Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all

Don't see much on here about setup or setup related topics....

Anyway - I am in the process of finishing up my first Tusq nut.
It's going on the little ladder braced blues box....

General impressions. It "clinks" like bone when you tap it but it machines and works very much like plastic. It also takes dings from the strings fairly easily - also more like a plastic nut.

Call me old fashioned, but for about double the price of a bone blank.... I think I will stick to bone.

What are your opinions of making nuts and saddles out of Tusq.

Thanks

I really dislike Tusq for all the reasons you mentioned. The extra price of bone is minor compared to the labor costs in making a nut.

I hate Tusc nuts. Can't figure out how it was marketed as a great solution to bone. If the client wants one, I get a blank and make one, but I don't stock them. I keep lots of bone blanks on hand.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

TUSQ is hands down my favorite nut and saddle. I like what it does to the sound of guitars and dislike bone for the same reason.

No tusq on my builds or set-ups it's an complete spectrum tone reducer

Shead some light Ed. Have never used Tusq. so I have no idea of what to expect.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Anyone compared Tusq to Corian?

Only curious because Corian is essentially free if you can find a counter shop.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I think it adds a layer of shimmer and sparkle. To me, bone sounds a bit wooly and muted.

The fact that the inventor of "tusq" came up with a bone-sounding name for it ought to tell us something. I replace tusq nuts and saddles with bone on Taylors all the time, and I've yet to have a customer who didn't think it made an improvement.

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It will probably be alright.

That says more about the market than the product. But hey, to each their own. I'm happy to use bone if the client pays the upcharge. Easy money for me but I always tell them I don't actually prefer it personally.

That being said, from time to time on some guitars I do prefer it, but usually not. It's also another tone shaping tool. If a customer wants a really mellow, warm tone, bone can help with that. I prefer crisp to warm.

Not so much of a Tusq fan here either but not because of any opinions regarding Tusq but out of an appreciation of bone.

We won't use Tusq even when the client requests it and again not because there is anything wrong with Tusq but because we prefer the "value" that well sourced, clean, unbleached bone provides. It's very long lasting, works like a dream at least to me, looks cool especially when not bleached IMO, polishes beautifully and is very dense and long lasting.

Regarding tone we also won't go there. Tone conversations are nearly always subjective when comparing this pup to that pup or this material to that material and because of this subjectivity tone is out of bounds for us to discuss with clients even though once we thought we were out they drag us back in.....

We often are confronted by a client with a pre-made Tusq nut that they want us to install. We won't do that either.... usually.... and then default to telling tham that for us all nuts are custom made for and on the specific guitar that they will live on and as such even fitting commercial, pre-made offering takes nearly as much time, limits our ability to customize it for the specific instrument (nut spacing is already decided with no eye on fret end beveling, player preference or style (do they thumb over or bend radically)) etc.

I'll add that we also use composite light cured dental fillings to raise low nut slots when appropriate for the instrument. Bone is porous and the dental filling hold like they do in our pie holes, nearly forever. We can fill other materials too but dental fillings are engineered to fill organic materials such as teeth and bone, not counter top.

Do I sense a difference in tone between tusk and bone? Not telling, it's too subjective...

FYI schools frequently use counter top drops to practice nut making which is a great idea and cheap too. Some schools will tell you too that it can take a goodly quantity of nuts made before one is really proficient and even quick at it - I agree.

Hi Kevin,
The hardness of corian varies from color to color, but I believe it is all softer than tusq.
I use fossil mammoth ivory, which might be a bit softer than elephant ivory, but has some beautiful colors and textures and polishes up nicely.

The only reason I can see to use tusq is if you are a vegetarian.

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Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com

Been using Tusq for years.
For sound? I'm of the school that once you fret, that takes the nut out of the equation.
For consistency in saddles when it comes to UST's? I've not had issues using Tusq. Doesn't mean I've had issues with other materials either.

I use it because of the people and the company first and foremost. I'm not a large volume user, but after meeting them at NAMM, that was it. Even as a small volume customer, they treat me very well. Just one of those things for me; very good "mana" doing business with the Dunwoodies. Not apologizing for the importance of spirituality in builds.

I have a friend that experienced the same thing. He tried a few after he tagged onto my order, then setup his own account. He builds way more than I do, and will be a better customer for them. He also has about 200 bone nut and saddles, that are now collecting dust. Last I recall, he likes how they machine, and even though it costs more (compared to the bone he ALREADY has), he saves on time, which is worth it for him.

Don't get me wrong, I like it better than Corian and wood. I could very easily use bone as well. But I don't. And I don't use anything other than blanks and cut the nut slots and shape the saddles myself. And Luthier Packs are the way to go, IMHO.

To my ears, bone puts a certain edge on the trebles. Tusq doesn't have that edge when used for a saddle; reminds me of the sound of ivory, back when it was in common use. Ivory had a price penalty, though: $2.50 for an ivory saddle instead of $1.00 for bone! Tusq isn't as durable, though.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That's funny Pat, cause the only time I use bone, when it's not a customer request, is when I want to soften the trebles. I guess we all hear different.

By the way.... Thanks Dave Collins and Hesh for posting the pics showing finish shaping a nut with the strings on using the huge file. I did that this time and said to myself "Genius!!" That ended up perhaps one of the nicest looking nuts I have done... And boy is it faster.

You are very welcome John! The first time I saw this done it scared the heck out of me and of course it was one of my guitars too adding to the fear of the unknown... But now having done it likely hundreds of times I can't imagine doing it any other way. It's fast, accurate, custom to the specific guitar, safe, and the results are rather immediate - all good things.

Pat my friend I suspect that you both, you and Ed may be correct here. My impressions of either material, Tusq and bone is that either material will have it's own personality... in terms of what if highlights in terms of the "existing" tone of the instrument. With this said YMMV in terms of what you guys perceive.

What do I I think? Not saying.... Too subjective....