Bone

Animal bone, usually from cattle, cut and shaped into nuts and saddles for its hardness and low damping.

Bone has been the reference nut and saddle material for a very long time because it is hard, dense and stiff, with a fine uniform structure and no grain for a crack to follow. It is cut from leg bones, degreased, dried and worked with files, and it takes a precise slot and a polished crown. It is commonly described as giving a clear, ringing response with good definition on open strings, and as a real improvement over the moulded plastic nuts fitted to many factory instruments. It smells unpleasant while being worked, it varies in density from piece to piece, and some players choose synthetic alternatives on ethical grounds.

Example: Replacing a plastic nut with a well-fitted bone one gives a budget guitar more definition and noticeably steadier tuning at the first fret.

typical use: Nuts and saddles on acoustic and electric guitars.

Bone

See also