# Only bone should be used for nuts.



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Only bone can give you the proper tonal characterics that you require for your style of playing.

Use whale bone for a fluid style.

Use tiger bone for a more aggressive sound.

Use chicken bone for plucking. 

Use mammoth bone for a heavy bottom.

Use wolf bone for playing Duran Duran.

If someone ever finds a partly evolved animal this would be ideal for eclectic styles.

Etc?


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2017)

Ham bone for cheezy posts.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Turkey bone for stage fright?

Cheetah bone for shred

Elephant bone for the songs that are tough to remember

Shark bone for the Jaws theme

Human bone for the Cannibal Corpse cover band

T-bone for juicy licks


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## RedFenderBender (Oct 7, 2016)

"Tbone for those JUICY Licks"

Sent from my LGMS550 using Tapatalk


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2017)

funny bone for parody songs


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Will fish bone give you a better wet sound?


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Boner bone for boning the ladies?


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2017)

dcole said:


> Boner bone for boning the ladies?


Now you've gone too far. What has happened to this place?


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Fossilized walrus snot is often overlooked for its tonal characteristics although it is well recognized on acoustic guitar forums where people ask questions like "how many high end custom builds will 'you' order this year?"


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Wardo said:


> Fossilized walrus snot is often overlooked for its tonal characteristics ...


Thanks for this info...I just ordered some.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

greco said:


> Thanks for this info...I just ordered some.


It's available roasted now too so make sure you specify plain or roasted. Although the up charge for the roasted stuff is a bit of a scam if you ask me.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Whale bone for those long sustaining notes.
Bonehead for when you want to mess up your notes.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Bonobo bone for U2 songs?


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2017)

Here's what confuses me.
Matching a bone nut with a bone saddle on acoustic, I understand.
Bone nut on electric with a steel (whatever metal) saddle?
I've never seen bone saddles for a TOM/ABR/Fender bridge.
Why not?


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

the type of nut you choose only affects open strings. Once you start fretting, the nut is of no consequence to the tone of the guitar


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2017)

rollingdam said:


> the type of nut you choose only affects open strings.
> Once you start fretting, the nut is of no consequence to the tone of the guitar


I understand that.
What about the bridge?
It also has a influence on tone, n'est-ce pas?


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

laristotle said:


> Here's what confuses me.
> Matching a bone nut with a bone saddle on acoustic, I understand.
> Bone nut on electric with a steel (whatever metal) saddle?
> I've never seen bone saddles for a TOM/ABR/Fender bridge.
> Why not?


On an electric, I guess it's just a hard-wearing, easy-to-shape material that does the job well. And probably a lot of luthiers are used to working it. I can't imagine it makes too much of a difference to the sound, but I certainly don't have "golden ears".


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Wardo said:


> It's available roasted now too so make sure you specify plain or roasted. Although the up charge for the roasted stuff is a bit of a scam if you ask me.


Is it then cryogenically frozen after roasting to re-tighten the molecular structure?


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

laristotle said:


> I understand that.
> What about the bridge?
> It also has a influence on tone, n'est-ce pas?


Yes the bridge saddle material will affect tone-whether bone, ivory or TUSQ is a matter of preference.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

So when I play a bar chord the whole character of the guitar changes because I have cut off the bone tone of the nut, and I am now hearing a metal tone of the bridge?

Every guitar should have a zero fret then by that logic.

So sorry this thread has turned serious. Somebody say something ridiculous, quick!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

...something ridiculous, quick!


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## Ronbeast (Nov 11, 2008)

A lot of luthiers do use zero frets as a way to make open notes and fretted notes sound the same (both vibrating against a metal fret) but one of the main drawing points for a zero fret is low action with minimal nut work required.

When you use a zero fret on a build, the nut acts more so as a guide for the strings, whereas your zero fret is installed where the nut should be, at whatever your scale length is.

This is the main reason that you see zero frets on a lot of cheaper instruments from the 60's and 70's; it's a great design that allows for less nut work, your fretted notes sound the same as open notes, and you can get very low action. Unfortunately the stigma of seeing zero frets on cheaper instruments is one of the main reasons we still don't see them very often on guitars today.

But again, once you fret a barre chord, the zero fret is taken out of the tonal equation and makes no difference at all.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

rollingdam said:


> Yes the bridge saddle material will affect tone-whether bone, ivory or TUSQ is a matter of preference.


I've often thought of making a set of bone saddles for my Tele to experiment with. I'm not sure how well the bone will hold threads without stripping though.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

KapnKrunch said:


> *So when I play a bar chord the whole character of the guitar changes because I have cut off the bone tone of the nut*,
> 
> So sorry this thread has turned serious. Somebody say something ridiculous, quick!


But not if you have bony fingers.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2017)

Steadfastly said:


> But not if you have bony fingers.


They're still planted behind a metal fret.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

greco said:


> ...something ridiculous, quick!


High five.


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