Ybanjo - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:32:04

I have looked but can't find a good answer to why nuts are made of bone.  I can understand that bone is sturdy and hard, but bridges are typically made of wood, and seem to work fine.  Why can't a nut be made of wood, for instance, or polycarbonate.  Is it sound properties??  I often hear to put a slip of paper in a nut slot for buzzing.  Wouldn't that change the sound properties of that string?? 

Banjophobic - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:39:58

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 

I have looked but can't find a good answer to why nuts are made of bone.  I can understand that bone is sturdy and hard, but bridges are typically made of wood, and seem to work fine.  Why can't a nut be made of wood, for instance, or polycarbonate.  Is it sound properties??  I often hear to put a slip of paper in a nut slot for buzzing.  Wouldn't that change the sound properties of that string?? 

---

Some banjos have nuts made out of wood, as in ebony. Ive seen nuts made from brass and steel also. I think bone has the right combination of hardness/density, without being too hard (adding too much sustain and brightness to the tone). It also is fairly easy to cut, sand and shape for its hardenss and the slots cut into it last a long time. The slots can also be filled and recut much easier than other materials like brass. 

Bones density also lends itself to anchoring the instrument's tone to the neck and helping with some sustain. It also ages into a nice patina. All around, it great stuff to use for instruments. Some bridges do have bone inserts and that can sound great on one banjo but not so much on another. A solid bone bridge will usually sound awful (too dense) by transmitting too many 'bad' frequencies. The bridge isnt operating the same way as the nut, tonally.

5 finger ninja - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:43:17

imo a nut is harder to replace than a bridge so they use a durable substance like bone. Wood probably wouldnt last long as a nut It might split to easy, and I dont think it would sound as good. Then again I wonder what a bone banjo bridge would sound like. Probably not that good.

beegee - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:44:56

Nuts are made of lots of things: plastic, ebony, bone, graphite and other combinations of natural materials and chemical compounds, brass, pearl, ivory, imitation ivory(Tagua Nut). I've seen glass and porcelain and phenolic resin board. Bone is readily available, fairly consistent in grain and density and porosity and is cheap.  It seems to have the right combination of characteristics that make it attractive and easy to work and produce a good tone. bridge and nuts function differently. A very dense bridge made of something like brass or with a chemical matrix like Plexiglas sounds pretty bad. The nut doesn't transmit directly to a tympanic membrane. It transmits sound through the neck and once the string is fretted, it plays a lesser role than a bridge does.

Bone doesn't dehydrate as quickly as wood and some bone has a natural fat content that may add lubricity that helps the strings slide through the slots. I bought some camel bone that felt pure oily to the touch, but it was supposed to be harder and denser than cow bone.

Edited by - beegee on 04/19/2013 09:46:33

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:50:03

You are touching on a subject that is steeped in folklore tradition, and debated with near-religious fervor.

Bone is used because it was around long before plastics and is a good hardness.  It looks good, is easy enough to work.  It has become a standard material for guitars and banjos, mostly because of tradition.  Violins and cellos normally have ebony nuts, which is another old tradition.

You can make the nut out of anything - bone,  MOP, ivory (illegal), plastics such as Corian, Micarta, carbon fiber, brass, ceramic, ebony,and others. I think some electric basses use slippery stuff like Teflon.

Every material has its adherents, who will staunchly defend it as being the best - MOP has a particularly vocal and fervent fan base.

Realize that the only notes directly affected by the nut are the 4 open notes, the other 84 notes are played off a fret. using a capo negates the nut altogether, although there are those who will swear that the influence of the nut can be sensed through capos and fretting via telepathy or some special sensitivity.

The best approach is to test nuts of different materials and see if you can tell the difference, which I have actually done and posted a few years back.

Banjophobic - Posted - 04/19/2013:  09:54:19

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ken LeVan

 

You are touching on a subject that is steeped in folklore tradition, and debated with near-religious fervor.

 

---

Ken

Is it really debated with 'near religious fervor" ? I guess I've missed those threads.oh poo,haha. Ive heard some banjos with ebony nuts that sounded great, and have heard banjo with artificial stuff too that sounded great.  I think bone became accepted because it worked out to be a very easy to get, inexpensive material for nuts that did a very good job. 

