The Electra Forums

~ That's a handsome beast you guys are cordially discussing (the first one in this thread). I never tire of playing my Workingman X280... but wish it had these bells and whistles. So what's the deal with the nut on these? They appear to be brass, and I've seen a few other Electras with the same. Edju-ma-cate me people!

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"Somebody should put the fish in the river." - Motorcycle Boy, from the film Rumble Fish

Please!

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"Somebody should put the fish in the river." - Motorcycle Boy, from the film Rumble Fish

Hey,

Yes, it's brass. I had an x270 I believe it was for a little while and that too had a brass nut (as well as a brass bridge). Don't quote me, I'm probably the least informed of the people here, but I believe a number of the x series 'original models' as well as a number of the mpc models came with brass nuts.

Brass nuts were popular in the early 80's when the theory was more mass on each end made for more sustain. I have a Phoenix bass and a Vantage guitar with brass nuts. I can't say that have noticed a difference.

Right on thickey - some early MPC's did not have brass but nost did. Supposedly brass will give better sustain. I'm a little sceptical of that - there are legions that swear that's the case and legions that don't. I have to throw in that most of the brass nuts on the Electra's I've had have been cut kind of poorly with the treble string slots too deep. They're not stringbreakers but they are too deep IMO. I have not seen brass nuts on any of the semi hollow models but they may be out there.

My wife and I each have a Les Paul Custom. Her's is a '69 and mine a '70. Her's has plastic saddles and a bone nut, mine is brass all around. Sustain-wise I am not certain if it matters at all. Unless you are picking an open string it seems to me the fretwire to bridge section that is vibrating is the bulk of the equation.

Mine has a definite "edge" to it over hers but I am willing to bet it is the pups more than anything else. Her's has more "growl & blues" to it but her pups are not the stock ones it came with.

She took it in for servicing when she was only 14 and had no idea what PAF's really meant at the time. Some low-life POS talked her into having them replaced for some reason she cannot remember and doesn't want to remember today. The pups in it now are most likely DiMarzio's as close as I can figure.

Sometimes people can succeed in making themselves lower than toe jam if they really apply themselves. On that particular day did he ever succeed ...

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Steve, your wife's 1969 LP had T-top pickups, not PAF's - PAF's were replaced by "pat number" pickups ca 1963-64, then by T-tops (which were automated machine wound, rather than operator machine wound) ca 1967-68 -- the DiMarzio's were thought by many to be (and often are) better pickups than the T-top's, and the T-tops weren't really valuable when she was 14 (what 10 or 12 years ago ??), so the tech probably thought he was doing the right thing !! (Uh, let's see, is this thread hijacked // oh, you started the thread anyway, so....LOL

p.s. the auto wound pickups were done that way for consistency, so no accidental magic mojo as found in PAF's !!!

All correct Dave but her '69 was built with a pair of the original PAF's from the factory.

It was originally her older brother's guitar and he wrote to Gibson asking if it could be done and they apparently found a set and did it for him. Call it a Custom Custom I guess...

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Wow! So are you still on the Ultima?

Yessir... still hanging in there.

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

Good for you! That's a pretty clean looking guitar. Certainly well cared for. The only obvious flaw I see is a missing MPC cover hinge screw. A couple dings on the top and some buckle rash but overall very very nice. Hope you get it.

Out the door @ $685.00. Winning bid came in with 5 seconds to spare!!

...I wonder how they time it so perfectly each time...

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

That's a high price for an Ultima. I can't say it's not worth it - but still it's pretty lofty.

Nearly 500 views with only 9 bids up 'til 5 minutes to go, I knew they were waiting in the weeds. The price jumped 45% with the last 4 bids.

Another one may come along... someday.

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...throw me a frickin' bone here, people...

$725 after shipping... really? I'd say someone got caught up in the moment. I think both the Ultima's Jead has sold were cleaner than this one, and went for lots less. I'd give this one a D in the value category. Let's put it this way, all three of my Semi Hollows were had for less than this... Mike.


P.S. Ok, I just realized that the purchaser may be a Forum Member, so I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers... it's just that there are better deals to be had out there.

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