a slide set up question

[DavidRees]

I've posted before about having had my Yamaha SG500 adapted to purely slide playing, no fretted notes at all. Underneath the strings by the raised nut I have slotted in a small piece of leather to slightly mute the strings at that end in a similar fashion to the George Van Eps device or the hairbands used by the boys and girls who tap. The way I play, all notes are made with the slide with only the occasional use of an open string as a passing note so this works better for me than the trailing index finger technique for muting. I was thinking about the possibility of using a different material for the nut which would provide the slightly muted sound on its own, in essense the opposite if what we would normally want a nut to do, and was wondering if a wooden nut, perhaps with graphite in the slots to ease any string sticking, would works. Any comments and suggestions welcome.
Thanks David 8)

[ToneMonkey]

I really haven't got a clue... not the foggiest.

If I'm getting you right, you might want to look at a softer material to deaden the sound.  Kind of like if you cut bigger slots in a normal nut and glued in leather to hold the string tight (although I'm not sure if that would work).

To deaden the strings you need a damper of some sort, but that seems like a bugger for strings sticking  :?

I'd break out a string, a saw and a bit of wood and have a play with different materials, it's the only way to be sure.

[MrBump]

Nothing practical to say, but I love the Yam SG!

[HTH AMPS]

you should really work on the trailing finger technique to keep the notes clean - you get all that out of tune whining in with the note when you don't damp the strings behind the slide. 

[DavidRees]

thanks everyone for your comments - I think I'll probably stay with things as they are then with the leather strip under the strings by the nut - it works well enough
David

[Philly Q]

Nothing practical to say, but I love the Yam SG!

Likewise!  And is that an MSG in the background?

[DavidRees]

sure is - got underwound Fralin's in - almost as good as the BFK Manhattans in the SG
David

[ToneMonkey]

I was thinking about this the other day when the missus was dragging me around the car boot sale (although I was looking for a bridge for the CBG and playing foot spa bingo, so kept myself amused)....... but working on the technique was definately the best advice so far.

What would happen if you replaced the nut with something shorter and had sound deadening material over the top.  Imagine if you sanded your current nut to the bottom of the slots and glued a think piece of leather or foam rubber on top.  If you had enough downward pressure (by string trees or an angled headstock) then I can't really see the strings moving sideways.

Or I thought about cutting a small notch in the current nut and having a small strip of sound deadening material in there.  It sure is a pickle  :? :D

Nice fire place too.

[impossible]

Even hardwood will give you quite a good open string sound compared to muting it with something. Messing with the nut will open a can of bad-tuning worms, best to leave it working properly and handle muting seperately either via a string damper or your trailing finger. A bit of foam wedged under the strings can do it (not too firm, don't want it bending strings out of tune) and can be popped out dead easy to tune the guitar.