Model 5000-00 Nut Slotted Flat or Curved Bottom R9.5 L42.85mm - Black TUSQ XL

I originally purchased this for a Squier Strat (SSS) made in Indonesia. As this was the curved nut, it did not fit my Squier as I needed the flat nut (which I ended up purchasing separately (great service from Amazon on this one). To remove the old nut, I cut into the edges of the old nut using a razor blade (X-Acto knife) to loosen it and then used a small block of wood that I tapped on either side of the nut to loosen it more. Once the old nut started loosening, it was cake to remove. I then cleaned the space of old glue (mine was gummy) before pre-fitting the new nut. The new (flat) nut was a perfect fit and lined up perfectly with the old nut I removed (when I put them side to side, holding them up). I glued it using a small amount of wood glue that I brushed in. Just to make sure it cured well, I left the guitar alone for a couple days before I strung it up again (I was also busy). So, was it worth the effort to change the nut? Absolutely! First of all, it's really easy. Second of all, I no longer have strings binding and twanging loudly as I'm tuning. Tuning is much smoother and it has increased the sustain somewhat. As for the extent of the sound change/sustain, I'm not sure how much was due to the nut and how much was due to the new GraphTech saddles or GFS Steel block I installed. But, after doing these things, I can say the sound and sustain was dramatically better. I can attribute better tuning and smoother bending to this nut though.

GREAT LOVE TUSQ HARD TO BEAT HELPS GUITAR STAY IN TUNE.

On my Player Mustang, this was a good fit and required very little to make it work. The little tab at the bottom is there in the event that your guitar has a flat bottom for the nut. On my Mustang it was arched, so I just needed to file the tab off with a tiny little file. The width and thickness needed to be adjusted slightly to fit properly. I used a piece of medium grit sandpaper flat on the granite countertop and moved the part on top of it to keep it exactly flat to trim the thickness slightly. The guitar is tuning a lot more precisely and smoothly now. Being in tune is super important in the end. You will sound better tuned precisely with a guitar that is intonated properly. It was worth the money to me and there is no real need to pay someone to do this for you if you are reasonably handy. Take care with removing the stock part. You’ll want to score the edges with an exacto knife to remove it cleanly. On my guitar there was some finish on the nut that kind of glued it in place. Once I scored the edge it came out with just a very light tap.

I didn't believe them when they said this would change the tone of my cheapo Korean Squire strat. I busted my original nut and just played 5 strings for a couple years. I put it off cause I convinced myself it would take hours of sanding and filling. I'm an idiot. Don't be me. This one thing (and fresh strings) transformed my least favorite guitar to play into my favorite. I'm genuinely stunned. The sustain is awesome. The tone is brighter AND richer. I was finally able to dial in the intonation. The installation was so simple: 1.) Put a small flat head at the bottom of the existing nut (I wouldn't wedge it between the nut and the neck cause you might take a chunk out of the wood.) 2.) Hit the screwdriver. I used the palm of my hand and the remnants of the busted nut popped right out. 3.) Drop this sucker in and string it up. I've heard of some people have issues with fit, I had none; perfect down to the millimeter. I've seen some people glue the nut in and others the just dropped it in; I figured that's it's less work to not glue it in and I can always do it later anyways. I don't think I will glue it. It sounds incredible. I can't believe I waited years to do something so easy, so cheap and do meaningful to the guitar.

Material is easy to work with and file down. Had to take off the center knub on the bottom for it to lay in the guitar’s nut slot (Squier Affinity Series Tele). Also, after placed and centered I had to file off a little from each side down to match the width of the neck. Nice improvement overall.

This required very little effort to fit into a Mexican strat. I had heard the lore about there being fender guitars with radiused nuts but I never thought I'd have to deal with one personally, but this made it really easy. The center tab filed down easily and it only needed a couple swirls on some 500 grit sandpaper to remove some tiny words along one of the edges for it to fit almost perfectly inside the groove. Black was not my first choice; I had originally ordered a white one and I got a message saying that that one was going to be undeliverable for some reason, and I noticed that the black was $4 less so I figured what the heck and got this one. I think white looks better against a maple fretboard but whatever, I'll live. Anything's better than the melamine nut that came on the guitar, right?

Seems the spacing is a little off on the top fret might just be 1 in a million. Like the sound, ordering another and will see read if you care about the spacing: Update: I had written to the company about how the spacing was off compared to my standard fender nut... well they reimbursed graciously and I'm writing this because I'd like to inform everyone about where to find the technical info about the companies products so you can make an informed purchase... The exact specs for spacing of and height and tone are on their website... I didn't look because I guess I was stupid and have been doing much more research before purchasing anything. The spacing on these (PT500000) part at the bottom strings slightly where as the PQL-5010-00 space out towards the top of the nut. Even the 42mm nut for fender has slightly different spacing than the regular nuts though I've LOVED the PQL-5010-00 because the size and shape of my fingers gives me a low spot right below my knuckle on my pointer finger (with normal nuts) which makes me have to press extra hard when doing bridge chords. These fix that issue for me (amazing how a few .00 of an inch can do that) and I've been using the PQL5010-00 and cutting them to size because I rarely slide off on the top string though often do with the (high E / bottom string (probably gravity...)). The sound difference is noticeable between the raised PT500000 and the flat PQL5010-00 so everything the website says is true from what I can tell. I've purchased another one in faith of the company to replace on my neck for my Stratocaster and I've purchased the barrels for a tele and saving for the Strat bridge... The only thing that is annoying for me is the time it takes to sand down the height of these nuts LOL. They are much stronger and durable than bone nut or plastic so I recommend using 220 grit sand paper (wet sanding..., also clean off the paper with water once you get a build up of Teflon) when getting it close to the height you want and maybe a good file for the beginning shaving because it takes a while to file down if you like low action. Or take it to a Guitar Luthier and they can work it out for ya. It's easy to go past the mark and waste $15-17 so once you get close go slow. Either that or you have to add paper which kinda defeats the purpose of physics point contact vibration.

Dropped right on to my strat neck. I can't speak highly enough about these TUSQ nuts. By far the cheapest and easiest way to upgrade a guitar and enhance the tone (no more string bind or slipping!). Bone is a good material but is incredibly painful to work with. This tusq nut drops right in and works as-is for most guitars. Of course, you might need to do a little sanding on the bottom for the desired string height and filing on top for string depth-- for earnie ball 9s (pink), I didn't have to do anything!