The Best Material in Guitar Building| Bone Frets
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- This video was not that easy for me, I think I made more than a dozen final versions, several times, UA-cam turned off monetization, but still, I can finally share my strange idea with you.
If a metal nut is placed on guitars to make the sound of open and pressed strings uniform, how about doing the opposite and putting bone frets?
In addition, even in the 19th century, bone frets were widely used on stringed instruments, until at the beginning of the 20th they were replaced by the usual metal frets.
Also, I was interested in how to work with them, how long they will serve, how they feel in my hands. So I gathered my strength and did what I did with the old guitar
I'm sharing the result of my work with you.
Would you put it on your guitar?
Special thanks for the provided pickup
to my friend from noise.space.audio
You can check out his work here:
/ noise.space.audio
I don’t think a guitar has ever caused me this eerie, uncomfortable feeling I’ve felt watching this. You took a concept and went the extra mile to execute it, well done!
Agreed.
to be fair most guitar nuts are made of bone.
Why does it make you feel that way???
This is a really weird and kinda creepy coincidence. I was thinking about this barely 15 minutes ago, honest to God.
The universe favors you!
the internet can now read your thoughts
We're in the matrix
AI knows all.......even at your most "private" moments.😮
Our phones listen to us bro 😂 it’s sad but true
This is like one of those relaxing cooking shows, but in guitar format. It is actually therapeutical. Thank you.
When I was on someone’s live stream being interviewed a few years back, they asked me what I would like to try on a guitar (I play mainly acoustic). My response was, “all bone frets”...which I had NEVER seen, or heard of before in my life.
I figured it could be done, but could find no one will to build it for me.
This is an electric guitar, so a little different, but still very cool.
Peace. 🐰💙🇺🇸🎸🎶🤝✌️
Thanks!
Someday someone will order this on their acoustics and I will definitely share the video
@@mr.k1t if you weren’t so far away (I’m in the USA), I would have you do this on one of my acoustics.
@@JackTheRabbitMusic Good reason to travel😊
@@mr.k1thow long did it take for entire job?
Until the late 19th century, most treble strings were made of gut, and bass strings were made of silk overspun with wire, often silver plated.
This is similar to today's classical guitar strings. Right? Bone frets would have been reasonable before the advent of ubiquitous metal strings. I'd love to see a report on the longevity of bone frets and steel strings, especially on acoustic guitars. Great work. It makes me consider putting bone frets on my next classical. Thanks!
It's been almost a month, I play no more than 20 minutes a day, I don't see wear.
If I put such frets on acoustics guitar, I would choose thomastik infeld strings
I can definitely see doing this on a classical guitar.
@@mr.k1t I like the idea very much. It would be awesome to have audio comparison of the guitar with the different frets.
I can definitely see it as a guitar to have in your arsenal just for the sound and/or feel. Probably not as your everyday workhorse guitar because the frets will wear out faster, if you believe in laws of physics. 20 minutes of play time a day these will probably last years and years.
Thinking about it, on an acoustic guitar with nylon (or gut) strings these frets might be what you want...
Also, what an interesting guitar (and pickups).
Frets themselves used to be made out of gut string, tied around the neck.
@@c3N3qIt won't change the "tone." Few things people seem to fetishize do.
I was literally thinking about the idea of bone frets not even two weeks ago, it's wild to see not only that it actually works, but that it was used over 100 years ago as well! Cool stuff.
I love the comedic editing! It's done very tastefully
Thanks!
Your videos are so informative and inspiring. You go through the guitar service process with huge depth! I feel lucky to find this channel ❤
If possible I would love to make a request!
Could you show all of us how you approach a guitar regulation process using:
1. A straight edge (Tuss rod adjustment)
2. String action guage (string height adjustment)
3. Bridge saddles&height adjustment
For example I know so much people with tune-o-matic bridges that still get string buzz despite adjusting all 3 mentioned points. A video like that would be very insightful!
Thank you so much
Thank you!
Maybe I'll do it in a short video.
What an adorable little table saw, so precious.
So cute until it bites lol
Interesting! I would have liked to have had an A/B comparison between regular frets and the bone frets but, maybe you can do that in the future!
Frets do very very little in changing the sound. When choosing things like the neck, all that matters is how it feels.
@@dandogamez Tell that to everyone who has ever commented that stainless frets make all the difference in the world and conversely those who comment that stainless frets ruin the sound/only nickel steel will suffice. My main concern is that bone will not hold up to steel strings and bending so well. Probably need to refret often.
