bone nut hype

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:37 pm

how many of you(i know your out there)
believe the hype about a bone nut making your guitar sound better?
the only reason i ask is becuz i just make a manolin nut(out of bone) for a customer.
this was the jist of the convo.
customer "the bone nut will really bring out the true tone of my mando"
me "but you have a zero fret so you won't actually have any real string to nut contact"
customer "huh?"

basically its a kay mando, all laminated, and with a zero fret.
so obviously the nut is just there as a string guide and there is no tonal advantages of it.
either way she still has to fork out 30 bucks when she could have gotten a 5 dollar plastic nut and gotten the job done just as well.
unless you do alot of open tunings/chords there is no need to splurge on a bone nut.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:47 pm

yeah, with a zero fret, you might as well use peanut butter =/

i dont see the hype because i dont do alot of open stuff

but i will say that if you do use alot of open stuff, a brass nut will give you a more even tone

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:55 pm

tru, i has a brass nut on the tele i made myself, partially becuz i get some good string movement with my trem, and i do alot of open chords n junk.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:01 pm

i put a brass nut on my telecaster because a few months after i started playing i broke the plastic one that was on there. i knew nothing about tone and mojo, i just picked brass 'cause i figured it'd be indestructible. i cut it myself with a dremel and it's super haggard, but it's held up well for the last 7 or 8 years.

turtle · Post by **turtle** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:03 pm

I do a lot of bending and I ABSOLUTELY feel the difference with a roller nut

turtle · Post by **turtle** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:22 pm

of course that has nothing to do with bone nut hype

but a nut nonetheless

iCEByTes · Post by **iCEByTes** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:29 pm

In My Humble Opinion over Acoustic Stuff such like Guitars , Mando , Every acoustic instruments is not an hype itÂ´s do the difference

true cow bone difference is brutal on acoustic stuff dude
Tone differences on electric guitars are small on eletric advantage itÂ´s more solid and strings runÂ´s better ,
... but on acoustical itÂ´s very brutal very mental ...

- others things do influence are :
Solid sides , back , and good top
Goma-laca finish , French way , Because Nitrocellulose and PU kill tone on acoustic stuff

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:06 pm

i love you icey.

Ninja Mike 808 · Post by **Ninja Mike 808** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:23 pm

I think you may tell the difference if you could A/B them, ya know. Like, record somethin' with the plastic and then record somethin' with the bone (just switching the nuts in between recordings). But, I doubt you'll notice anything just by walking into a room and hearing a person play one.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:35 pm

the main thing about my rant is. no matter what your nut is made out of, the exact moment you fret a note, the nut material is obsolete.
and if you have a zero fret then even when the string is plucked open the material for the nut means nothing.
I just get tired of hearing people "try" to tell me how much better bone is over plastic or graphtec or something like that.
the graphite stuff is great for a trem user, but if you don't use a trem, there is not use for it.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:09 am

Robert's right. It's a lot of hooey.

But just to see what would happen, I just hit a tuning fork on a table and let it resonate on random, handy things, like the table, a plastic alarm clock, the wall, and a thick metal lamp. Strangely, the alarm clock and the wall had the clearest tone. The lamp had very little and the pine table was somewhat dampened. Even after I stopped hearing it on the table I could hold it against the wall and hear it. I deduce that thickness of the object has something to do with it. A nut is so thin and relatively hard it shouldn't matter that much. Going from plastic to brass may be different. Tuning forks are metal, happy meal forks are plastic.

I bet it wouldn't be that hard for Fender to cast a plastic nut with heavier density than the old ones.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:54 am

youve got some damn good points there my friend.
i spose it makes sense when you realize that every stock plastic nut has lil bits on the bottom missing and some acoustic nuts are hollow.
i wonder what it would be like if the nut was.... 6 times bigger than a gibby nut. but the only difference would be on the open note.

More Cowbell · Post by **More Cowbell** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:33 pm

I want to do a bone nut and saddle on my acoustic, to see if anything changes.

iCEByTes · Post by **iCEByTes** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:37 pm

More Cowbell wrote:I want to do a bone nut and saddle on my acoustic, to see if anything changes.

good luck

i loved the changes on Melissa and my Raymundo Y Aparicio 128

dodgedartdave · Post by **dodgedartdave** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:54 pm

I like bone nuts, but not for the "tone". I like em because they are a good consistency to file and they are easy on strings. They are kinda self lubercating in a way. They are less likely to do the "kink, kink" thing as you tune up.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:15 pm

they are a bit better to work with, unlike micarta which i find chips out fairly easily.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:12 pm

They're reliable and durable - good reasons to like 'em. I think the sound thing might be due to the slots being more durable and not getting all ground down and buzzy. I sprung for one on my 335, but well cut plastic would work and sound just as good.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:48 am

Bone stinks to work with though. It feels a little like Dauchau in my shop.

I just got me an acoustic like Cowbell's! It was the fastest shipping I have thus encountered. BIN on SUnday, here on Wednesday. I had bought a little Martin from a local punk rock girl who busted a hole in it and although I fixed it easily enough, I decided it bothered me that it isn't really wood on the sides and back (it's high pressure laminate wood material). It sounds as clear as a bell, but my boner was gone. I started doing the research on cheep guitars and I determined that Epiphone is the best bang for the buck. I looked at a few vintage, but this black one with stars came up and I pulled the trigger for $200. It was perfectly tuned through the shipping and in flawless shape. I had been wanting something other than dots even though I guess I could dig my own inlays.

More Cowbell · Post by **More Cowbell** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:52 am

DGNR8 wrote:Bone stinks to work with though. It feels a little like Dauchau in my shop.

I just got me an acoustic like Cowbell's! It was the fastest shipping I have thus encountered. BIN on SUnday, here on Wednesday. I had bought a little Martin from a local punk rock girl who busted a hole in it and although I fixed it easily enough, I decided it bothered me that it isn't really wood on the sides and back (it's high pressure laminate wood material). It sounds as clear as a bell, but my boner was gone. I started doing the research on cheep guitars and I determined that Epiphone is the best bang for the buck. I looked at a few vintage, but this black one with stars came up and I pulled the trigger for $200. It was perfectly tuned through the shipping and in flawless shape. I had been wanting something other than dots even though I guess I could dig my own inlays.

You has the everly brothers too???

I need new tortoise pg material for mine, I want to dew it up like the gibson version.

Neck is really thin eh?

JamesSmann · Post by **JamesSmann** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:06 am

huh-huh.

"bone nut"