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:11:05

quote:

---

Originally posted by Banjophobic

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ken LeVan

 

You are touching on a subject that is steeped in folklore tradition, and debated with near-religious fervor.

 

---

Ken

Is it really debated with 'near religious fervor" ? I guess I've missed those threads.oh poo,haha. Ive heard some banjos with ebony nuts that sounded great, and have heard banjo with artificial stuff too that sounded great.  I think bone became accepted because it worked out to be a very easy to get, inexpensive material for nuts that did a very good job. 

---

John,

I say that partially in jest, but several years ago someone on the hangout got so angry at me for suggesting that you can't hear one nut material from another through capoing, that they became downright abusive, personally and I had to write them a private email and ask them to please settle down.  There are some folks out there who take it really seriously.

In my case, I will make the nut out whatever someone wants - it's their banjo, and I think lots of materials make perfectly good nuts.   A mutual friend of ours and I have just been having a discussion about how to prepare the bone, my favorite method being the "German Shepherd" method, but there are a lot of different ideas out there just about that.

Ken

beegee - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:19:26

I like the German Shepherd method as well. I have an old crock on my hearth where we keep the dog bones. The German  Shepherd has been dead for 3 years, but the new dog drags the bones out of the crock and gnaws on them at will. If I need a piece of bone, I choose one and saw it up. Then I buy the dog a fresh one to gnaw. They look really good if they lie out in the yard for a couple of years.

Ybanjo - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:22:12

To all you folks that have made nuts from other materials.... can you hear a difference?? I was wondering about polycarbonate. It's a tough material that is very easy to work. Also, wonder about metals, like brass or copper?? And experiences??

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:23:17

quote:

---

Originally posted by beegee

 

I like the German Shepherd method as well. I have an old crock on my hearth where we keep the dog bones. The German  Shepherd has been dead for 3 years, but the new dog drags the bones out of the crock and gnaws on them at will. If I need a piece of bone, I choose one and saw it up. Then I buy the dog a fresh one to gnaw. They look really good if they lie out in the yard for a couple of years.

---

They work great.  I think there must be some enzyme in the dog saliva that leaches everything out of the bone and leaves it nice and clean. It's good for the dog's teeth, too.

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:40:12

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 

To all you folks that have made nuts from other materials.... can you hear a difference?? I was wondering about polycarbonate. It's a tough material that is very easy to work. Also, wonder about metals, like brass or copper?? And experiences??

---

Ybanjo,

Here's a test I did several years ago, using bone, MOP, Corian, which represents all kinds of plastics like polycarbonate, and nickel silver fret material, which is a copper alloy like brass, so several popular materials are represented:

Here are sound files, in no particular order, played on a 1927 Granada archtop.  You can listen, and see if you like one better or detect any significant differences. Later I'll post which is which.

Ken

nut #1

Nut #2

Nut #3

Nut #4

Ybanjo - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:48:44

Ken, based on my little computer speakers, etc., the only difference I could hear is that it seems like nut#1 is a little brighter that the others. Be interesting to know which is which....

dickinnorwich - Posted - 04/19/2013:  10:58:09

It's funny (at least to me) that this topic has come up today because for the past several days, Ken LeVan and I have been going back and forth about the proper preparation of bone. Ken uses the Hugo (the singing dog) method to clean and prepare bone and it appears that Bob Gaddis does the same thing.

However, there was an elaborate post about this in January, 2012 by Sean Barry which I just sent to Ken about an hour ago! Sean touches on something that Bob Gaddis mentions: ".....bone has a natural fat content that may add lubricity that helps the strings slide through the slots." But Sean characterizes the natural fat content of bone very differently than Bob does. Sean says that:  "Greasy bone will leach fat slowly but forever, and the grease will contaminate glue joints, make finish and wood part company, stain and degrade wood, and eventually destroy the bone itself through a process of slow combustion of the protein matrix that strengthens bone."  Sean then goes on to lay out an increbibly elaborate method for "properly" preparing bone to permanently rid it of all these natural fats.

Speaking for myself, after using a variation of the "Hugo method" of bone preparation (extensive boiling) for over 35 years, I've never experienced any of the negative outcomes identified by Sean Barry in his article. But that doesn't make Mr. Barry wrong, either. Maybe it's something to which we should be paying more attention.      

