Geeshie Wiley may be found on American Primitive Volume II, Revenant 214. All of her known recordings: Pick Poor Robin Clean, Skinny Leg Blues, Last Kind Words Blues, Eagles on a Half. Originally issued on Paramount Records in 1931.
I have a 1973 Precision Bass that needed a replacement nut, and the luthier that I went to for the repair actually volunteered to do a brass nut for it - keep in mind that over the course of its life I had already broken the original pickguard, and my older brother had put an EMG active pickup in it, so it was already not original. I said “sure!” When I got the bass back it played great, but the tone was so bright at the time that I switched it to flatwound strings. Funny thing, though: I recently put rounds on it again and it sounds fine. Mr. Morillo did an excellent job with the brass nut and didn’t charge any extra for it. I do my own maintenance work now, but he’s a good guy.
Yes a nice comment, Don here from Hamilton NZ on my Wife's tablet-SUSAN, after a Luthier fitted a zero fret on 1 of my guitars, WOW ,what a difference! so with the right fret-wire, I always do it on Any new guitar I get.Over here in NZ, in the 60's a Guitar Co (Jansen) did to all their electric guitar's, and That made Such a Difference to the sound, & we all (guitarists) why is this one sound sound more twangy & more delay Without Touching a toneknob, later we (mostly) realised 😮😮😮
Hey Teddy! Just a fun note about marking your brass with a Sharpie. That’s what EVERY machinist does now! Instead of using Dykem, like the master machinist Keith Fennerdoes, they call it Sharpem now! Hope that’s a bit a fun for ya! Astounding work as always!
I used to use Dykem to cover car panels when doing metal work picking and filing and shrinking to get them to the point they need very little filler, if any. Dykem leaves a residue that can clog up in some sand paper and some tooling. Sharpie ink is practically water thin. It penetrates the pores of the piece where Dykem builds up on the surface, no matter how lightly it's applied.
That was a pleasantly balanced review of brass nuts, etc. Usually, folk want to tell you that brass nuts, and even pins will enhance your tone - full stop. And yet, only 6 of the available notes bear on the nut. I love zero frets because if they are fitted properly the is the same between open and closed strings. Similarly with pins; the claim is that they affect tone by adding mass - yet in another part of the forest it is claimed that LESS mass in the bridge enhances tone. I have tried brass, bone, ebony, many plastics. I can't hear the difference. If you all can, good luck to you - maybe it was all that loud music I listened to in the 70s. Also a great comment on break angle on a dobro style bridge. Yours is definitely the way to go, but irritatinf for restringing.
I think you're 100% correct on all points. Tone-wise, adding mass/denser material only makes sense to me at the bridge, as it's the one boundary common to all notes. Brass nuts do look sharp, though.
I have two Stratocasters with a Kahler Spyder system on it and of course a locking nut made of metal. And I really do think I can hear a difference. And I prefer the metal compared to bone, plastic, or graphite on other guitars I own. And I think this might have something to do with the idea of open strings sounding like fretted notes. Having said that, it’s mainly noticeable when playing these guitars acoustic and of course that’s not how you use an electric guitar. Amplified, the differences in sound seem to get lost in even the smallest bits of overdrive and all of the many components involved in creating sound from an electric guitar in a band situation. So I never made a big deal out of it. 😬
"Enhancing tone" is like "turning up to 11" It's not a question of how much, but a question of what quality of tone. A brass nut is only gonna affect the open string vocabulary Adding or subtracting mass will inevitably "enhance" one quality while diminishing another quality of the sound. Brass endpins would be the better choice cause it will affect the volume or quality throughout the neck and not just the open string vocabulary. Depending on your setup, it could +/- brightness/darkness, volume/compression Attack/transients If you're not an auditory person, invest in a sonogram tuner that gives you a 3D display of sounds so you can put context behind the kinda empty words of "tone"
@@John_Malka-tits That sounds cool. For me, I tune every guitar differently for every chord in the track I'm focusing on. In this way, I can choose the chords with the most brass (open) notes over those with only frets to back them up (I like Stainless, but Evo gold is cool too). Then, I capo and re-record the same parts in tripletrack, but in tritone intervals. Just kidding, I don't go to such extremes, but I would love for someone else to, just for fun.
