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Most stock Fenders and Burns don't use a brass nut. Does the Double Six have a brass nut because it is easier to cut than other materials. What be be the advantages and pitfalls of fitting them to a standard guitar. I have some brass nut material and might try one on a strat project I am undertaking

I think it might be to do with the strength and the fact that the slots are close together, which on bone, tusq an plastic would easily snap under pressure.

That was my thought however the narrower neck Rickenbachers do not use one. There seems to be a fair bit of discussion on the Web about the use of brass nuts from they only affect the open strings / no advantage with a zero fret to helps sustain through the headstock.
Did the earliest double six have a brass nut ?
Think I will try one on my strat project and compare the difference

Billyboygretsch wrote:That was my thought however the narrower neck Rickenbachers do not use one. There seems to be a fair bit of discussion on the Web about the use of brass nuts from they only affect the open strings / no advantage with a zero fret to helps sustain through the headstock.
Did the earliest double six have a brass nut ?

I'm fairly sure that the original Double Six didn't have a brass nut. I've seen quite a few at close quarters over the years (and even considered buying one or two of them before I got my current 12 string electric in 1979) and they all had the same black plastic, quite chunky, nut as used on the Marvin and other Burns guitars of the period. With a very few exceptions (eg, the "aluminum" examples used on Danelectros and on certain Italian guitars such as Wandre), metal nuts were unheard of back in the sixties.

Like Dave R, I suspect that the metal nut is used on current production in order to ensure quality control and prevent failure of the material between the strings, which was something you often saw on used examples of cheap twelve-strings from earlier decades.

Do you think it will give more sustain on a strat not that I'm complaining. The double six has a real ringing tone and I wonder if will make much difference - anyway am going to try one and post my results when done

Billyboygretsch wrote:Do you think it will give more sustain on a strat not that I'm complaining. The double six has a real ringing tone and I wonder if will make much difference - anyway am going to try one and post my results when done

Brass nuts (and bridges, and tailpieces) had their day, around 1979/1980. Even Fender joined in from about 1981.

They were a fad and didn't last.

The reason they came into fashion was that older, vintage, bridges (especially on Fenders) were made from hardened steel, whereas modern bridges (in the 1970s) were made of tone-killing crumbly cast crap. Brass was seen as a solid metal analogous to hardened steel and able to give the vintage tone.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

All it took was for Fender to start making the vintage style steel saddles again and brass was sunk. it was never a good material for nuts.

Over the years I have owned at least 6 Double 6s - several from the original Burns / Baldwin era, one '96/7 Custom Shop Legend and two from the more recent far eastern manufactured run. Not one has had a brass nut. I can remember Barry telling me about the material used on the Custom Shop example but, as that was seventeen years ago I can't remember what he told me!!

Brian

Further to last, here are photos of the headstock on the Custom Shop D6 which shows a black plastic material used for the nut.

Apologies for going off-topic, but may I appeal for folks to resize images before posting. Those images, at screen resolution, were three feet wide and, even on my 27" iMac were not comfortably easy to view.

Strange then why they seem to be on some of the Chinese versions and not others. Seems to work perfectly well on mine ?