And the materials do matter in terms of longevity and durability. For example, birds eye and flamed maple necks usually feel great since they're premium materials and a lot more effort goes into the workmanship of the guitars which have them, but those woods, unless roasted are far more susceptible to warping and need to be replaced more often than two piece necks, which are more laterally stabilized.
@@yargnad ua-cam.com/video/n02tImce3AE/v-deo.html&ab_channel=JimLill This video shows it all. For solid body electric guitars, the sound is almost independently caused by the pickup and electronics, the distance from the pickups to the strings, the strings, the scale size, and the player. When choosing a neck it's honestly most important that it's comfortable for the player.
@@dandogamez I build guitars so your argument is nothing new to me. These sort of videos are not controlled scientific analysis so it doesn't really mean much. I can clearly hear the difference with stainless steel frets, they have a slight pingy sound on the attack. Plus at the density of the wood makes a difference so you would not get the same sort of sound from balsa wood as you would from maple. Nearly any material of similar density would give similar results. There's definitely more to the sound than just pickups and scale length. I have an acrylic strat that sustains for days, and sustain definitely changes the tonality of any guitar. The pickups are only part of that equation.
@@yargnad I build guitars as well. Watch the video. He has another on strings, another on sustain, and another on scale length. From what I've found, Jim Lill is the only person doing these kinds of tests and he does them in a very controlled manner. Just watch the video.
Superb craftsmanship and some pretty nifty tools you have there too 😊
A luthier Batman with all the tools and the gadgets and the know-how.
Brilliant job mate....to be honest...think it would have been better on a acoustic....then you could really hear the difference in tone....that would make a cool video....great work👍🏻👏👏👏👏👏👌
I would like to order a boneless guitar with extra sauce
Super cool idea, thanks for making the video. I'll be checking back to see how they fare over time
When you cut that notch by the nut into the guitar. It made me think of how I added a Floyd Rose Locking nut to a "glary" electric guitar that had jumbo frets but was very light and designed to be for beginners.
Have never seen this done before. Thanks for thinking of it, figuring out how to do it, doing it, and sharing it with the rest of us.
Thank you for comment!
Cool Idea! With all the discussions about what affects tone I wish we could have heard a sample of the original metal frets compared to the new bone ones. It looks great!
Alas, the original condition of the guitar was terrible, I plan to replace all the electronics and then I will record a detailed demo.
@@mr.k1t”All the electronics”? You mean you are replacing those pickups? 😕
Yep, Soon there will be new pickups
The guitar maker Martin used to fret their guitars with what are now called "bar frets" in a similar fashion. They were made of small metal bar stock, I played a 1928 Martin with bar frets and while they felt different, I adapted quickly and didn't notice after a while. I imagine bone frets would last quite a long time as well, interesting idea. Well done, although all of the exposed saw blades in the shop were a bit concerning, too much opportunity for finger damage.
I used these frets when I restored an old mandala, I liked it
Now THIS is how you do a perfect guitar related shitpost. This is absolutely legendary.
i was not ready for how funny the editing was lol
This is super cool! Amazing work put into it as well. I love the tone and if we're honest, the bone frets look really cool.
Thank you!
It would be interesting hear the results on an acoustic guitar. Nice execution.
Kudos doing so ridiculously short-lived (by the standards of steel frets, at least) and executing it with this level of dedication and care. I'll be sure to follow you for other crazy guitar nerdy stuff!
You do realize that, prior to the 19th century, most frets were tied strips of gut. Players of historical European instruments like lutes, early guitars and mandolins, and violas da gamba still use gut frets and strings. The frets wear out quickly and must be replaced. Is this ridiculous? Or are you accustomed to modern conceniences? Nothing sounds as good as an acoustic instrument with gut on gut...
@@taylordiclemente5163 you do realize that he did string with steel, don't you? Because you're right with everything you say, but steel on gut must wouldn't do.
@@gjk282 I know he used steel strings. I can't make sense of your second sentence.
I'm a bit into taxidermy and started learning guitar around a month ago
This video is just a perfect mix.
So that's who my audience is!
Nice. I have done this on several instruments, but never tried it on an electrified one. For gut strings, I love how thin bone frets feel and sound.
I'm very interested in what you have to say. I play instruments with gut strings and frets - lutes, violas da gamba, and historical guitars. What do you play?
I filed one (1) bone nut before and it absolutely reeked! I don't wanna imagine how this smelled
Good job on the installation!
Thanks!
Exactly what I was thinking!
The look of the neck is amazing with this frets!
