Nut/Bridge Query

Mike Dexter · Post by **Mike Dexter** » 17 Oct 2011 9:52 am

I have an 8 string lap steel. The nut appears to be aluminium, so does the bridge. Aluminium being a poor conductor of sound. Would changing both to bone or brass enhance the sound, even though it is an electric instrument? What material are your lap (or pedal) steels made from?

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 17 Oct 2011 12:08 pm

Jim Konrad · Post by **Jim Konrad** » 17 Oct 2011 12:56 pm

2nd what Jason said...

Aluminum is one of the best for sound transfer...

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 17 Oct 2011 1:40 pm

+3
But it's your ears that make the decision.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 17 Oct 2011 6:47 pm

X4.....I would think that aluminum would be as good as bakelite, as used on Ricks etc.....

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 17 Oct 2011 11:29 pm

I've made some replacement nuts with steel and to my ears the open strings sound brighter than the notes played with a bar (especially with pull-offs). IMO aluminum is more neutral- it will sound as you want it to sound (mellow or bright or whatever). And it is much easier to work with than hot rolled steel.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 18 Oct 2011 10:03 am

The Fender Stringmaster uses steel for the nut and bridge. I prefer titanium 6-4, silicon bronze or aluminum 6061 T-6. I stay away from "low end" stainless steel like the 304 and 303 alloys, although the "high end" alloys like Inconel 625 and 718 are nice. Inconel is a nickel based alloy.

Mike Dexter · Post by **Mike Dexter** » 18 Oct 2011 11:46 am

Many thanks everybody for replying to my topic. I'm surprised that aluminium seems to be the most popular for nut & bridge material. I play banjo & guitar and almost all banjo/guitar nuts are made of bone (or synthetic material similar) & bridges made of wood/metal---to my knowledge never aluminium--which I thought was a poor conductor of sound. Perhaps the nature of the electric steel lends itself to aluminium---your thoughts on that?
I know of banjo players whose banjos have aluminium parts (on the hoop) change the parts to brass for better sound transmission-also a brass tailpiece enhances the sound. No aluminium parts are found on the more expensive banjo's. There must be a reason for that.

William Lake · Post by **William Lake** » 18 Oct 2011 11:47 am

Didja ever wonder why bells are made of brass and not aluminum?

Jason Hull · Post by **Jason Hull** » 18 Oct 2011 1:18 pm

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 18 Oct 2011 4:30 pm

I find a bridge of silicone bronze a tad superior ...

To a cast aluminum bridge ...

Ditto with the nut ...

But the weight ... 45 lbs vs 15 lbs ... I guess it depends on your leg strength and circulation ... $:\$

And having it tightly attached ... Is a biggie

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 18 Oct 2011 4:39 pm

William Lake wrote:Didja ever wonder why bells are made of brass and not aluminum?

Actually the best bells are made of bronze, high end cymbals, and even some top of the line saxophones are made of bronze too.
I've used bronze for bridge saddles and like the rich timber it can add to the tone.

Like Chas mentioned, a good quality aluminum works well, though I generally only use it as a bridge material. It has a balanced overall tone to it and a proven track record in the steel guitar world.

For nuts, I'm partial to bone or Corian. If I'm doing a nut for a multi bender steel, I like Derilin as it has a good neutral tone and is slippery as snot when polished.

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 18 Oct 2011 4:43 pm

I look at the lap steel as a complete package. The material used for the nut and bridge will affect the tone and sustain. For a vintage steel, the composition of the nut and bridge could be every bit as important as the wood or other material used for the body, or the pickup. If everything works well together "upgrading" the nut or bridge will not necessarily be an improvement.

IMO on a Rogue EA-3 or a Morrell steel, replacing the cheap plastic nut with ANYTHING would be an improvement. (Although one of my vintage Supros has a plastic bridge that sounds great, so plastic isn't necessarily bad, just the really cheap stuff.)

Steve

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 19 Oct 2011 11:39 am

This guitar, a 7-string bass steel, is machined from 6061-T6 aluminum billet which has silicon as part of the alloy. To my ears, silicon makes the alloy more musical, as opposed to zinc which is found in 2024 aluminum. Zinc is also in brass, as opposed to silicon bronze and of course, it's in pot metal. Remember the Super Pro fingers? The bridge on this guitar is titanium 6-4.

This is the keyhead of Jr Blue, a 6-string bass with pickups on both ends of the guitar. Jr Blue is machined from 7075 T8 aerospace aluminum billet, thank you Lockheed. The bridge is a high end stainless steel.

The nut and the bridge on the bass neck of Guitarzilla2 are titanium 6-4

The bridge and the 3 nuts on Guitarzilla are silicon bronze.

The nut on my titanium tube lap steel is, you guessed it, titanium.

And the bridge on my E-Harp, that has the Lollar Stringmaster pickups is titanium.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 19 Oct 2011 5:47 pm

Some fantastic stuff there !!

Jay Seibert · Post by **Jay Seibert** » 21 Oct 2011 6:56 am

Chas... simply beautiful workmanship! Definitely "the art of steel guitar".

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 24 Oct 2011 3:00 pm

With all of the positive comments about aluminum in this thread I decided to look for 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/8" aluminum angle on the internet because I haven't found that size in the hardware store.

I did find several sources- even Amazon.com- but the shipping charge was more than the metal and I really didn't want to deal with 6 foot lengths. And then I found Stock Car Steel out of North Carolina- they have a good selection of 6061 aluminum angle and bar which they sell by the foot at reasonable prices. The minimum freight charge starts around $16, but I figured that I might as well stock up on all of the sizes I expect to use for my various projects so I put together a $40 order weighing 12 pounds and the freight charge was $21.54. (I had all of the pieces cut to 3' but I saw that the freight charge was basically the same whether you ordered 3' or 6' lengths.)

http://www.stockcarsteel.com

Steve

P.S. If someone knows of a source with a smaller minimum freight charge please share it with us if you please.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 24 Oct 2011 9:01 pm

All of the aluminum angle I've seen is 6063 T52, which is not as strong, hard or stiff as 6061 T6. If you live in Concord, there has to be an aluminum supplier near you. You could probably drive over and pick up something there. In my neighborhood, Industrial Metal Supply or Tuch Metals always have drop-offs for cheap.

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