Is there any advantage to having a Brass Nut over a Plastic nut?

Im gunna go with sustain! Less vibration absorption, plastic is softer than brass.

It looks cooler

Reason I ask, when I first got my 6120 set up a few years back the repair guy convinced me to replace the brass nut, so it's been sitting in my guitar case ever since and now I'm wondering should I have left it on.....

Well, I have two guitars with brass nuts, a 6120-BLK and a DSW. I wouldn't replace mine for anything. I guess it depends on the sound you're after, but if you're like me, and want a bright, twangy sound from all the strings, the brass is the way to go. Brass nut plus a stainless steel bridge results in huge sustain. Think Duane Eddy. I got my DSW about a month ago and for me, it's the "desert island guitar," (You know, if you were stranded on a desert island with only one guitar, what would it be?) Why not reinstall the brass nut, and see how you like it?

A brass nut will give you more twang on the open strings and brass is also self-lubricating which makes it the ideal choice for a guitar with a vibrato. I put a brass nut on my 5120.

Whether or not it sustains more, I can't speak to once you get off the open strings. On Barre chords, your finger is the nut.

They make a funky clanking noise when you walk....

They make a funky clanking noise when you walk....

They make a funky clanking noise when you walk....

I got nuts....that jingle, jangle, jingle.

Plastic is an oil byproduct. Do you really want to support the oil industry? I say do a swap out & see if you like it. Completely reversible!

Brass nuts rule. They are a bear to cut slots into, but the results are well worth it. The neck will feel more lively with a brass nut than any other, meaning you feel the string vibration more in the neck than with non-metal nuts.

Put the brass back on. If it's too low for the new frets, you can get brass shim stock at the hardware store. I don't know why repair guys always want to take them off.

I think that may be, Billy, because there was something of a craze in the 80's to replace bone nuts with brass nuts. Once we got out of the 80's, people began to think that it was just a faddish trend of that time and they wanted to return the guitars to their original conditions. That led somewhat to a brass nut backlash, in my estimation.

It's weird that there would be a trend on nut materials, don't you think? I think the decision should be based on the tone and feel a player is going for.

Next time I have work done on my T-Rose, a brass nut is going in. Wish more models came with them. Sounds great on the 6120DE. And I play with a lot of open strings.

I personally don't like them and I will replace the brass nut on my 6120DSV as soon as I get the chance. I certainly understand why people like them. The sustain is noticeably longer and they do give the open notes a zingier quality. For me the difference in tone and sustain between fretted and unfretted notes (which is very noticeable) irritates me too much to live with it. It is a damn shame though because they look great.

I discovered one disadvantage to the brass nut on my new 6120DE. Its corners are sharp as all get out and I nearly lacerated the crap out of my left index finger when I finally got to sit down and give it some serious playing time recently. I took it back to TrueTone to get it de-burred and set up a little more to my liking, but, injury risk or not, it sounds dang good.

I'd love to figure out a way to install a zero fret on my Falcon.

One of my flat tops, a Daion Caribou, has a brass nut. It also has a brass saddle and brass fretboard markers. It's certainly a bright sounding guitar. I'm thinking I might replace the saddle but probably leave the nut.

Dude.... that Caribou is a pretty guitar....

"Caribou is a pretty guitar"

David: I think so. It's even got an arched back. Daion did turn out some good stuff back in the 80s.