Try this... I mean Really... go to any decent guitar shop... and honestly look away and have a really good guitarist play several guitars without first becoming familiar with the guitars sound or any aspect of the guitars being played… then try to identify the nut material, fret board wood, material the frets are made of, paint, etc etc... or, how loud the shirt the guy playing the guitar is..
My continuing point is, most of the changes I see guys want to incorporate in their guitars would be analogous to going from 87 octane to 93 or whatever in their fuel tank... for most, their driving would never reveal any difference AT ALL, except when they look in their wallet.
Now that said,,, DO NOT think I am dissuading anyone from “modding” their axe to their liking… sometimes having what you want strapped around your shoulders is far more important than any “sonic reality”. And if some tiny piece of guitar “bling” makes ya happy, damn man, don’t ask, just do it…
But do not, for a moment thing that adding some “whatever” to your guitar, or buying a new one made out of all “period correct” goodies will make you a better player EXCEPT by virtue of the psychological factors that come into play.
Therefore I can say, absolutely definitively the following statement is true and empirical. Anything you choose to change about your guitar will absolutely change it, making it sound better and you play better, unless it doesn’t.
Allow me to interject, my initial reply was made under the assumption that the nut IS correctly cut, seated and glued in the slot.
Ron Kirn