrics and started rubbing graphite in the saddles to see if that would improve string life. The TUSQ was delivered May 5th. So far it's been two months.

Hey congrats on picking that up, one thing to keep in mind with these SE models (my knowledge doesn't extend back to 2001) is they all seem to benefit from a new nut. If that hasn't been upgraded, it's an easy replacement and the perfect time to do it is when restringing and refinishing the neck. These Graph Tech black TUSQ's are what seem to fit other SE models. I've even got an extensive review on that page (it's the one with the red Tremonti headstock photos). I do still recommend proper slotting even for this model after installation for perfect intonation when fretting near the nut, but this model will take 9s and 10s well w/o binding out of the box.