I'm not sure I believe that about the nut material having absolutely no effect on fretted notes. If you mount an electronic tuner on the head of your guitar it will sense a note vibrating even if you are fretting the string, so the entire head is still moving with the fretted note. It seems that added mass _anywhere_ on the head might serve to reduce the head movement, and would have _some_ impact on tone. How significant that impact might be, and whether that impact is positive or negative are different questions. Some kind of mass attached to other parts of the headstock might have even more of a certain type of impact to the tone.
I believe that it would stand to reason to have a nut made of metal over any other material so that the basic tone of open strings would more match that of the fretted notes. The zero fret was always a good idea.
Except that the string creates sound by vibrating between two fixed points. The only real variable there is how "fixed" the point is. If you have a loose/sloppy slot in the nut, that will affect tuning and perhaps how long it will vibrate. The fact that it's brass or bone is unlikely to make any difference, other than it staying tighter longer.
Hello Doc Groove! A metal made nut makes sense for the sound of open strings being similar to fretted notes, but it’s not as accurate as one might expect. I noticed on brass and steel nuts more overtones on open strings compared to fretted ones. That comes from the string bits behind the nut. On fretted notes there are also string bits behind the finger/s, but the zing gets muted by them. Behind the nut there is no finger, so I put a strip of foam under the strings behind it. NOW I have the exact same sound of fretted and open strings.☺️ (And muted same time the singing string bits on the headstock)😊 Cheers!🤘🏻
If this wasn't my favourite channel before (it was) then after mentioning Tim Blake Nelson, (my favourite actor) in Buster Scruggs, it would be even more. Great work and great description of what you are doing.
These small Recording Kings are fun to have indeed. Especially if you want to experiment with different tunings. I went the other way. I bought one years ago to try if I could use it as a guitar for Nashville tuning. Works amazingly well! The guitar is cheaper than a decent pedal, but I’m glad I bought it. 😊
I had a brass nut on my '70 Les Paul and my G nut slot had a low groove worn down which I attributed to many G bends. I used to cut a few millimetres of my high E string to fill the G groove to act as a shim. I finally after many decades got it refretted and PLEKed and had the nut replaced with a bone one. I didn't notice any difference in sustain but a huge difference in tone. Much more treble with the bone compared to brass.
Great video and the modern Recording King is a great guitar. I've made several videos on my, all solid wood, RD-328 and have had many who say the same as I do, they love it. Again, awesome video and very nice work.
One thing I can tell you about a brass nut is that they last a very long time. I have a 1960 fender precision bass that I bought used in the early '70s. In the early '80s I had a brass nut installed when everybody was going crazy for brass. That nut is still on my bass and even with decades of RotoSound swing bass strings and heavy usage, it still functions perfectly. I did notice a bit more zing after it was installed.
I had absolutely no expectations or any idea what kind of movie Buster Scruggs was when I came across it online. Fell in love with it almost immediately. Very fun experience!
Nylon 66 (polymerized hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid) is used for clothing, including hosiery. Nylon 6 (polymerized caprolactam) is used, among other things, for gears.
I've done brass nuts but the only way to get open strings to sound exactly the same as fretted strings is to use a zero fret. They do of course have to be replaced from time to time ( just like a nut ) but they do sound really balanced. I bedlieve someone is now making a nut which consists of a zero fret and nut combined but I havent tried one. Great video as always!!
45 years ago an excellent repair guy in Rochester NY recommended a brass nut for my 65 Mustang. It has been there ever since. My original Danelectro bass came with an aluminum nut. Held in place with a screw!
Beautiful work putting in that output jack.. Excellent choice to add the 3 small countersunk holding screws to the tail. Looks authentic, works perfect.
I had a similar buzzy Kent tailpiece and Tom at Halifax Folklore Centre put a thick strip of leather between it and the body and it did the trick. Still there 40 years after. Love that guitar.
That seems like it would be a great "rubber bridge" guitar platform. Tuned down to C standard is great - I want to get that Madison Cunningham style sound, so wicked!
I run brass off with a Scotchbrite green pot scrubber material finish. It makes for a very lovely satin finish. We found an 1850s-1860s rimfire Derringer in an old chest of drawers. I polished out the brass over steel frame to a mirror shine with jeweler's rouge. After that the brass reflected everything in a very dark yucky icky manner, so I went back to the satin finish and it looks super great. I need to replace the trigger rebound spring and it will shoot again. I have to make custom black powder loads for it. Either that or it will blow up in someone's hand. It's .22 rimfire which is .22 Short (BLACK POWDER).