Man, that guitar just looks tropical now. And i dont know why. Great video and great background music.
Massive sound yet beautiful tone!
An alternative way instead of scalloping your fretboard!
You must be able to withstand the smell of working with bone. You get over it though and I'd never thought of this, it really has me thinking how cool it would be to have one with bone frets.
I made a spoon from bone once and yeah, you just reminded me how foul it smells when you cut the stuff!
it might wear out much quicker tho
How about a BONE NECK, directly? Be a terrible job, but might be outstanding?
@@sleamsleamvideos7857 Maybe with a properly cured bone so it wasn't to humid inside but still supple, I still think it would be heavy. You could use the marrow channel for a truss rod route, cut it fairly thin with a rosewood fret board or try to finish and play it as bone although it would be heaver that way.
I got to say it looks really interesting. That was a lot of work. I’d be seriously interested to try that myself very well executed excellent craftsmanship. I’m gonna check out your glass frets next very cool.
Uhg, I can smell that dust from here... Glad you volunteered as tribute for this arduous task though!
Incredible! What have you done my friend. Was this your own idea, or did you see it somewhere? This needs to be expanded to the rest of the world. You just gained a follower from Brazil! 🇧🇷👌🏾
The idea is not mine, I knew that such guitars were made a long time ago, I just decided to try
It's not rocket science. A bone nut is very common, so why not bone frets? it's been done before.
Giraffes bones i think I once saw on a documentary
Very interesting , I like to hear the sound of a acoustic with bone frets. I image it would mellow( warm ) the sound some. I've tried ebony nut saddle in bridge along with ebony pin's. In my opinion the ebony sounds better to me on my acoustic. Only trouble is it can shrink and expand(wood) and damage your bridge if your instrument is subjected to varying humidity changes. I might try this on a acoustic that needs a fret replacement . Keep chasing sound!
Since the bone is organic, it is also subject to changes in moisture, I'm more concerned about this now than wear and tear.
Perhaps someone will order such frets for acoustics from me and it will be interesting for all of us (I don’t want to do it for free anymore🥴)
@@mr.k1t How much for a bone refret? I imagine it wouldn't last too long on a steel string, but who knows.
congratulations! you discovered bone fret 200 years after everyone else
I do not claim to be a pioneer
Nobody: "I find Jumbo frets way too small and cold to the touch"
Luthier: "say no more fam"
Thoroughly fascinating, such an unusual idea and wonderfully executed. But I must say, it looks like a lot more work and mess than conventional fretwire material! Thanks so much for showing us in this very enjoyable video. Oh and the choice of background music is superb! Thanks again.
Plus, when they eventually wear down, because of the glue they’ll have to be routed back out. And, the bone will wear out a bit(a lot?) quicker than the fret wire.
Much harder🤢
Very interesting. I suppose one could easily intonate those ultra wide frets individually. Oh, right - that is not too geeky.
10:42 керосин. never knew this was even possible. amazing work man 🔥🔥🔥
I noticed the tuning process followed the harmony on the background music, kudos 😊
I make acoustic instruments and for many years been interested in the mismatch of materials used for frets and for nuts and saddles. This has prompted me to make a number of instruments with Nickle silver nuts and saddles that match the fret material.
This is how guitars were made in the Soviet Union, to be honest, the result is not impressive
@@mr.k1t Was that really because of the material choice? Soviet stuff is not known for quality in general
So it is, the frets on these guitars are one of the problems
In the engineering community we have an expression that might apply here.
" Just because you CAN do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should. "
And this is something you should do.
@@jimthethirdprobably Why?
@@timhallas4275 howabout making them with a hard stone. hard rock frets.
a black rock, to have black frets? do it on my bass and put black beauty strings on it?
@@timhallas4275 Good question.
Well we all seen what happened in that amusement park, didn’t we.
Ohhhh my goodness!! I never thought of using bone for frets! Great video!
Thanks!
mmmm so relax, honestly fell asleep, not from boredom of course, this is a great watch, just really nice to see :)
Thanks!
@@mr.k1t No dude, thank *you*, I loved this
As a very heavy handed and percussive blues and rock player I would like to try this just to see if they would break or not, or just see how long they would last before I started digging trenches in them.
they are unlikely to break, but wear will show itself
Probably would not last long, but might last a lifetime on a classical guitar.
I'm almost certain I would break a fret. And I'd be absolutely amazed if I didn't.
An interesting choice of frets, and sounds very good too. Probably my imagination, but sounds more resonant. Great job.
All I heard was the amp 🤷
@@teechable tone deaf?
