Nut (string instrument)


A nut, on a stringed musical instrument, is a small piece of hard material that supports the strings at the end closest to the headstock or scroll. The nut marks one end of the vibrating length of each open string, sets the spacing of the strings across the neck, and usually holds the strings at the proper height from the fingerboard. Along with the bridge, the nut defines the vibrating lengths of the open strings.
The nut may be made of ebony, ivory, cow bone, brass, Corian or plastic, and is usually notched or grooved for the strings. The grooves are designed to lead the string from the fingerboard to the headstock or pegbox in a smooth curve, to prevent damage to the strings or their windings. Bowed string instruments in particular benefit from an application of soft pencil graphite in the notches of the nut, to preserve the delicate flat windings of their strings.

Etymology

The word may have come from the German Nut, meaning groove or slot. The nut, however, is called a :de:Sattel |de:Sattel in German, whereas the part of a guitar known as the saddle in English, the surface of the bridge on which the strings rest, is called a :de:Steg |de:Stegeinlage or Steg, in German. In French, the nut is known as a :fr:sillet, which, like German, can also translate to mean saddle. The Italian term, capo tasto, is the origin of the capo.

Variations

Not all string instruments have nuts as described:
String slots in a nut without a zero fret must be cut to the proper depth to make string height correct. Strings that are too low at the nut can buzz against the frets, and too high throws off intonation of fretted notes.
The term nut is also to refer to bridges on certain keyboard instruments. On harpsichords, it designates the non-sounding bridge located near the tuning pins away from the player. On virginals, the term usually designates the bridge on the left side, away from the tuning pins. The term is not always applied consistently.