Bone Nuts - What Bone?

[Rabbitz]

What sort of bone is used in a bone nut?

Is the bone "green", i.e. raw and simply cut from a freshly slaughtered beast?

Is it dried or even cooked?


These questions are as a direct result of waking up early on a Sunday,for no good reason, and the unreasoned thought processes that occur while waiting for the sun to rise.

[stan]

Here it is usually cow, plentiful, high density, big enough bits...
It is definitely not green, is dried , not sure about cooked. You need all the miscellaneous organic bits gone and the bone to be dry and stable.
Done see why you couldn't have roo here...
Some of the guys in the US use buffalo etc. or even deer horn, I guess it depends on what is available, and what you have had success with in the past, like the sound of etc...

If DB is reading this, he is making me one from mother of pearl...

[Sundragon]

I always get Graph Tech TUSQ nut for any guitar I use.
Preferred over Bone, and I will immediately throw away any plastic nuts.

[dingobass]

Most common bone used is cow or buffalo.
There are two main types, bleached and un bleached.
Usually the bone is slightly cooked (boiled) to remove the bits you dont want, then it is bleached if desired.

Personally, I prefer the non bleached. I have found it to be less brittle and also gives a warmer tone.

I have used sun bleached bone, this appears to be less brittle than ammonia bleached, but you usually have to fight the Dogs off whilst trying to steal their bone

I have heard of guys using Roo bone, but it can be difficult to get a Roo bone big enough to cut a decent sized blank from..

Other materials used are Wolly Mammoth Tusk, Elephant Ivory (Grrrrrrrrrrr!), horn and Hippo tooth name a few.