@@jimmcdougall9973 it's your simulation, go for it.
I love Chibson’s memes and such (I even have a CEASE and DESIST poker chip on my Harley Benton LP), and this poked me in all the right places.
This was cool.
I'm the 1% with real bad HB experience. The PRS model. Scratched and unfiled frets ffs. Neck dots not in line.Tremolo unusable. Shockingly bad like a Monday morning with the worst hangover model. Like they never even played it. It was literally unplayable. Bummer!! Money back, got a 100 euro Jack & Danny strat from music store Germany and it's super ok.
What a glorious piece of -------.
But --- you are one heck of a craftsman.
Well yeah of course it should work. I would imagine they would wear down fast from bends tho.
It's been a month, everything is fine.
I think the critical wear will be in half a year
I would think that bone frets would wear out faster than steel frets. Looks nice!
Exactly faster than steel, but faster than 9% nickel?
Thanks!
@@mr.k1t I think the Devil actually wears a crown of 9% nickel frets
@@mr.k1t
I was hoping for an acoustic guitar but this turned out nice too.
I think it's made of brass
Great that someone is mad enough to try this out. Good job
It's not mad at all, you never heard of tusq? Synthetic bone material for guitars. It's awesome, I have synthetic bone bridge pins and nut, and even synesthetic bone bridge itself.
Scarface is such an amazing movie. I can't even count how many times i've watched it.
I’d love to try it in a studio setting and make a video on it 🤘🏻 awesome job! New subscriber now haha 🤘🏻
Коллега, удивил)) теперь тоже захотел себе сделать. Только не на музиме, её сохраню как музейный экспонат😁
I watched a video of yours just 10 minutes ago and while watching you make a new bone nut for a guitar and doing some refrets, I actually wondered what it'd be like to make bone frets all the way. Weird coincidence.
I’m about halfway through this video and I’m laughing my ass off dude that is hysterical. I love the references. I’ll watch the rest of the video. Looks interesting. What you’re doing here
Thanks you!😊
Dang that sure looks nice. Would like to hear more sound samples and your thoughts on how it feels.
The new pickups will be there soon, and we'll do a detailed demo.
Absolutely astounding, yet confusing work. I would have fashioned a metal nut just to mix things up. Regardless, incredible that you managed to do this
That would defeat the entire purpose of having a balanced sound.
...and now you know how to install bar frets! Nicely done.
Genius, and madness, at once .
I’m in.
Subscribed on first watch
I hope all have the nice shop sounds and a light track behind, fantastic.
It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide
I think the concept is awesome but I feel like frets would get worn down way quicker. Not your everyday player but definitely a cool showpiece
Let's see how long they last
They look very cool against the dark fretboard.
Wonder how long they would last..
So, what material are you going to do next ☺️ ???
One very hard stuff from the past
I love how safe it looks when you saw the frets half, lmao
Why on earth did youtube disable monetization?!?!?!?! wtf. This an incredible video that an INSANE amount of hard work went into...
copyright issues
Interesting experiment that I would never do. Metal frets are there for as reason, and that reason is we have the capability to work a better material for the job. If the world goes to hell tomorrow (or maybe the next day) we at least have a fallback. You'll be rich in the coming years.
Everything is relatively normal and I put metal frets on every day, bored
Very cool! I wonder how long those frets would last though
keep your local luthier in business with weekly refrets
@@hackerbot809 LMFAO
This is so cool. Do they wear out fast? I bet they do. It was the best run tho I bet
i use same over and under method when putting on strings. those frets be extra jumbo. it may nit be practical but this is sick. love it
please make guitar made of all bone. ty
I'll think about it
Interesting.
I wonder how much death is required for such a project?
The source material could present problems.
Obviously, you'd want large flattish bones for the body of the guitar, so my thought is to kill some elephants for their hips.
Other than that, it's the neck of the instrument, which is quite long.
It's the elephants again!
Their shinbones are long enough to make it work.
Now we're getting somewhere.
You CAN make a guitar out of bone.
There you go!
Kill some elephants, and you can enjoy your bone guitar conscience free.
Eff me, you've mate stumbled across a natural solution to harvesting wood to save the rainforest.
@@myoldmate
I feel sorry for elephants, why not use human ones?
@mr.k1t no problem for me.
The effing families would kick up a stink, though.
Dinosaur bones are the obvious solution. You've got the big bones, minus the ecological harm or angry relatives. Also; even paleontologists would admit that a Dino bone guitar would be badass 🦖🦕
I would like to see ceramic frets.