Try the CCI .22 CB shorts. They only use the prime and I think a miniscule amount of powder. Ultra low power and likely safe (though I'd still look around and see if anyone else tried first). Those tiny Derringers are really amusing.
I loved the smaller vice held in the bigger vice. It reminds me of a book I’m reading about Welsh stick chairs, where they put a machinist vice in the woodworking face vice to get a better height
I put a brass nut on a Strat. I did it for looks. Didn't really notice much if any tonal difference, and I play lots of 'cowboy chords'. Swapped it for an Earvana, which I am very happy with
I remember that record on R, Crum's documentary. Wonderful early bluesy sound. Hopefully now available someplace. Those old masters need to be better known, and easily listened to.
I purchased a Recording King parlor guitar a few years ago, and after I set the action the way I wanted, it's a pretty good little guitar that actually plays nicely. The tone has a ladder-braced boxy quality to it as well.
@@alnicospeaker An instructor showed me when I did my apprenticeship. In use, it just seems smoother. Probably acts as a depth stop definitely not abrasive.
Ted , I bought my son a Danelectro U-2 with lipsticks ( and an amp for $350!) , recently a Gretsch Streamliner Jet. Both are exactly 25" , I have measured both with my trusty old teacher's metal school rule , ( 1 metre/ 3 feet , plus fractions.). To me 25" is the ideal string length. As to nuts , his has a metal/brass nut; made in Korea in the 80s and sounds great Thanks for the vid. TJ from Oz
Possibly the best bass guitar I've ever owned had a stainless steel nut. It was a Jolana D-Bass, made in Soviet era Czechoslovakia during the mid 1980s. I bought a second one to string up with the heaviest four strings from a five string set so I could tune it to drop c for a band I was in at the time. Filing the nut slots was a serious chore, as the steel was incredibly hard.
@@drummerhammarHardness is all relative. Stainless isn't hard compared to High Carbon Steel, sure, but it's much harder than any of the common nut materials.
You can't be serious? Jolana is a laughing stock in all former eastern bloc countries, people had to play them because that was all there is and now nobody will touch them.
Fascinating, as always. BUT I was disappointed that at no stage did you show the full length of the Recording King. Not all of us have heard of them, and I was really curious to see the full instrument. My only complaint, ever. Love this channel!
I have been into brass nuts for the last few years. I generally use .375 inch brass mak-a-key. Most recent one was made from cast brass from an old lamp base. Brass is definitely harder to work than bone. Cheers and well done.
Added a brass nut to my SD Curlee Bass (many, many years ago). Not only were the notes brighter with more sustain, but I was then able to hear a baby's cry from 5 miles away, run faster than when I was on high school track, do non-linear calculus in my head, and read the singer's mind that I should go back to guitar since our new player was being a real jerk. (plastic nut.) Simply put, the brass nut changed my life!
I used a resonator tailpiece on my Gretsch Jim Dandy. It looked ok, but I changed it to Selmer Gypsy Jazz style tailpiece. I pit the output jack at about 4:30 on the bottom bout. Turned out ok. I used a cheap single coull pickup. Put cream knobs to match my guitar finish. I did it because the Jim Dandy is made in Indonesia and the bridge was lifting from the back. Had a bit of belly bulge too, so resolved two issues in one. Still sound awesome too.
To truly reduce transferred energy into the neck, you would need a higher impedance mismatch between the materials. Brass might actually absorb vibration quite well from the steel string.
My old Danelectro had an aluminum nut. Sometimes I think about making one. Then I tried Lexan, but my tools could barely scratch it. Ceramic changed dimensions from firing. I like to make nuts compensated (esp, G) but still looking for that perfect, workable but hard material.
I have various guitars with a brass topnut - mostly early 80s Japanese, and they're original: they just don't wear out. They never get sticky either, and they sound great to my ears. Brass all the way 😎👍
twoodfrd 1:11 The owner of this Guitar tunes it down a Major Third to C Standard (sometimes Low B Standard which is a Half step below it) & uses it as a Mini Baritone Guitar, quite a punchy sound. We're going to turn it into an Acoustic-Electric Guitar w/ a Soundhole Pickup also made by Recording King.
Been listening to a ton of Justin Townes Earle on here lately. I've yet to find a studio album that I vibe with, but boy... the solo live stuff with him and his Recording King is pure gold. Definitely sad he's gone from us, way too soon... As a novice player it blows me away how much he can fill a room with just his voice and a single guitar.
