Has anyone bleached a bone nut?

[Yetti]

I am replacing the stock nut in my 2017 SG with a bone nut.
The natural bone looks cool in my acoustic projects, but it looks a bit...bad for this guitar?
I haven't glued it in yet, and was thinking about trying to get it a little bit whiter in Hydrogen peroxide, or maybe soak it for a day in some Crest white mouthwash? I don't know, has anyone bleached a yellowy nut to be whiter?
Thanks!
Yetti-

 

[Biddlin]

What was wrong with the OEM nut? Bleaching bone might make the already POROUS material more BRITTLE.

It looks like the bone is a little too long.
You could smoke 3 packs/day for a decade or so and the binding would match.

 

[Gahr]

I just read something about bleaching bone nuts, I think it was on Stewmac's website, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Bleaching supposedly softens the bone, so they recommended unbleached bone nuts instead.

 

[Hector]

If the colour bothers you, why not use an alternative nut? Tusk etc...

 

[Yetti]

What was wrong with the OEM nut? Bleaching bone might make the already POROUS material more BRITTLE.

It looks like the bone is a little too long.
You could smoke 3 packs/day for a decade or so and the binding would match.

I have replaced stock nuts on a few guitars with bone nuts, and I just like the bone nuts better. I have it on the bench for fret leveling and re-crowning, so it seemed like a good time to do it. Yes, the bone nut has not been sized to length yet, and the string slots will need to be filed.
I used to smoke 3 packs a day...gave that up about 15 years ago, so I plan on having white binding for a while. :)

 

[Yetti]

I just read something about bleaching bone nuts, I think it was on Stewmac's website, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Bleaching supposedly softens the bone, so they recommended unbleached bone nuts instead.

Yeah, the interesting thing is stewmac offers both bleached and unbleached bone nuts, but if bleaching with something like Hydrogen Peroxide degrades the bone, I will find a way to live with an unbleached bone nut. lol

 

[Yetti]

If the colour bothers you, why not use an alternative nut? Tusk etc...

Yeah, I have replaced stock nuts with the Tusq nuts too...and they are really nice too, but I kind of like the real bone ...if I could get it a little whiter, that would be a bonus:)

 

[Biddlin]

but I kind of like the real bone

Any particular reason?

 

[Col Mustard]

I'm for tusq... I've used tusq to replace nuts on three Epiphones,
and I have a tusq nut on my new 2018 Gibson J-45 AG.
Tusq sounds great and upgrades an Epiphone beautifully, and is easy
to use.

I have a 2012 Gibson SG special with a Corian nut, and that does
not need replacing, its an excellent material.

If you must have bone, get a blank from Stew Mac.

 

[Yetti]

Any particular reason?

It sounds good with the strings, and kinda like that it's organic, and makes the guitar a little different.

 

[Yetti]

I'm for tusq... I've used tusq to replace nuts on three Epiphones,
and I have a tusq nut on my new 2018 Gibson J-45 AG.
Tusq sounds great and upgrades an Epiphone beautifully, and is easy
to use.

I have a 2012 Gibson SG special with a Corian nut, and that does
not need replacing, its an excellent material.

If you must have bone, get a blank from Stew Mac.

Check this out, just came in the mail today...
Both of these nuts are from stewmac, unbleached, the darker snot green one is pre slotted for Gibson, and the lighter one is preslotted for Martin acoustic. fun times!

 

[papagayo]

The problem is not the bone nut color.

2017 and 2018 SG Standard has a white binding, if you look at previous years the binding is cream.

 

[shreddy bender]

I have made several nuts from moose shim bone. The pieces still had marrow in them ( boy, did the 2 dogs I was babysitting like that!).
I soaked them in acetone and then cut and shaped them. Looks good to my colour blind eyes!

 

[Biddlin]

I used elk shin for one I made for Sgt. Beefheart a few years ago.

 

[shreddy bender]

I used elk shin for one I made for Sgt. Beefheart a few years ago.

Yeah. I figured the shin should be pretty dense as it holds up the whole massive ungulate.

 

[Yetti]

The problem is not the bone nut color.

2017 and 2018 SG Standard has a white binding, if you look at previous years the binding is cream.

Good catch on that...I just looked up the 2016 SG, and the off white binding and even the tuning keys looks like it would match up better to the unbleached bone nut. :)

 

[Yetti]

I have made several nuts from moose shim bone. The pieces still had marrow in them ( boy, did the 2 dogs I was babysitting like that!).
I soaked them in acetone and then cut and shaped them. Looks good to my colour blind eyes!View attachment 35215

That looks awesome! The headstock is fricken great! Thanks for the tip.

 

[shreddy bender]

No problem and thank you!

 

[cerebral gasket]

2017 and 2018 SG Standard has a white binding, if you look at previous years the binding is cream.

Yes, and many of the previous ones with cream binding look pink. It’s not the dye bleeding through on the Cherry ones because I have seen it on the Ebony ones as well. The plastics used on the binding are pink before the guitar is even finished.

I never noticed it before in the past until someone pointed it out to me and now it is something that cannot be unseen.

 

[Yetti]

Ok, it's decision time!
I have this new bone nut fitted and polished up real nice, I am very happy with that.
It is not glued in yet.
Your fellow SG opinions are very welcomed! I will either glue it in as snot green, or try bleaching tomorrow.
The only hesitation I have on whiting it, is the chance that it may degrade or soften the bone.

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