153 posts
|
Post by r3v3nt0n on Apr 17, 2017 20:29:58 GMT
What do you guys think about nut quality and materials used in HB guitars? I know they are plastics, but they are not that bad IMHO. I was just thinking about that today, when I was filing and sanding down a bone nut slab to replace the nut in my TE 52. It took me nearly 2 hours to really get the new nut to fit in and measure and adjust the sting height and file the slotts to the proper depth. So I was wondering, isn't there a chineese guy doing exactly the same thing on a HB guitars and basses? And while spending all that time to shape a plastic nut to the right measurement, wouldn't it be wiser to use use better materials, since they don't really cost that much more?
|
|
1,773 posts
|
Post by MartinB on Apr 17, 2017 21:29:13 GMT
I assume the margins are so low they have to use the cheapest possible components for each model.
I think that the factory that make them are capable of good work though. I just have the MS-60 VW but for the price it was it's pretty unbelievable.
I know it kind of defeats the point of them, but a "premium" line would be pretty good.
|
|
|
Post by Banana on Apr 18, 2017 7:06:19 GMT
Most of high end Harley Bentons use bone/graphite nuts.
|
|
|
153 posts
|
Post by r3v3nt0n on Apr 19, 2017 20:44:02 GMT
What I meam is, a couple of bucks for a bone nut and about the same time shaping and fitting as a plastic one. It just cannot be that much more expensive?
|
|
cerb
Harley Benton Club Member
|
Post by cerb on Apr 19, 2017 23:26:23 GMT
What I meam is, a couple of bucks for a bone nut and about the same time shaping and fitting as a plastic one. It just cannot be that much more expensive? Plastic can be molded into a pretty accurate shape while bone need to be manually shaped. Bone is also a lot harder which makes it even more labour intense. Add to that the fact that bone is more expensive as a material, I'd say there's a significant difference in cost per instrument and little gained.
|
|
78 posts
|
Post by doktorsteve on Apr 20, 2017 11:53:29 GMT
I just bought 3 bone nuts and 3 bone bridges for ~£6 from China. These are obviously machined and polished with zero human intervention. I bought 3 sets so that I can sand down the nuts and not have to fiddle with the slots. If I go too far I can just try again. I have cheap bone nuts and bridges on my 2 6 string acoustics and I think they make a small difference. The main thing is getting the action over the first fret as low as possible to make F chords easy.
The grey graphite nut on my SC custom seems to have very low friction and makes the guitar easy to tune. I put pencil graphite (4B) in all the slots anyway.
The nut on my 12 string HB has clearly been attacked by hand - the slots are pretty ragged - but the action is pretty good. This is the guitar that will get the bone nut.
|
|
|
Post by bigh on May 7, 2017 17:17:51 GMT
The te 90 qm with humbuckers comes with what is called a bonoid nut, I believe this is some glass impregnated material, it's slightly yellow in colour but it's sure made very well and the strings are seated just perfectly, it looks like it was hand made or hand finished as I can see file marks in it... slight but there, I won't bother taking it out to dress it, I'm happy, I have had fender mum strats, cort, Yamaha and others, all have plastic nuts... I believe the harder the material is the better the sound. I always wanted to change the nut out for bone and making it myself one day for my Yamaha acoustic, also the bridge saddle and intonating them too... Just saying as it's a big subject if our finicky like me and some others... once the can is opened mate!!! Have fun.
|
|
|
Post by reling on May 15, 2017 11:47:59 GMT
Of course HB can be equipped with better parts. The >200€-HBs show what happens then. HB is reaching a higher price level. If you want a cheap guitar with reasonable quality, you have to accept that some parts are low end. Parts like nut, tuners, bridge, just to name the most important cheap parts. But you can change these parts yourself without being a luthier. New parts aren't expensive. So get a well made HB with good body, good neck, reasonable pickups and then buy what you want to improve and exchange the parts. The result will still be cheaper than a standard guitar that has all these better parts build in by factory.
|
|