I never knew who Justin was until I saw him open for Social Distortion in 2018. Went home and downloaded EVERYTHING I could find. I love the music, but when I'm asked "What kinda music does he play?"....I'm stumped, and usually take a stab at "country/folk/blues/rock-a-billy?"
@@Skulllywag Had no idea he opened up for Social Distortion! Seen them a dozen times, but not very much recently. JTE was all over the place genre-wise, definitely hard to pin down. I heard he played in a punk band when he was younger but never verified it. My friend went "junkin" (thrift shopping) with Mike Ness once on a side note...
The first time I heard Geeshie Wiley's Last Kind Word Blues was a cover version in the film "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" (2003). A pseudo-documentary about the American south, or more appropriately the myth of the American south. The film includes a ton of musical performances by non-traditional country musicians. I can't recall who covers it in the film, but the song itself has stuck with me.
Nylon is a soft material but it also has a very low friction coefficient. i figure that's why it lasts longer, other materials catch the string and get worn down more
My 79 SG Exclusive has a brass nut. The Nut is still in perfect shape, but my frets are just about gone. The Brightness effect could be entirely placebo but I do feel like I hear more of it in higher strings with the brass nut installed.
Re 15/32" drill bit. - 15/32 equates to 11.9mm, so a 12mm drill bit is only 0.1mm larger (and a whole lot easier to come by) Just a suggestion. Your channel is excellent by the way :-)
I have a recording King RD316. Mahogany back and sides with an adi spruce top, scalloped forward shifted X braces, and it sounds awesome. For the price I can’t imagine a better sounding acoustic.
What a coincidence, I’m in the middle of replacing a brass nut on a made-in-Japan 1970’s Tele Deluxe clone. But I think I will probably only polish it to 1200 grit, I kinda like the brushed-grain look.
"He breaks a lot of G strings." .... My man!!
Better than fingering A minor
I had that problem with my first Ibanez. I went through so many G strings. No pun intended.
Geeshie Wiley may be found on American Primitive Volume II, Revenant 214. All of her known recordings: Pick Poor Robin Clean, Skinny Leg Blues, Last Kind Words Blues, Eagles on a Half. Originally issued on Paramount Records in 1931.
Thanks!
Paramount Records Grafton Wisconsin, a funny lost studio that issued a lot of the early blues.
Did he mention her?
@@TheAlexFromGalax @12:11
I have a 1973 Precision Bass that needed a replacement nut, and the luthier that I went to for the repair actually volunteered to do a brass nut for it - keep in mind that over the course of its life I had already broken the original pickguard, and my older brother had put an EMG active pickup in it, so it was already not original. I said “sure!” When I got the bass back it played great, but the tone was so bright at the time that I switched it to flatwound strings. Funny thing, though: I recently put rounds on it again and it sounds fine. Mr. Morillo did an excellent job with the brass nut and didn’t charge any extra for it. I do my own maintenance work now, but he’s a good guy.
Yes a nice comment, Don here from Hamilton NZ on my Wife's tablet-SUSAN, after a Luthier fitted a zero fret on 1 of my guitars, WOW ,what a difference! so with the right fret-wire, I always do it on Any new guitar I get.Over here in NZ, in the 60's a Guitar Co (Jansen) did to all their electric guitar's, and That made Such a Difference to the sound, & we all (guitarists) why is this one sound sound more twangy & more delay Without Touching a toneknob, later we (mostly) realised 😮😮😮
I use aluminum. A huge benefit of metals is that one dimension is perfect, and all the edges are square before you even start.
I once saw R. Crumb perform. His band had a saw. It was insane.
If you like the singing saw, go see a band called Elephant Revival.
@@evanduquetteNeutral Milk Hotel have a few songs with a singing saw. Check out the song "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea"
So you saw a saw?
Dr Suess you’re up
Hey Teddy! Just a fun note about marking your brass with a Sharpie. That’s what EVERY machinist does now! Instead of using Dykem, like the master machinist Keith Fennerdoes, they call it Sharpem now! Hope that’s a bit a fun for ya! Astounding work as always!
I used to use Dykem to cover car panels when doing metal work picking and filing and shrinking to get them to the point they need very little filler, if any. Dykem leaves a residue that can clog up in some sand paper and some tooling. Sharpie ink is practically water thin. It penetrates the pores of the piece where Dykem builds up on the surface, no matter how lightly it's applied.