Deaf Lester Crawdad - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:07:14

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 

To all you folks that have made nuts from other materials.... can you hear a difference?? I was wondering about polycarbonate. It's a tough material that is very easy to work. Also, wonder about metals, like brass or copper?? And experiences??

---

The only acoustic difference created by different nut materials is related to their mass: heavier materials, I.E. brass, Etc, add a small amount of volume and a certain metallic tonality, but only to the open strings.    It really isn't a big enough difference to notice unless you're intentionally listening for it, so go ahead and try a polycarbonate nut.    It probably won't hurt anything, and likewise it probably won't change anything enough to hear.

BTW: a good reason for using the traditional bone nut is that we have a practically endless naturally renewed supply of it, and don't have to build expensive and environmentally shaky plastics plants in order to get a substance that's proven perfect for the job for centuries now...

~Pete

steve davis - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:07:29

I like pearl nuts the best.

Bart Veerman - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:28:12

About six years ago I needed some pieces of bone and got a bag of soup bone from the meat counter at a supermarket. I don't have a dog so I used the "soup method," dumped the bone into a pan of water, simmered it for hours and ended up with a pan of great soup stock. Fished out the bone, let it dry end went nuts with the bandsaw. Man, oh man, a wicked stench to slice it up. Flat sanded the pieces, degreased them with acetone, and sandwiched some exotic hardwood, slices of ebony and bone. Put the whole thing on the lathe and came up with a pretty cool looking knife handle for my son.

The leftover pieces were enough for about a half a dozen nuts, no problems with the glue letting go so far. Yes, bone is easy to work with but like I said, the stench of sawing and sanding it is totally brutal.

Edited by - Bart Veerman on 04/19/2013 11:29:38

Ybanjo - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:36:39

The questions just keep coming.......... Does the nut have to be glued in? I've seen it both ways. Strings would hold it in, so that wouldn't be a concern. How about sound transfer? Any thing there?

ejimb0 - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:46:44

Why bone? Bone is special. From the Hawaiian perspective bone, like teeth (niho) and hair (lauoho... literally 'leaf-head') are the last parts of you to render into earth after you have passed on. They are perceived to carry some kind of spiritual essence with them from their previous owners.  The most exotic weapons, ..pistols, sabers ect have always been trimmed (especially the parts where you hold them).... with ivory which is tooth, pearl, and bone. Humans have surrounded themselves with the hides of the great beasts they have mastered. It is a silly old thing that has no place in the modern world.. Maybe.

Maybe that 'formica' nut would work great on your '35 Flathead Granada  :)

rudy - Posted - 04/19/2013:  11:56:47

Sean Barry's bone prep article:

direct.hangoutstorage.com/banj...12012.pdf

Someone should just post the old debate topic so it doesn't have to be gone over ad nauseam.

steve davis - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:00:18

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 

The questions just keep coming.......... Does the nut have to be glued in? I've seen it both ways. Strings would hold it in, so that wouldn't be a concern. How about sound transfer? Any thing there?

---

I don't use glue under the nut.I do fit the nut to the peghead and fretboard end very carefully for full contact and stability.

The Old Timer - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:14:25

Bone is the old fashioned plastic! Easily workable, tough, plentiful, cheap, attractive, durable forever, fireproof, humidity resistant, etc.

One reason bone is common is because in the deep past, IVORY was considered even better. Really old Martin guitars, for instance. Bone is a natural substitute for ivory.

Look at the guitar makers today using fossilized mammoth ivory for nuts, saddles and bridge pins. There is "something" to it.

However, since the 70s or so Martin has been using Corian for nuts and saddles. It's "OK" obviously.

I have old gold plated Mastertones that all had MOP nuts, so the conversion necks have MOP. I put a pearl nut in a newer Granada replacing an aftermarket graphite "slippery" nut that was in it. I have 2 60s Vegas and I don't know WHAT they used, it's white is all I know, MOP.

I think more than just MASS, it's DENSITY and hardness. Which suggests a diamond nut might be the best of all?

I have no opinion on gluing the nut, I don't know if mine are glued in or not. I suspect they are to prevent sideways sliding.

rudy - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:21:43

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 The questions just keep coming.......... Does the nut have to be glued in? I've seen it both ways. Strings would hold it in, so that wouldn't be a concern. How about sound transfer? Any thing there?

