Brass or Buffallo Bone?

I've used both brass and bone on guitars. In my opinion, there was only a very slight improvement over the plastic nut, so I question whether you would really observe much of a difference on a bass.

For the bone, I bought a bleached cow bone from a pet store and cut my own blank out of it, not very difficult. (Cow and buffalo are almost the same critter) On an acoustic guitar, I think it made a subtle difference at the bridge, but on the nut, maybe not that much of change...

So, it's a cool modification, but IMHO don't expect a miraculous difference regardless of whether you go brass or bone.

P.S. That particular acoustic now has over 20 years of playing on the bone nut, so life expectancy is not a problem. And I've got an electric with a brass nut that's 25 years old, again no problem with life.

 

On the other side of the coin: plastic may sound cheap for a nut, but many well-known instruments have successfully used plastic nuts for decades....

 

Since the nut, for the most part, is out of the equation except on open notes, I don't see that it would make a lot of difference.

I don't like plastic as well as bone or brass but not because of tone. I have seen lots of instruments with plastic nuts that the tuning is "jumpy". Every one that I've changed from plastic to bone tuned smoother. I use a lead pencil to lube the nut and when I change strings on plastic the black is mostly gone. With bone, the graphite is not only still there, it has taken on a polished look.

I wouldn't change expecting to see a huge improvement though.

 

Sure, go for a deer bone! Just dry it out for a long time and bleach it to disinfect it. That'd be unique!!

 

I think something even more unique might be called for- like antelope bone, or elk antler.

I've been thinking of a different metal for the nut on my bass, perhaps stainless steel...

 

I'm not sure that a deer has any bones that are thick walled enough for a nut blank.

I've never tried it but I've heard of using a material called Corian for a nut.

Corian is a manmade sub for stone that is used for countertops. You could probably get a sample that would be big enough for several nuts just for the asking. It comes in a wide range of colors and works easily with hand tools.

Just a nut that is not white would be pretty indvidualistic.

Anyone else heard of or used this material for a nut?

 

All the time! I've actually been entertaining the thought of a marble or granite nut as well. Corian seems to be fairly well thought of...

 

I was making a nut out of deer antler (I didn't finish it). But I thought it looked nice due to the color variation in the antler. I didn't like working with the antler, though, because it stinks when it heats up.

 

Kind of a burning hair smell...I know what you mean. If you don't mind using a file in water, sinking the whole mess in a bucket of water, it totally controls the stench. Don't try this with a Dremel, though. It doesn't work so good, shockingly.

 

shockingly!!! HAHA! .. I can't be the only one to have found that funny!!... aren't the Old Fender nuts made of bone? If so What kind? and did my '73 P-bass originally come with a bone nut?

 

Bone and metal are good stuff. What I tend to notice is that plastic, as it ages, forms around the wrappings of the strings. This makes the strings stick in the nut. Bone tends not to compress, and neither does metal.

 

I haven't researched it but I've heard that the shin bone from the front leg of a cow is usually used. I have noticed that where there's a lot of bass and guitar players there are a lot of three legged cows.

Tap it with the back of a knife blade. If it makes a sharp click, it's probably bone. If it has a dull thuddy sound it's probably plastic.