The retro look on that pickup box made me smile.
That was a pleasantly balanced review of brass nuts, etc. Usually, folk want to tell you that brass nuts, and even pins will enhance your tone - full stop. And yet, only 6 of the available notes bear on the nut. I love zero frets because if they are fitted properly the is the same between open and closed strings. Similarly with pins; the claim is that they affect tone by adding mass - yet in another part of the forest it is claimed that LESS mass in the bridge enhances tone. I have tried brass, bone, ebony, many plastics. I can't hear the difference. If you all can, good luck to you - maybe it was all that loud music I listened to in the 70s. Also a great comment on break angle on a dobro style bridge. Yours is definitely the way to go, but irritatinf for restringing.
I think you're 100% correct on all points. Tone-wise, adding mass/denser material only makes sense to me at the bridge, as it's the one boundary common to all notes. Brass nuts do look sharp, though.
I have two Stratocasters with a Kahler Spyder system on it and of course a locking nut made of metal. And I really do think I can hear a difference. And I prefer the metal compared to bone, plastic, or graphite on other guitars I own. And I think this might have something to do with the idea of open strings sounding like fretted notes.
Having said that, it’s mainly noticeable when playing these guitars acoustic and of course that’s not how you use an electric guitar. Amplified, the differences in sound seem to get lost in even the smallest bits of overdrive and all of the many components involved in creating sound from an electric guitar in a band situation. So I never made a big deal out of it. 😬
"Enhancing tone" is like "turning up to 11"
It's not a question of how much, but a question of what quality of tone.
A brass nut is only gonna affect the open string vocabulary
Adding or subtracting mass will inevitably "enhance" one quality while diminishing another quality of the sound.
Brass endpins would be the better choice cause it will affect the volume or quality throughout the neck and not just the open string vocabulary.
Depending on your setup, it could +/- brightness/darkness, volume/compression
Attack/transients
If you're not an auditory person, invest in a sonogram tuner that gives you a 3D display of sounds so you can put context behind the kinda empty words of "tone"
@@John_Malka-tits That sounds cool. For me, I tune every guitar differently for every chord in the track I'm focusing on. In this way, I can choose the chords with the most brass (open) notes over those with only frets to back them up (I like Stainless, but Evo gold is cool too). Then, I capo and re-record the same parts in tripletrack, but in tritone intervals.
Just kidding, I don't go to such extremes, but I would love for someone else to, just for fun.
I'm not sure I believe that about the nut material having absolutely no effect on fretted notes.
If you mount an electronic tuner on the head of your guitar it will sense a note vibrating even if you are fretting the string, so the entire head is still moving with the fretted note. It seems that added mass _anywhere_ on the head might serve to reduce the head movement, and would have _some_ impact on tone.
How significant that impact might be, and whether that impact is positive or negative are different questions.
Some kind of mass attached to other parts of the headstock might have even more of a certain type of impact to the tone.
It’s nice to see the extra care you used to install an economy pickup. Inspiring detail. Nicely done Ted!
I believe that it would stand to reason to have a nut made of metal over any other material so that the basic tone of open strings would more match that of the fretted notes. The zero fret was always a good idea.
Except that the string creates sound by vibrating between two fixed points. The only real variable there is how "fixed" the point is. If you have a loose/sloppy slot in the nut, that will affect tuning and perhaps how long it will vibrate. The fact that it's brass or bone is unlikely to make any difference, other than it staying tighter longer.
After owning the Brian May guitar, I would like an F fret on all my guitars. Perfect string height and the nut becomes a string guide only.
Hello Doc Groove! A metal made nut makes sense for the sound of open strings being similar to fretted notes, but it’s not as accurate as one might expect. I noticed on brass and steel nuts more overtones on open strings compared to fretted ones. That comes from the string bits behind the nut. On fretted notes there are also string bits behind the finger/s, but the zing gets muted by them.
Behind the nut there is no finger, so I put a strip of foam under the strings behind it. NOW I have the exact same sound of fretted and open strings.☺️ (And muted same time the singing string bits on the headstock)😊 Cheers!🤘🏻
I'm a fan of the the zero fret.
Thank you Ted for another fun and informative video… keep ‘em coming! 😊
If this wasn't my favourite channel before (it was) then after mentioning Tim Blake Nelson, (my favourite actor) in Buster Scruggs, it would be even more. Great work and great description of what you are doing.
