String Nuts and Acoustic Guitar Saddles

Bone has a long history of use in musical instruments and is considered a benchmark material for guitar nuts and saddles. It works well, polishes to a high shine, and has a good hardness relative to its weight.

Common labels associated with this material type are “Bleached” and “Unbleached” / “vintage” bone. Bleached bone is more common in production instruments and has a uniform white appearance. The latter two terms are used interchangably and refer to a bone that has been through a bit less processing. It has an aged, dull yellow color that can look right at home on a vintage instrument.

The material is a byproduct of food production. It is typically produced from cattle remains sourced from Asia and India. A critique of the material, ethical concerns aside, is that it does not have a uniform consistency. The material can be prone to soft or weak spots as well as discolorations.

Graph Tech’s “Tusq” is probably the most widely requested aftermarket nut. While the name is a nod to the traditional use of ivory for instrument nuts and saddles, it is a completely synthetic polymer.

In recent years the product has fast become the industry standard. Their nuts and saddles have been used by just about every major guitar manufacturer. Calico Guitarworks is among their authorized dealers.

The standard Tusq material has an ivory color when new, but takes on a more yellow/orange appearance as it ages. Tusq nuts and saddles are available in a variety of different preformed and blank configurations. Their “Black tusq” nuts and saddles are a great option for someone wanting the look of black material.

Nubone is a derivative of Graph Tech’s proprietary “Tusq” material. The retail price is comparatively cheaper and in use we find that it is softer than tusq. 

“Micarta” is a term that is used generically to refer to a wide variety of resin impregnated fiber compounds.

Martin has used Micarta nuts and saddles on many of their instruments since the 60’s. These nuts and saddles are ivory colored in appearance.

Taylor Guitars began primarily using Micarta saddles in 2014 when they introduced their ES2 expression system electronics.

Corian is an acrylic polymer that was  originally produced by the Dupont Corporation. It is popular as a counter and tabletop surface.

Gibson widely uses Corian nuts. They generally do not age in appearance, keeping a fresh white look throughout their life.

Melamine is a chemical compound that is commonly used to produce strong plastic dinnerware, laminates, and glues. It’s also widely used as a nut material for Fender electric guitars.

This material handles similar to Graph Tech’s Tusq, but is perhaps a bit more brittle. We find the material chips fairly easily when being worked.

Delrin, is the brand name for a synthetic Polymer developed by the Dupont company. When marketed for use on guitar nuts and saddles it is also often  called “slip stone“. This material is also a popular choice for guitar picks.  

Nylon has seen occasional use as a guitar nut material, most notably by Gibson.

While it is touted as being slippery, nylon is also pretty soft and difficult to work with.  

Ivory refers to material that was once an Elephant’s tusk. Prior to about 1970, Martin acoustic guitars featured ivory nuts and saddles.

Due to bans on its sale in 1980, and the obvious ethical issues that precipitated that ban, ivory is no longer commonly used.

For those inclined, fossilized walrus or mammoth ivory is the closest thing legally available.

Brass is an alloy of the metals Zinc and Copper. It is hard and durable.

Brass nuts are known for their brightness; They were a popular modification amongst some rock and metal guitarists in the 1970’s and 80’s.

With the exception of a few pro-model instruments, they are rarely seen as a factory original nut on a guitar. However, brass nuts are occasionally found on high end bass guitars.

Inexpensive instruments often come from the factory with a pre formed, molded plastic, nut. While these are cheap to mass produce, they are also soft, sticky, prone to wear and breakage, and do not produce the best tone.

These days, usually only the cheapest of instruments will have a molded plastic nut.

Mother of pearl, a common material used for inlays on instrument fingerboards and headplate logos, is occasionally seen as a nut material on high-end banjos.

Buffalo horn, ebony, graphite, etc. have all also see occasional use on musical instrument nuts and saddles.