KASA Guitar

The nut is a “shelf” nut which mounts in the existing nut slot with the shelf resting on the fretboard. The reason for this is to change the distance from the “break point” at the nut to the saddle. This distance needs to be compensated at both the nut and the saddle. This is how Earvana compensates for the problems with tuning in the first 5 frets (where it is most noticeable).

               No and no. The action will not feel any different. The nut is adjusted with “nut files” to get the string height to where it was on the old nut.

The nut basically looks like a “Gibson” nut for most acoustics. The saddle is used if the compensation at the nut does not completely cure the problems in the first few frets. Acoustics are not as easy to get the same results as electrics as the saddle is not adjustable at each individual string. Earvana came up with a saddle that is an attempt to fix this adjustment. Sometimes the nut alone makes a dramatic improvement and sometimes with the nut and the saddle both installed there seems to be little difference (you need to know the facts). The only sure way to get the improvement that is experienced with an electric guitar installation is to modify the bridge. This gets expensive and I prefer not to do it due to the time it takes and the modification to the instrument that is required. I have been told by customers that the nut alone made a big difference.

I have the Earvana on many of my own guitars. It really works. However my belief is that it depends on how bad the problem was in the first place. For more information on how it works visit the Earvana site at www.earvana.com . you will be able to study the changes the nut makes in the pitch at different frets, again it is in the first 5 or so that the problem is the worst. Many factors play into this formula; you first have to understand that a guitar by its very nature cannot be “tuned” at every fret at the same time. You will notice this most if you tune open (the normal way) to a very good tuner (Peterson is what I use). Then play an “open G” chord and see how far out out of tune are the strings you press down. The first string will be very close as it does not exhibit the same bad habits as the other strings. So the chord basically sounds pretty good. Now play an “open D” and it will probably sound way out of tune. Then you “tweak” it until it sounds good and guess what, now the G is out. This is what the Earvana corrects.

No one has written me to actually ask that question, so check the bottom of the page.

The short answer is DON’T ever tune this way. New guitar players pick up this bad habit usually from a “friend” that knows how to tune a guitar (remember what I said above? A guitar simply can’t be tuned.) Harmonics don’t work because there is only ONE pure harmonic. Is that a surprise to anyone? I’ll bet you can guess which harmonic that is…..yep, the octave. The octave harmonic is the only one you can trust. Don’t take my word for it, Google it.! The harmonics at the 5^th and 7^th frets are 2 to 3 cents off. Remember this is accumulative. So if you tune each string to the harmonic next to it you are off by 2 to 3 cents, then 4 to 6 cents on the next pair… you get the idea. Don’t do it, enough about that.

Yes. The octave is used to set or check intonation. Personally I have been playing loud music so long that this doesn’t work especially well for me; cause my hearing is not so good anymore. Of course I just keep playing louder and…well that’s how I got in this situation in the first place; but back to the octave harmonic. If you play the octave harmonic and then play the same string at the 12^th (the same) fret the pitch should be the same.  This is a good check to see if your guitar is intonated properly. Then get a Peterson strobe tuner and intonate the thing properly. Or you could bring your guitar to a guitar technician and pay him (or me in this case) about $45 to perform a “setup” on your ax. A setup should always include intonation. If it doesn’t, come see me.