question about buffalo horn

chad223 · #1 09-06-2010, 10:34 PM

I want to use buffalo horn for my nut and saddle. My understanding is that it offers more bass response and detail? Is there a difference between water buffalo horn, buffalo horn, and the "amber" multicolored horn? Also, should I use buffalo horn for the nut and saddle or can I mix and match with bone?

JohnM · #2 09-06-2010, 11:51 PM

The buffalo horn I've seen is like antlers. It's rather soft, and I don't like it for nut and saddles. That's just me.

Michael Watts · #3 09-07-2010, 01:01 AM

I've heard that it's prone to delamination due to it being horn rather than bone.

Martin_Nut · #4 09-07-2010, 08:58 AM

Bridge pins yes, saddle/nut no. Too soft, I would think. I'm not a luthier or pro player/dealer, so I can get away with making sweeping statements. The material is dense, but not terribly hard. Bone (tusk, ivory, etc) works better for apps where hardness is favored. Folks who have experimented with horn in that application will chime in I am sure with some practical reasoning. Michael's comment regarding delamination is a very good point.

ljguitar · #5 09-07-2010, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chad223

I want to use buffalo horn for my nut and saddle. My understanding is that it offers more bass response and detail? Is there a difference between water buffalo horn, buffalo horn, and the "amber" multicolored horn? Also, should I use buffalo horn for the nut and saddle or can I mix and match with bone?

Hi Chad…
While I was having a guitar built I asked the luthier about the possibility (love the color of the 'amber' horn).

He picked up a blank of bone and one of amber and dropped them on the floor...the buffalo horn clunked and the bone rang. I went with bone...

#6 09-07-2010, 09:43 AM

I would stick with Bone. Buffalo horn of any species seems to my ear to produce a muddier less vibrant tone. My opinion is that is really kills the voice/tone of the instrument. Just me opinion though

MikeD · #7 09-07-2010, 10:42 AM

Much the same here. I also think, based on experience I've had with a few picks made of the stuff and some bridge pins, that it would wear rather quickly... making the nut slots too deep and getting groves in the bridge, which would cause a whole host of issues in terms of buzzing, intonation and muffled tone from string to string. Stick with bone, fossilized tusk/bone or some of the synthetic stuff out there. If you want a warmer tone, go with tusq... it's the bone alternative that Taylor uses for its nuts/saddles.

DonW · #8 09-07-2010, 03:50 PM

There are a lot of claims regarding nut, saddle and bridge pin choices. Most of them are hoaxes and marketing hype. Don't use Buffalo Horn, Cow bone, Rhinocerous horn, Moose Antler, Brass, Titanium, Tusq, Corian, UHMW, Ivory, Stag horn, Fossilized Pterodactyl Dung, or even Petrified Walrus Penile Bone. If you really want a great material for all this, the thing you have to use is Enriched Uranium. Trust me... this is the stuff of choice.

Bob V · #9 09-08-2010, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

He picked up a blank of bone and one of amber and dropped them on the floor...the buffalo horn clunked and the bone rang. I went with bone...

I made a black water buffalo horn saddle for my Taylor 814. Luthier's Mercantile International confirmed that their SBHT "black horn" saddle blanks are water buffalo. The material is rubbery soft, you can actually flex the saddle blank in your hands. Horn seemed to be tougher to sand but it was soft enough to get marks from the strings after only a few minutes of playing (I was swapping saddles in and out to compare the tone).

I had a chunk of marble on my workbench as a flat reference surface for sanding things like nuts and saddles. When you drop the Tusq saddle, it rings. A bone blank (almost as hard but not quite) tinkles. The horn saddle just goes "thud."

When used as a saddle, the horn was definitely not as bright, and it robbed the Taylor of its characteristic tone. I thought I could tell the difference between Tusq and bone, and I went with bone (unbleached S2BU) because it's a material that I'm comfortable with and I figured the results would be better than trying to sculpt and polish a new material (a more important rule for nuts where one extra swipe of the file will ruin the slot depth). If I had to generalize, the tusq saddle is bright, the bone saddle is loud, and the horn saddle is warm sounding.