...and then he flew into playing some awesome country licks! Love the video as always sir
These small Recording Kings are fun to have indeed. Especially if you want to experiment with different tunings. I went the other way. I bought one years ago to try if I could use it as a guitar for Nashville tuning. Works amazingly well!
The guitar is cheaper than a decent pedal, but I’m glad I bought it. 😊
I had a brass nut on my '70 Les Paul and my G nut slot had a low groove worn down which I attributed to many G bends. I used to cut a few millimetres of my high E string to fill the G groove to act as a shim. I finally after many decades got it refretted and PLEKed and had the nut replaced with a bone one. I didn't notice any difference in sustain but a huge difference in tone. Much more treble with the bone compared to brass.
Great video and the modern Recording King is a great guitar. I've made several videos on my, all solid wood, RD-328 and have had many who say the same as I do, they love it. Again, awesome video and very nice work.
One thing I can tell you about a brass nut is that they last a very long time. I have a 1960 fender precision bass that I bought used in the early '70s. In the early '80s I had a brass nut installed when everybody was going crazy for brass. That nut is still on my bass and even with decades of RotoSound swing bass strings and heavy usage, it still functions perfectly. I did notice a bit more zing after it was installed.
Fantastic post. Thanks!
Wonderful work as always Ted, thanks for sharing your expertise.
Just listened to Mr. Wiley, thx Ted! I need that too!
Awesome content Ted. I really liked watching you make a brass nut. Something new and the guitar had a nice ring when done.
15/32" aka 12mm
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Excellent work, Mr. Woodford
I had absolutely no expectations or any idea what kind of movie Buster Scruggs was when I came across it online. Fell in love with it almost immediately. Very fun experience!
PS : Loved your after sound on your brass nut. Like a tru~blues. Awesome sound way cool 😎
Great job once again!
6/6 Nylon is *tough* stuff! That's what Gibson used. It's really difficult to slot as well.
Nylon 66 (polymerized hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid) is used for clothing, including hosiery. Nylon 6 (polymerized caprolactam) is used, among other things, for gears.
sounds wonderful. Thank you.
I've done brass nuts but the only way to get open strings to sound exactly the same as fretted strings is to use a zero fret. They do of course have to be replaced from time to time ( just like a nut ) but they do sound really balanced. I bedlieve someone is now making a nut which consists of a zero fret and nut combined but I havent tried one. Great video as always!!
45 years ago an excellent repair guy in Rochester NY recommended a brass nut for my 65 Mustang. It has been there ever since. My original Danelectro bass came with an aluminum nut. Held in place with a screw!
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Beautiful work putting in that output jack.. Excellent choice to add the 3 small countersunk holding screws to the tail. Looks authentic, works perfect.
Look forward to your weekly posts. Thanks!
Interesting, I think I like the brass sound. I never would have thought that
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Me too.
Saw your podcast appearance, great job!!
Gees, your dedication to quality really shows in the results.
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Guitar players believe they hear things that the rest of us mere mortals have never heard. Great vid!
I had a similar buzzy Kent tailpiece and Tom at Halifax Folklore Centre put a thick strip of leather between it and the body and it did the trick. Still there 40 years after. Love that guitar.
Ballad of Buster Scruggs! One of my favorites as well. The dark humor is on point!
As always great video, thanks, I look for you every week. Lots of learning and always enjoyable. But I cant help but wonder how Stella turned out?
Nice job Ted! Ooooh I like shiny.
That seems like it would be a great "rubber bridge" guitar platform. Tuned down to C standard is great - I want to get that Madison Cunningham style sound, so wicked!
“Last kind word” was covered ( I think it is the same song) by Rhiannon Gidden’s album “ Tomorrow is my turn” it is an excellent song
I have a Kala ukulele that I just love!
I can play it for tips while piloting a Seneca twin in the Bahamas.
Brilliant channel always enjoy your videos
I always loved the Geeshie Wiley tune.
When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I'd learn so much about brass nuts today!.
Great job! I had no idea the amount of labor involved. Probably a good thing you didn't mention how much. Some musicians have a weak heart.
I run brass off with a Scotchbrite green pot scrubber material finish. It makes for a very lovely satin finish. We found an 1850s-1860s rimfire Derringer in an old chest of drawers. I polished out the brass over steel frame to a mirror shine with jeweler's rouge. After that the brass reflected everything in a very dark yucky icky manner, so I went back to the satin finish and it looks super great. I need to replace the trigger rebound spring and it will shoot again. I have to make custom black powder loads for it. Either that or it will blow up in someone's hand. It's .22 rimfire which is .22 Short (BLACK POWDER).