I thought about it, but I haven't figured out how to do it.
or porcelain. take a porcelain or ceramic tile and slice it into fret size pieces with a water saw. you could rent a tile saw from HD or where ever. or use a rock?
I thought about these materials, but it all comes down to the complexity of levelling process them
Really cool, also looks great, especially with the white binding
Well done. This was a good experiment. I like that the idea was to invert the idea behind metal nuts. I subbed after watching the glass fret video. Thanks for all of your effort and time.
Thank you!
Tony Montana might not be impressed, but I am.
Таке кайфове відео, врізочки дуже угарні були 😁
Дякую)
My pet projects for a rainy week include making a t-shirt into guitar graphics, or the graphics from a skateboard as the "leaf", on a hardbodied guitar or bass (ie Steve caballero). I'd also be interested in seeing how much effort there is in replacing an old-fashioned truss rod with a modern one accessible from the bridge end (between the neck pickup and the neck)
you really need a fence for that table saw.. I am looking for one for the same purpose, I got a lot of random bits and pieces of wooly mammoth tusk that's so nice for nuts.. I need a good thin saw so I can minimize waste, this stuff is precious
How hard is mammoth tusk?
Metal strings on ‘Bone’ frets??!😳
…looks like those frets will last as long as my first marriage..
I will watch this
Coool
You songlehandedly solved the world's nickel allergy problems with this 🙌
Had to kill some cows
Imagine if all frets were standard made of bone, and this video was someone making frets out of metal. Imagine how mental that would be
Congratulations on spending hundreds of hours to make a guitar where your strings will wear down your frets in a matter of months.
I am seriously impressed with your dedication to pulling off this terrible idea. You have done this horrible thing in an extremely professional way, and that deserves some credit.
Assholes in every corner of the Internet.
Так, всё, я вызываю полицию!
Kudos!! Great Idea and dazzling perseverance. Should be a Nobel prize for guitar ingenuity this year.
Or Shnobel..
Oops all bone nuts! Love it. Beautiful job.
For sale?
In the future on reverb, need to finish the pickguard and electronics
Bone is easily brittle. Guitar wire will cut through when playing. Wear it down too fast
Bone is a fairly hard material, we will observe wear, it’s most interesting for me
Amazing video! But, i was looking forward to hearing your thoughts at the end, because this kind of modification feels like it would impact the feel and playability more than the sound.. besides that i enjoyed every second
I added subtitles and thus described the sensations
@@mr.k1t oh alright will turn them on and watch again!
Be careful of bone dust its bad for ya so is abalone dust
Beautiful Craftsmanship.
Thanks for that demonstration.
Doug😎
Thanks!
Subbing this channel today because this is what I like. Bone frets? Oh yeah man... I am truly inspired.
The man knows what he's doing.
Great video and concept. Makes more sense than bone nut, then metal frets - because you start with the open string sound of the nut, then you have fretted sounds which are slightly different, because of the metal. This is why I prefer zero frets - to keep the sound the same, regardless of where you are playing.
Many guitar have intonation problems. Bone frets could go a long way to solve this problem.
You can always put a metal nut😊
This was a fun watch. Great little experiment 👌
Man I was hoping so much for the metal nut… would be so cool) anyways, great job!!!
Love that Civ5 jaguar unit reference😅
I was convinced that no one would understand the reference😊
I read your statement on the video. In regards to using bone frets.....you had find out....to know. And we had to know too. Another great video for the books. ✌️🎸✌️
One person in the comments is talking about glass frets, I think I need to know a few more things..
@@mr.k1t hmmmm....there was a guitar made out of glass but it had steel frets.
I'm worried that the glass will chip during processing.
@@mr.k1t Perhaps look into how lens grinders work? Also wear a mask, silicosis is no joke.
That’s the cutest little table saw 😊
Yep... I use a TUSQ nut and TUSQ bridge pins on my acoustic. It's like synthetic bone material, and it sounds BEAUTIFUL. People even tend to say they don't have to make much effort with mixing to make it sound good through their PA.
Also a synthetic bone bridge, failed to say.
I bought a $130 acoustic off Amazon just to experiment with. I swapped the bridge, nut, and pins out with bone ones. Took the cheap strings off and put on some heavy gauge d’addario strings. It actually sounds incredible for what it is.
This is so weird I was literally thinking why frets are made of metal and if thered be anything better suited for them not even an hour before I saw this video. The algorithm can read my mind now 🤯
Metal is undeniably better.
Best spoof video I have seen in years😊