Graph Tech TUSQ XL F-Style Slotted Nut

I was having tuning stability problems and other issues with my American Stratocaster, so I decided to follow the advice of others and got one of these nuts.

I changed the nut along with the tuners and the trem / bridge so I don't know whether just installing this would be enough for you to realise your objective or not - but if you want to do things a step at a time on a budget, I would recommend you start with installing one of these and see how things go.

You could get a tech to deal with this for you, but in my opinion this is easy to install. Make sure you have some abrasive paper and a small file handy to deal with the adjustments you will likely have to make to the nut. You may also have to rub away some width depending on the size of your last nut. But it's easy to work on, and I had no problems.

Once it was on and the guitar was tuned up, the noises that indicate strings are not stable on the nut were miraculously gone and the guitar no longer goes out of tune so easily ! As I said, I upgraded two other key components of the guitar, but I got out of this nut exactly what I expected ! So, I would recommend you get one of these and maybe you'll have the same experience as me !

I plan to install a second one on my other Strat (because I bought two of these at the same time in case I screwed up with the first one - worth considering !! ).

I have been using GraphTech TUSQ XL nuts for years - I bought my first one to save a G-string gripping Gibson SG from tuning hell, and a guitar that just wouldn't hold tune before became a guitar that can survive an entire gig with no major tuning touch-ups.

I have since replaced all my guitar nuts with GraphTech TUSQ XL nuts with great results. This is my ninth GraphTech TUSQ XL nut, so I expect it to work as great as the other eight!

If you have tuning issues or even slight tuning instabilities, before dropping 100€ for shiny new tuners or buying Nut Sauce every so often, try installing one of these - you won't regret it. No more scraping pencil lead and messy syringe applications, the nut does all the work on its own.

Usage:
It is really simple, it is a basic nut.
Pros:
It is self-lubricating, therefore leads to less friction and a great alternative to a bone nut. It is a safe bet for most modern Fender guitars.
It is easy to install, you don't have to have specific guitar tools to do so. The only tool you would need is probably sandpaper, and this leads to cons.

Cons:
Depending on your nut slot, installment might require a tiny bit of work, of which you will have to chip out the middle part. However, this is something one can do with a simple box cutter pretty easily.

In short, this is a great nut.

This nut seems to be of high quality. I've read many, many reviews, and it always seems to be the top choice, apparently there is more tonal consistency than my favored bone nuts . The 'XL' version is claimed to be permanently lubricated, useful for vibrato equipped guitars. There are no obvious defect in manufacturing, it looks very precisely made. That it can fit both flat and arched nut slots means I don't have to pull the old nut before ordering.
I have not yet installed this nut, I purchased it as a spare part to keep around for when I need it rather than having to wait for a new nut to arrive. Looking at this one, I will now order Tusq nuts for all of my guitars just to have them on hand when they're needed.

In case you are experiencing tuning stability issues on your F-style guitar, the nut and string tree are the most common culprits. Had nothing but great experiences with this tusq nut: tuning stability was greatly improved. Requires some setup to make it fit the nut slot radius and the string slots might need some filing depending on the type/degree of wear of the frets on your neck. Nothing difficult though. One remark: the XL version -in contrast to the regular tusq nut- is PTFE impregnated. This reduces friction between the strings and the nut slots increasing tuning stability dramatically. In addition, this lubrication effect does not wear out when the slots are filed deeper as it is impregnated throughout the whole nut. Cool little product!