Try the CCI .22 CB shorts. They only use the prime and I think a miniscule amount of powder. Ultra low power and likely safe (though I'd still look around and see if anyone else tried first). Those tiny Derringers are really amusing.
I loved the smaller vice held in the bigger vice. It reminds me of a book I’m reading about Welsh stick chairs, where they put a machinist vice in the woodworking face vice to get a better height
I put a brass nut on a Strat. I did it for looks. Didn't really notice much if any tonal difference, and I play lots of 'cowboy chords'. Swapped it for an Earvana, which I am very happy with
Thanks Ted!
I remember that record on R, Crum's documentary. Wonderful early bluesy sound. Hopefully now available someplace. Those old masters need to be better known, and easily listened to.
That cello endpin reamer though...😊
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I purchased a Recording King parlor guitar a few years ago, and after I set the action the way I wanted, it's a pretty good little guitar that actually plays nicely. The tone has a ladder-braced boxy quality to it as well.
Great as always.
SCAMMER
if you want a finer finish when draw filing, rub some chalk into the file.
Thanks for that tip, is the chalk acting as an abrasive or more of a depth stop for the teeth of the file..or both?
@@alnicospeaker An instructor showed me when I did my apprenticeship. In use, it just seems smoother. Probably acts as a depth stop definitely not abrasive.
Ibanez IMO started the brass nut craze on their Musicians and Artists
Ted , I bought my son a Danelectro U-2 with lipsticks ( and an amp for $350!) , recently a Gretsch Streamliner Jet. Both are exactly 25" , I have measured both with my trusty old teacher's metal school rule , ( 1 metre/ 3 feet , plus fractions.). To me 25" is the ideal string length. As to nuts , his has a metal/brass nut; made in Korea in the 80s and sounds great Thanks for the vid. TJ from Oz
Getting it done-- nicely
Cork for diy gaskets works well for under bridge. Some even have a adhesive backing.🤘🤠🤘
Possibly the best bass guitar I've ever owned had a stainless steel nut. It was a Jolana D-Bass, made in Soviet era Czechoslovakia during the mid 1980s. I bought a second one to string up with the heaviest four strings from a five string set so I could tune it to drop c for a band I was in at the time. Filing the nut slots was a serious chore, as the steel was incredibly hard.
Geez fret files are already expensive enough to replace!
Happy that you like your bass though 👍
Nope, Stainless is not hard, but very tough.
@@drummerhammarHardness is all relative. Stainless isn't hard compared to High Carbon Steel, sure, but it's much harder than any of the common nut materials.
You can't be serious? Jolana is a laughing stock in all former eastern bloc countries, people had to play them because that was all there is and now nobody will touch them.
@@ileutur6863 ...Musima...
Fascinating, as always. BUT I was disappointed that at no stage did you show the full length of the Recording King. Not all of us have heard of them, and I was really curious to see the full instrument.
My only complaint, ever. Love this channel!
I made a brass nut for a classical guitar. Worked with cruder tools than you did. Took me all day long but it did turn out beautiful !
Sounds brighter and less boomy... could be mic location off just a little. Neat experiment! Thanks for the knowledge.
Amazing work.
Lol I remember that part of the Crumb doc😊
I have been into brass nuts for the last few years. I generally use .375 inch brass mak-a-key. Most recent one was made from cast brass from an old lamp base. Brass is definitely harder to work than bone.
Cheers and well done.
The highlight of my week.
Looks nice man
It matters if you believe it does. Priceless.
the Phil Leadbetter Recording King Resonator Guitar is awesome ! R.i.p Phil.
That tiny faction of an inch makes all the difference! I'm currently experimenting with unicorn horn instead of ivory.
Added a brass nut to my SD Curlee Bass (many, many years ago). Not only were the notes brighter with more sustain, but I was then able to hear a baby's cry from 5 miles away, run faster than when I was on high school track, do non-linear calculus in my head, and read the singer's mind that I should go back to guitar since our new player was being a real jerk. (plastic nut.) Simply put, the brass nut changed my life!
