Anyone ever replaced a locking nut with a standard nut?

[Random Hero]

More often than not lately I've been leaving the locking nut off of my Ibanez UV. I dunno, it seems like less hassle - although it's negligible - and the guitar seems to feel a little different but I don't know if that's my imagination. Either way, I've been doing it. So I've been thinking of replacing my locking nut with a regular nut and putting locking tuners on it. Anyone know if this is possible?

I'm not a heavy trem abuser. Infact I barely use it but I like to have a trem there for "if and when" moments. My favourite tremolo is the trem on the EBMM JP or the one similar to it that Suhr are using, made by Gotoh.

I know it's possible to have an Edge without a locking nut as Broderick has it on his custom;



However, has anyone ever seen a regular nut retrofitted, or done it to their own axe?

[LuredMaul]

http://www.allparts.com/store/nuts-s...23,Product.asp

[Timbaline]

Actually Chris' new LACS guitars do have locking nuts (both his 6 and 7 string LACS).

[eviltwin]

Originally Posted by Random Hero

and the guitar seems to feel a little different but I don't know if that's my imagination.

It will affect tuning stability, but also the feel when bending, more string to bend means wider bends necessary to get to the same pitch, ditto on the trem. That could be what you're feeling.

[stratoskier]

I've converted several guitars from locking nuts to regular nuts. I didn't like the AllParts Ebanol nut -- it didn't fit well and would require replacing with the same exact part each time you need a new nut. A better solution for me was to fabricate a new piece of wood that fit precisely in the existing locking nut seat and is slotted to accept a regular nut. Depending on your woodworking skills, you may need to have someone else cut the piece out of a good chunk of maple. Or, of course, you can continue what you're already doing and just leave off the lock pads. I've seen this done quite a few times, but many would argue that metal is a lousy tone killer for a nut.
Bert