ShoozGuitars@rock.com...

A friend, ShoozGuitars@rock.com, has the following info about nuts on your guitar...Hey StewMac:
What's the best material
for making a string nut?”
Erick Coleman, August 23, 2007




I’m so glad you asked. It’s BONE!

There sure are lots of nut materials out there: including regular plastic, Micarta, and Tusq. It gets confusing, so my tech support phone starts ringing: “Hey Stewmac! What nut material do you guys prefer?!?”


For guitar, bass, mandolin or banjo, I recommend bone because a well made bone nut gives bright, resonant tone that really sounds alive.

Don’t take my word for it, you can prove it yourself. Try your own comparison: play a guitar with a plastic nut long enough to get to know its tone and sustain. (If you’re feeling scientific, record the guitar’s sound to compare later.) Now install a bone nut and listen again. The bone brings your guitar to life with a better attack and sustain.


Shooz Matthews says it’s so.
Lots of top luthiers won’t use anything but bone for nuts and saddles. Shooz Matthews, whose clients include Steve Howe and the tone-finicky Dwight Yoakam, has tried every material out there, and now uses bone on all the high end instruments that come across his bench.

Stealing from the dog!?
Years ago, Dan Erlewine would search his back yard for old steak bones he’d thrown out for his pal Kurt. After bleaching in the sun for a season or two, these pieces were ready to be shaped and installed. The nut on this guitar was made from one of Kurt’s old dog bones!