What is the nut of the guitar?

The nut of the guitar is the piece of medium hard material found where the headstock and the fretboard meet. The nut has six or twelve grooves that serve as a guide for the strings onto the freboard. These allow for consistency of the string placement. This is very important as it is one of the endpoints of the strings vibrations. The grooves must be carefully cut so that there is no string slippage or string buzzing. The material of the guitar nut can be made out of bone, plastic, brass, corian, graphite or stainless steel.