---

Even a nut that has been perfectly mated to the nut slot can slide sideways due to the different pull exerted on the nut from the heavier gage strings on the bass side of the instrument.  I put 5 TINY notches along the bottom center area of my nuts and add a TINY amount of Titebond over the mid-portion of the nut right before adding the strings for the first time.  It is important that downward pressure assist with the nut seating in the slot completely.  The glue prevents the nut from sliding, but allows the bond to be easily broken with a light backwards tap on the face of the nut if there is need to do maintenance or repair later.

I try to make instruments with the idea of making someone's day a little easier on down the road.

As to WHY you should use bone, Banjophobic's reply is really all you need to know.

Edited by - rudy on 04/19/2013 12:24:53

steve davis - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:25:20

The nut doesn't move on my non glued nuts unless I take all the strings off at once.
If it does get moved,it's very simple to eye the string edge and put it back where it was.

Zachary Hoyt - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:35:51

I have made banjo nuts out of sugar maple, bone and now jatoba and I can't tell any difference in the sound at all from one to another.  When I am refurbishing old violins from the flea market I make the nut out of maple and color it black with a sharpie marker.  If anyone asks me I tell them truthfully what it is, the only reason I make it black is so it doesn't stand out visually.  When I make cherry violins I make the fingerboard and nut out of cherry and the bridge from maple.  I don't like the lightweight cheap plastic nuts I often see on cheap guitars, but most other nuts I have seen seem okay to me.

Zach

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  12:50:48

I normally put a TINY drop of super glue right in the middle of the bottom of the nut when I install it the first time.

Depending on the string gauges, there might be an ever so slight pull to one side or the other.  Odd tunings can do that, too, especially if the 5th string is really slack, so I just don't want it to slip.

I like Corian a lot - it's hard as a rock, but can be filed, sawn and polished just like bone. The biggest advantage to it is that it doesn't smell like you are getting your teeth drilled when you work with it.

As for the bone, I like that, too, and have never found there to be any problems from oils or grease in the bone after Hugo is finished chewing them for a couple of months. It does smell bad when you cut it, ditto MOP.

Having worked as a designer at Corning Glass, I have always felt that a vitreous ceramic material like porcelain, or a glass material would make an excellent nut. The problem is that cutting it would be murder for the average shop. You would need diamond saws and lapidary wheels. cutting the string notches would be difficult, too, but it would make a great nut.  I don't think anyone has ever done it. Corning makes a machinable pyroceram called "Macor". - maybe a good material for a tone ring, too. It would be outrageously expensive, I'm sure.

Weitzel - Posted - 04/19/2013:  13:12:57

Seeing as the open four strings are really the only noticeable place to hear a difference in tone from the nut, I'm surprised that more people haven't gone to using a zero fret. Then you would have much more consistency in your tone, whether a string is fretted or not.  Also there is much less issue with accurately cutting slots, as the slots in the nut (which could be any material) are there just to set the spacing and guide the string towards the tuner - precise depth in not important.  In my research on zero frets, it seems that the only reason they are not more widely used is that in the past they have been used mostly by cheaper imported instruments so have gained a negative association, despite all of the arguments in their favor.  I have read some past threads here about them where it seemed that people who have changed to zero frets almost universally liked the consistent tone better.

kmwaters - Posted - 04/19/2013:  13:54:16

Far as I know bone has been around since the day Adam was created (how about that for a revelation?). But it is sturdy and strong, and at the same time lends itself to having notches or grooves filed in nicely. And there is no need to transfer tone. The role of the bridge is different however, and that's the reason why one is wood and one doesn't need wood. In fact wood is an INFERIOR material for the nut, since it lacks the durability of bone or one of the good synthetics that are good bone substitutes. Actually I think some of the finer banjos have gone away from bone due to the superior traits of the man made ones.

