"He breaks a lot of G strings." .... My man!!

Thanks for mentioning that it's a premium price for that type of work....some times people think that it's something standard to fabricate

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.

I once saw R. Crumb perform. His band had a saw. It was insane.

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.

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!

It’s nice to see the extra care you used to install an economy pickup. Inspiring detail. Nicely done Ted!

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.

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.

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.

...and then he flew into playing some awesome country licks! Love the video as always sir

The retro look on that pickup box made me smile.

Awesome content Ted. I really liked watching you make a brass nut. Something new and the guitar had a nice ring when done.

Wonderful work as always Ted, thanks for sharing your expertise.

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!

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'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!!

Fantastic post. Thanks!

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.

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.

Just listened to Mr. Wiley, thx Ted! I need that too!

Guitar players believe they hear things that the rest of us mere mortals have never heard. Great vid!

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?

Beautiful work putting in that output jack.. Excellent choice to add the 3 small countersunk holding screws to the tail. Looks authentic, works perfect.

Gees, your dedication to quality really shows in the results.

sounds wonderful. Thank you.

Great job once again!

PS : Loved your after sound on your brass nut. Like a tru~blues. Awesome sound way cool 😎

Excellent work, Mr. Woodford

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!

Thanks for the tip! It never crossed my mind to understring it! I have this Levin mod 19 from 1948 that I have beeb fixing up. I love playing it! Very similar to this Recording king. I installed a new adjustable, compensated, rosewood floating bridge. But these old guitars, for some reason, always have very high action, so the break angle of the new bridge was a bit too flat. Understringing fixed that! 😀👍

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!

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!

Saw your podcast appearance, great job!!

so . . music and sound is subjective . . if YOU think it sounds better it is . . I do remember the brass thing was supposedly "warmer" when you had locking trems . . I dont know . . I always go back to EVH mantra . . " if it sounds good . . it is good ." lol bty this was back in the late 80s early 90s . . your content is amazing . . thank you for what you do .

6/6 Nylon is *tough* stuff! That's what Gibson used. It's really difficult to slot as well.

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 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.

Ballad of Buster Scruggs! One of my favorites as well. The dark humor is on point!

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.

Brass nut, an ever so slightly brighter tone and looks lovely!!!! Rock on!!!

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.

Look forward to your weekly posts. Thanks!

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

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I'd learn so much about brass nuts today!.

Interesting, I think I like the brass sound. I never would have thought that

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.

Brilliant channel always enjoy your videos

I had an late 70s early 80s electra..with a brass nut..the guitar was a work of art from Japan..wish I still had it

Sounds brighter and less boomy... could be mic location off just a little. Neat experiment! Thanks for the knowledge.

“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 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

Nice job Ted! Ooooh I like shiny.

You're a genius Ted

I have the Recording King Dirty 30s parlor guitar with what I assume is the same pickup. I vastly prefer it to any piezo with an acoustic amp, but it really comes into its own when you plug into a Fender Blackface and add just an ever so slight amount of breakup to thicken it a tad, but not enough to make it obvious that it's not still clean. Fantastic sound, especially with a slide.

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 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 !

Great as always.

Thanks Ted!

I always loved the Geeshie Wiley tune.

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.

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).

I have a Kala ukulele that I just love! I can play it for tips while piloting a Seneca twin in the Bahamas.

Your playing on that C Tuned Recording King was great! Have you been practicing? It sure does sound like it.

Always enjoy your videos Ted but I’d say ‘brass for sass’!

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.

That tiny faction of an inch makes all the difference! I'm currently experimenting with unicorn horn instead of ivory.

Great work

Looks nice man

Getting it done-- nicely

Amazing work.

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.

Cork for diy gaskets works well for under bridge. Some even have a adhesive backing.🤘🤠🤘

The highlight of my week.

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 😎👍

After trying out titanium saddles on my tele, strat and les pauls, I finally bought titanium nuts for my strat and es 339. I can say in open strings everything is a bit brighter, and overall clearer note separation and tuning. I hope it's not just my imagination but that's what I noticed(I think).

That cello endpin reamer though...😊

It matters if you believe it does. Priceless.

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!

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.

My unscientific opinion...the brass nut sounds brighter. Great video as usual Ted.

I had to get a brass bridge/tailpiece for my old strat. My sweat rusted out the original chrome/steel bridge saddles to the point of becoming one clump of rust. I bought a Fender brass bridge /tailpiece back in the 70's. Ted's remarks about different quality variations of brass,I wondered does Ted or anyone tell me if Fender used quality brass or a lesser quality. I put the brass bridge on in early 70's

the Phil Leadbetter Recording King Resonator Guitar is awesome ! R.i.p Phil.

Buster Scruggs, great movie indeed :D

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 :-)

if you want a finer finish when draw filing, rub some chalk into the file.

Thanks Ted

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.

@twoodfrd I feel your pain regarding filing nuts to shape. Just the other day it took me an hour and a half just to file down a high nut. The string heights themselves were fine, but the nut slots were too deep/nut body too high. I had a set of string cut-offs to gauge the depths so I could get as close as I dare to that perfect 2/3 depth. This nut wasn't brass though. Some metal impregnated graphite composite. It's been some years since I had to shape or reshape brass. My second Wal bass had a brass nut fitted. It DID ping like a piano. ❤

Beautiful work

I sure like the sound of that electric guitar.

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

Nelson is extremely talented.

My brother put a brass nut on an original run mustang bass back in the 80's. It sounds great. I think he made it from a belt buckle. I have that bass now. It has a Badass high-mass bridge on it but it's in pretty bad shape. One of the saddle pieces is broken. I can get new saddles for it. There's still some "new" ones for sale but I think I'm going to put a new high-mass bridge on it with brass saddles. Just because. Hipshot brand I think.

I like the red ones.

I have done brass, aluminum, bone, synthetic ivory and plastic. The idea is, the harder the material, the more the vibration will remain in the string and maximize sustain and response. I notice better tone and sustain from brass and aluminum over locking nuts, but bone and aluminum have been my favorites. Building them from Aluminum and brass bar is a truly daunting process though.

Regarding the jack placement, I added a soundhole pickup to an acoustic guitar I have and put the jack in the usual endpin location. I soon discovered that it made the guitar unstable when sitting on a guitar stand and clumsy when playing. I moved it to the lower bout "Les Paul location," and I find that feels and works much better. A wide washer or small block of wood can be used on the inside if one is concerned about pressure on the Jack cracking the sides. I've used this jack location on 3 of my acoustic guitars without any problems or special precautions. YMMV 😎

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.