I used a resonator tailpiece on my Gretsch Jim Dandy. It looked ok, but I changed it to Selmer Gypsy Jazz style tailpiece. I pit the output jack at about 4:30 on the bottom bout. Turned out ok. I used a cheap single coull pickup. Put cream knobs to match my guitar finish.
I did it because the Jim Dandy is made in Indonesia and the bridge was lifting from the back. Had a bit of belly bulge too, so resolved two issues in one. Still sound awesome too.
...and I want you to install a brass nut. "No problem that will only be an additional $1,000".
Your playing on that C Tuned Recording King was great! Have you been practicing? It sure does sound like it.
Thanks Ted
I like the red ones.
To truly reduce transferred energy into the neck, you would need a higher impedance mismatch between the materials. Brass might actually absorb vibration quite well from the steel string.
Beautiful work
nice work
My old Danelectro had an aluminum nut. Sometimes I think about making one. Then I tried Lexan, but my tools could barely scratch it. Ceramic changed dimensions from firing. I like to make nuts compensated (esp, G) but still looking for that perfect, workable but hard material.
Just in time for my lunch break!!
I sure like the sound of that electric guitar.
I have various guitars with a brass topnut - mostly early 80s Japanese, and they're original: they just don't wear out. They never get sticky either, and they sound great to my ears.
Brass all the way 😎👍
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twoodfrd
1:11 The owner of this Guitar tunes it down a Major Third to C Standard (sometimes Low B Standard which is a Half step below it) & uses it as a Mini Baritone Guitar, quite a punchy sound. We're going to turn it into an Acoustic-Electric Guitar w/ a Soundhole Pickup also made by Recording King.
Been listening to a ton of Justin Townes Earle on here lately. I've yet to find a studio album that I vibe with, but boy... the solo live stuff with him and his Recording King is pure gold. Definitely sad he's gone from us, way too soon... As a novice player it blows me away how much he can fill a room with just his voice and a single guitar.
"Maybe a Moment" is one of my favorite songs. I need to listen to more of his stuff.
I never knew who Justin was until I saw him open for Social Distortion in 2018. Went home and downloaded EVERYTHING I could find. I love the music, but when I'm asked "What kinda music does he play?"....I'm stumped, and usually take a stab at "country/folk/blues/rock-a-billy?"
@@Skulllywag Had no idea he opened up for Social Distortion! Seen them a dozen times, but not very much recently. JTE was all over the place genre-wise, definitely hard to pin down. I heard he played in a punk band when he was younger but never verified it. My friend went "junkin" (thrift shopping) with Mike Ness once on a side note...
@@MaxG-jk8ty Mike is a real character...not a fan of his politics, but love the music.
The first time I heard Geeshie Wiley's Last Kind Word Blues was a cover version in the film "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus" (2003). A pseudo-documentary about the American south, or more appropriately the myth of the American south. The film includes a ton of musical performances by non-traditional country musicians. I can't recall who covers it in the film, but the song itself has stuck with me.
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I wasn't familiar with the brand Recording King. I might have to check out these guitars
My unscientific opinion...the brass nut sounds brighter. Great video as usual Ted.
When you install a brass nut it's there for ever. It'll outlast the life of the guitarist.
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Buster is such an odd film
Yes it is, but once you attribute it to the Coens it becomes less weird and a bit more on par.
Nylon is a soft material but it also has a very low friction coefficient. i figure that's why it lasts longer, other materials catch the string and get worn down more
Yeah Ted, 2XL gloves are tight on me, so I definitely feel your pain trying to get your hand in that tiny sound hole.
Sounds exactly the same to me, Ted.
Nice
My 79 SG Exclusive has a brass nut. The Nut is still in perfect shape, but my frets are just about gone. The Brightness effect could be entirely placebo but I do feel like I hear more of it in higher strings with the brass nut installed.
Re 15/32" drill bit. - 15/32 equates to 11.9mm, so a 12mm drill bit is only 0.1mm larger (and a whole lot easier to come by) Just a suggestion. Your channel is excellent by the way :-)
The guitar of the Sans Saba Songbird??? How wonderful.
I have a recording King RD316. Mahogany back and sides with an adi spruce top, scalloped forward shifted X braces, and it sounds awesome. For the price I can’t imagine a better sounding acoustic.
What a coincidence, I’m in the middle of replacing a brass nut on a made-in-Japan 1970’s Tele Deluxe clone. But I think I will probably only polish it to 1200 grit, I kinda like the brushed-grain look.