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  14:28:33

quote:

---

Originally posted by Weitzel

 

Seeing as the open four strings are really the only noticeable place to hear a difference in tone from the nut, I'm surprised that more people haven't gone to using a zero fret. Then you would have much more consistency in your tone, whether a string is fretted or not.  Also there is much less issue with accurately cutting slots, as the slots in the nut (which could be any material) are there just to set the spacing and guide the string towards the tuner - precise depth in not important.  In my research on zero frets, it seems that the only reason they are not more widely used is that in the past they have been used mostly by cheaper imported instruments so have gained a negative association, despite all of the arguments in their favor.  I have read some past threads here about them where it seemed that people who have changed to zero frets almost universally liked the consistent tone better.

---

Jeff,

I have been doing this for several years - I call it the "inserta-nut" It's a nut with a fret material insert, which is essentially a zero fret:

Of course, the "insert can be any material, so any of the materials being discussed here could be the "zero fret":

I use these on my own banjos, and have used them on the majority of the ones I make for others:

Works every time, although, as I said before, I make the nut from whatever a person wants. They all work.

Ken

.

Dan Drabek - Posted - 04/19/2013:  14:48:01

Just for the fun of it, I made a nut that's an ebony/MOP sandwich. I wish I could say it sounds better than a bone nut, but I can't. I guess it does look kind of flash. 

DD

DD

jessie - Posted - 04/19/2013:  15:00:03

i have a friend who made a nut out of solid aluminium with small steel rollers under each string ..what is even more strange ,it originally came off an old lawnmower.worked great

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/19/2013:  15:21:23

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dan Drabek

 

Just for the fun of it, I made a nut that's an ebony/MOP sandwich. I wish I could say it sounds better than a bone nut, but I can't. I guess it does look kind of flash. 

DD

DD

---

That's beautiful, Dan!! I love it.

what kind of glue did you use?

Dan Drabek - Posted - 04/19/2013:  15:33:44

Thanks Ken, I used Mercury Adhesives M1100G, which did a fine job. It's a fairly thick CA glue that I buy at my local hobby shop: mercuryadhesives.com/ DD

ejimb0 - Posted - 04/19/2013:  19:49:16

You guys sure do some nice work.

ronjohnston - Posted - 04/19/2013:  20:52:54

[Far as I know bone has been around since the day Adam was created (how about that for a revelation?).]

I guess he found out you can make something much nicer than banjo nuts out of bone  :)

Ira Gitlin - Posted - 04/20/2013:  06:30:09

quote:

---

Originally posted by jessie

 

i have a friend who made a nut out of solid aluminium with small steel rollers under each string ..what is even more strange ,it originally came off an old lawnmower.worked great

---

You see that kind of thing occasionally in electric guitars, especially ones with some kind of whammy bar. This sounds likt the sort of thing that Tom Nechville or Gordon Acri would experiment with.



fingerlakesguitarrepair.com/me...ation.JPG

beegee - Posted - 04/20/2013:  06:57:04

I have a friend who had a stainless/aluminum roller nut for his resophonic guitar. In theory it looked like a good idea. It sounded terrible, and since the reso is a no-fret deal, there was nothing else to blame the bad sound on. The bone nut brought it back to life

steve davis - Posted - 04/20/2013:  08:20:02

I've made nuts from maple,lignum vitae,ebony and brass.

They didn't have anything to compare to bone or shell.

GlennWillard - Posted - 04/25/2013:  02:25:22

I have used bone for nuts and bridges on guitars,sitars and banjos with good results and tone. I think it is too heavy for banjo bridges where light weight is important. I have made bridges with a thin piece of bone glued on to timber. I think bone's natural greasiness is an important property as a lubricant under the strings. Ebony is a greasy timber which might be why it is popular on bridges.Bone is dense,easy to work and cheap. I secure nuts in place with shellac (easy to undo) and use polyurethane glues to fix to timber. Glenn.

Ybanjo - Posted - 04/25/2013:  06:22:36

Anybody have any thoughts on just how much sound energy is transferred through the nut? Just curious, but I was wondering if a very soft material verses a hard material would make a sound difference?

Banjophobic - Posted - 04/25/2013:  06:28:08

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ybanjo

 

Anybody have any thoughts on just how much sound energy is transferred through the nut? Just curious, but I was wondering if a very soft material verses a hard material would make a sound difference?

