Searcy Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Today someone asked me when Gibson stopped using bone and Ivory for nuts.... I didn't know. Did they ever use bone and ivory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Well since Gibson has been building fretted insturments for such a long time, they must have used bone and ivory before plastic was avaiable. But I have no idea when they might have switched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Good question. I also wonder how common bone and/or ivory was regardless. I say was....because my guess is that Gibson hasn't used them in a long, long time. All "vintage" Gibsons I have ever seen, it was plastic. Of corse, I don't know if I would have noticed. But for sure, seen plastic on the 60's. I kinda doubt using bone or ivory vs plastic was the "thing" it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just looked at the LP Forum and some people said never and some said in the 60's some came with bone or ivory. Someone form Gibson should chime in. I doubt there is anyone at Gibson that would know. Don't mean that in a bad way, I mean 2 things: I doubt that anyone who worked there at the time who would remember is still there, and even though it is Gibson, it doesn't mean they have "vintage experts" who know way too much about vintage Gibby on the payroll. I don't think what materiel for the nut is a "spec" that there would be any records of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 I know the holy grail 59 and 60 les paul used nylon. I thought there was a time when hey used some bone but I can't remember why I ever thought that. I'm starting to think they have been plastic since the 40s but would like more solid research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Some of the acoustics still come with bone nuts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Don't know the answer to that but the nut on my ES335 had to be replace because of string placement on the neck . I went with bone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Don't know the answer to that but the nut on my ES335 had to be replace because of string placement on the neck . I went with bone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 I know some of the new acoustics and a few custom shop electronics come with bone nuts. However I believe those are mostly recent fad responses to myths of " how things were made on the good old days". I'm talking to George Gruhn about this today. I'll let you know how our conversation goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I know some of the new acoustics and a few custom shop electronics come with bone nuts. However I believe those are mostly recent fad responses to myths of " how things were made on the good old days". I'm talking to George Gruhn about this today. I'll let you know how our conversation goes. That's likely the best place o go. I doubt that this info is really something that could be found in a ledger or a spec. One would have to have experience in what they see, or have seen. Also, there is also the fact that nuts could have been changed, especially considering a lot of guitars have to have frets at some point. Another thing I think one would have to "see", and see a lot of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Of course they did. The 4000BC Fred Flintstone Signature model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 This might be a good thread to ask this question, if not please excuse the hijack. My ES-335 developed a buzz on the third string, first fret. I took it to a luthier who explained that the nut groove was cut a little too deep, and instead of filling in the groove, they recommended inserting a shim under the nut and cutting the other grooves appropriately. When that was done, everything sounded fine, but the work was sloppy (I assume the work was done by an apprentice), so I took it back. I asked the luthier to install a bone nut and to do the work himself. I got the guitar back, and it looks and sounds great. One problem, though. It appears the groove on the first string was cut too close to the bottom edge, and the string tends to pull off of the fretboard much too easily, especially when doing pull-offs and vibrato around the third fret. If I'm careful, I'm okay, but it does require that I adjust my technique. I hate to take it back since it would be the third time for essentially the same problem, but I'm not sure that I want to try to live with it as it is now. What would you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 What would I do? Buy a Les Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 Zig, I think I would go talk to your repair guy again if you can;t live with the new nut. So here is a run down of the conversation I had with George Gruhn about Gibson nuts. Me: "You happen to know if Gibson ever used bone or ivory nuts on their guitars and if so what years?" GG: "Prior to World War II Gibson used bone nuts on many instruments, but I have never encountered genuine ivory nuts on any original Gibsons. Many of the higher grade Gibson models prior to the mid-1920s had mother-of-pearl nuts. Pearl nuts were used on F-4 and F-5 mandolins as well as L-4 and early L-5 guitars through the late 1920s." Me: "Wow! I had never heard of a mother of pearl nut! The pre ww2 date make perfect sense as there were so many breakthroughs in plastics and nylon during the war. I have heard that Gibson used some bone in the late 60s but I can't find what I consider to be a credible source on that. " GG: "Late 60s Gibson nuts appear to be synthetic material. " Me: "Thank you again George. You have been a huge help as always." Honestly this all makes perfect sense to me. I have been going over this to challenge the idea that Gibson used to use quality nut materials on their electric guitars and that they don't now. I think with the information from George and from my own observations over the years, bone has never been a nut material on production run electric guitars for Gibson. Though it has popped up on a few signature Custom Shop guitars. Likewise, from a strictly traditional point of view, it makes sense to use it one higher end and reissue Gibson acoustics as it was a traditional material used until WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 I can't understand this obsession with Mr. Gibson's nuts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 The only contribution I could make to this thread was from memory. And from memory the only thing I have is that they used to use bone to make saddles for fancy guitars. I didn't hear of bone nuts until much later, late 90's actually was when it seemed it had become fact because of repetition. I assumed they made bone nuts because they made bone saddles. Thanks for the Gruhn visit Mr. Searcy. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.