A couple weeks back, I reported on Big Bends Nut Sauce and even ordered a sample to test out myself. The package arrived rather promptly, signed personally by company founder Jeff Massey (or at least someone who took the time to forge his signature), so I was excited to try it out.

I gave it a shot on one of my guitars, a Fender Standard Fat Strat, applying the nut sauce to the bridge, nut, and string trees. I took a look at the applicator, and it reminded me of one of those facial care commercials where a model removes some adhesive strip to reveal a bunch of blackheads embedded in her face. I never realized how dirty my nut was.

Surely, then, I figured I'd notice a difference in play. I admit that afterwards, my strings stay in tune very well even after a lot of string bending and movement back and forth between the first and second floors of my apartment (this usually constitutes a severe difference in temperature -- the first floor is usually like a freezer while the second floor is a sauna).

The problem is, my guitar stayed in tune very well before the nut sauce -- I had lucked out and got one of those Mexican made Strats that was done way more justice than it's price tag would let on. Since I was expecting pristine results that would keep my tuners free from fingerprints for a while, I was about to call the experiment a bust, but I want to give Big Bends a chance on another guitar -- perhaps one where I know tuning is rarely consistent.

The Fender Highway One used in pretty much every Gearwire demo ever is the perfect candidate. Keeping that thing in tune is tougher than juggling flaming chainsaws. Since I still have a fair amount of Nut Sauce left, I'm going to bring it in for part two of the Big Bends Nut Sauce test. Will it make a noticeable difference on our in-studio guitar or is the sauce effect highly psychological?