---

I don't think there's much 'transference' from teh nut to the neck, but there is a definite 'absorption that happens, if the nut material is too soft. The strings energy can be robbed by a really soft, flimsy material. It sound like the string is being dampened, which it is. The slots in a really soft material also can't stand up very well to string pressure and deform too easily, causing some loss of tone/dampening.

Bone is a great material because its hard enough to not absorb the strings energy and it hold notches very well.

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/25/2013:  14:32:54

Bone is a great material, for sure, and I have made many bone nuts over the years.

I don't know if any studies have been done on sound transference - wood would probably be better - that's what they use on violins and their kin (ebony). The nut does more things than just to transmit sound. Corian, Micarta, and metals are more dependable in terms of continuity of physical properties (can't find the right word), and metal may have a greater ability to transmit sound - aluminum would be fantastic. The nut only directly affects 4 notes out of the 88 on a banjo

I've made it clear on this forum that I think the nut material has its greatest significance in terms of historical tradition, availability and ease of working - bone and MOP are beautiful and make beautiful nuts - don't ascribe more attributes to them than they deserve.

Bone is not the end-all and be-all of nut materials - just one of several materials that work well to make banjo and guitar nuts - it's like wood - an organic material, once alive - what was the cow fed, etc etc. bone is not all the same by any means - some people with poor diets and no exercise can break their leg by walking across the street and tripping - there are thousands of ads for dog food and livestock feed touting strong bones - there's no guarantee.

Did anyone listen to the sound files I posted on this thread - could you tell the difference?

Ybanjo - Posted - 04/25/2013:  16:12:57

Ken, the first audio file sounds brighter to me, but that's the only difference I can really determine. I'm listening on little portable computer speakers, so that isn't much of a test. So which is which???????????

Banjophobic - Posted - 04/25/2013:  16:35:57

Im not a fan of super dense nuts, like brass of steel, on  BG style banjos. The smaller, steel strings in combination with theat pot assembly makes for some really 'brassy'-tinny' tonal response.

Dan Drabek - Posted - 04/25/2013:  16:39:02

Ken, I can't tell any significant difference between the various materials in your recordings. At least, nothing that couldn't be attributed to slight variation in placement of the microphone. Or changes in humidity. Or prevailing sun spots. Certainly no difference that could be detected if the banjo were being played on stage in the local pub along with guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass. Probably not even if played solo in Carnegie Hall with perfect acoustics and a quiet audience. I think it would be safe to choose whatever material looks good and makes the owner happiest. For me personally, on banjos, that would usually be bone, ivory or pearl.

I would be much more concerned with what my bridge were made of.

DD

steve davis - Posted - 04/25/2013:  16:57:38

I've sandwiched piano ivories to make a good nut...still a bit soft,though.

Aradobanjo - Posted - 04/25/2013:  20:59:38

Hello,

I liked Custom Inlay's options, mammoth and walrus tusk/bone. The color is different and I enjoyed working with it. As an novelty fossil collector, using ancient aged material is an option. I have used this in restoring an OMI reso and my Gold Star. The material is pretty nice to work with.  

goldtopia - Posted - 04/25/2013:  23:19:07

In this modern age many things are made of various types of plastics and poly materials which are byproducts of the petro-chemical industry. Way back in the 50s plastics had not been discovered or invented. Much use was made of bakelite, bone and ivory which plastics cannot immitate.

Ken LeVan - Posted - 04/26/2013:  06:43:19

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dan Drabek

 

Ken, I can't tell any significant difference between the various materials in your recordings. At least, nothing that couldn't be attributed to slight variation in placement of the microphone. Or changes in humidity. Or prevailing sun spots. Certainly no difference that could be detected if the banjo were being played on stage in the local pub along with guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass. Probably not even if played solo in Carnegie Hall with perfect acoustics and a quiet audience. I think it would be safe to choose whatever material looks good and makes the owner happiest. For me personally, on banjos, that would usually be bone, ivory or pearl.

I would be much more concerned with what my bridge were made of.

DD

---

You're right Dan. The bridge is way more important. PLUS, the bridge is still part of the equation regardless of capo or fretting. It affects every note you play, even the 5th string.

Hotrodtruck - Posted - 04/26/2013:  06:52:24

Why are nuts made of bone? Because Kentucky cows eat bluegrass!

Edited by - Hotrodtruck on 04/26/2013 06:53:28