Members TCEDDIA Posted September 16, 2006 Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 I've kept my 1976 pbass in original condition except for a BadassII bridge. Is replacing the original plastic nut with bone (or brass?) worth the effort? The pickups, hardware, pickguard and frets are all original. Am I crazy for considering this upgrade? I just want to make the bass as good as it can be without tainting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dubwolf Posted September 16, 2006 Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 You can replace it, just keep it on the off chance you want it back. Though, honestly, I didn't really notice much of a difference when I had a bone nut put on one of my basses. And it later broke and I just had it repalced with a graphite one. Edit: Brass I dunno about though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TCEDDIA Posted September 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 Thanks for the response. Putting a bone nut on just seems like the right thing to do. If yours broke, I wonder if plastic is stronger than bone. Why not brass? Wouldn't a brass nut make the open strings sound more like fretted ones since both pieces are made of heavy metal? Also, How do I know if the bass needs a new fret job? It's 30 years old but the frets seem ok to me. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members __tony__renaud Posted September 16, 2006 Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 A bass is usually asking for a fretjob if there are major wear marks on the frets under the strings. These are worse than what a fret grind and polish can fix. Here, you're looking for deep grooves cut into the fret by round wound strings that are present on frets 1 through 7, and around the 12th. Also, if there are "dents" in the frets that fall below the height of the rest of the fretwire, that will badly compromise the intonation and a refret will be needed if you want to play in tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TCEDDIA Posted September 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 Originally posted by __tony__renaud A bass is usually asking for a fretjob if there are major wear marks on the frets under the strings. These are worse than what a fret grind and polish can fix. Here, you're looking for deep grooves cut into the fret by round wound strings that are present on frets 1 through 7, and around the 12th. Also, if there are "dents" in the frets that fall below the height of the rest of the fretwire, that will badly compromise the intonation and a refret will be needed if you want to play in tune. I don't see these problems on the bass, even though its 30 years old. I didn't play it for about 10-12 years and even then just as a hobby or garage bands in high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hawkhuff Posted September 16, 2006 Members Share Posted September 16, 2006 Originally posted by TCEDDIA I've kept my 1976 pbass in original condition except for a BadassII bridge. Is replacing the original plastic nut with bone (or brass?) worth the effort? The pickups, hardware, pickguard and frets are all original. Am I crazy for considering this upgrade? I just want to make the bass as good as it can be without tainting it. I put on graphite nut on mine. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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