I was on the search for a vegan electric guitar recently and since I already did the homework, I thought I would share. I ended up buying a Gordon Smith, but there are a lot of good options.
Consider the Glue
Vegan guitars may be hard to find, because a lot of guitar builders use hide glue to join wood pieces together. Many guitar sellers don't include the type of glue used for the guitars they sell in the specs, and I found that most don't even know what type of glue is used. There are so many factors involved choosing a guitar is overwhelming for many musicians. When you add the vegan glue factor, it makes it even harder.
If you feel okay buying products with nominal amounts of non-obvious animal products, the glue might not bother you. Since car tires and a few other things we vegans tend to use regularly do include nominal and non-obvious amounts of animal products (IE, car tires are not foie gras, fur, or leather) I think there is a justification for ignoring the glue issue, but I respect your opinion if you don't want to buy a guitar unless you're sure it doesn't use hide glue.
For the purposes of this guide, I will give this advice: If you care about the glue issue, get a used guitar, and buy it with the below criteria in mind. Buying used doesn't contribute to the supply and demand of hide glue in any significant way, since it's disconnected from the manufacturing process and purchasing of hide glue on an industrial scale.
If you still don't want a used guitar with hide glue, a few options are at the bottom, but they are expensive. If you have the cash, you can get a vegan guitar custom built too. If you can't shell out the cash, then maybe building your own guitar is a good option.
Many guitars probably don't use hide glue, but I just haven't found an authoritative source about which guitars are hide glue free and which ones have it.
Glue Aside, More Info on Animal Products
Leaving aside the issue of vegan glue now, it is slightly inconvenient but not at all impossible to find an otherwise vegan guitar. Both acoustic and electric options are plentiful, if you look at the specs of the guitar and avoid commonly used animal products.
I'll include some of the guitars I considered buying below, but especially if you're buying used (which can be a much better value) there are a lot of good options aside from what's here. Aside from being vegan, your creative process should probably guide what guitar you get.
The Nut
A "nut" on a guitar is the piece of material the strings are slotted through at the top of the guitar, between the first fret and the tuning pegs. It is often made of bone, especially on more high end guitars. Luthiers insist that bone sounds the best, but since I'm vegan I don't care. I just need the best synthetic nut, and I found that to be TUSQ (aka GraphTech). Some companies build guitars with TUSQ nuts. Some people replace their bone nut with a TUSQ nut, which is good to look out for in used guitars. Cheaper guitars often have a plastic nut that isn't made of TUSQ—be on the lookout for fancy names, they won't call it "plastic" but will try to make it sound better, in this case it's called "urea," which is just a fancy name for plastic. Some guitars have a nut that is made of another synthetic material that is not TUSQ (resin, for this example). Some guitars have nuts that are obviously not bone and is visibly vegan, like brass. Yes, twelve year old vegan guitarists. I said BRASS NUTS! If you check the nut on the guitar you're considering, that is one of the key things to look out for.
The Saddle
This is the thing that the strings go over on the other side of the guitar, closest to where your strumming hand is. It's often bone on acoustic guitars, and the TUSQ replacement options are just as above. For electric guitars it's often metal, so no worries there.
Inlays
The inlays are mostly for the player to be able to quickly see what fret they are on. These are the little dots on the fretboard and neck. Keep an eye out for the most common material, which is "mother of pearl" IE it's made from mollusk shells. "Pearloid" is a common replacement, and is another fancy word for plastic. Get plastic or metal inlays and you're good to go.
Pickups
Pickups make the sound in an electric guitar and are sometimes dipped in bees wax. It's hard to get this info, and the same caveats as the glue apply. Buy used if possible. I think most companies now use another form of cheaper wax like parafin, but the information available on most retail websites is thin because the type of wax used isn't a concern for most guitar buyers.
Shellac
This is made from bugs and is not commonly used on newer guitars. Just make sure the finish is polyurethane or nitrocellulose lacquer.
Vegan Guitars
Lots of good options, here are a few:
Some stringed instruments used to use catgut, but classical, acoustic, and electric guitars currently use nylon or steel strings. Check the package when restringing and you won't have a problem.
Straps
Get a couch guitar strap. It's a vegan company and all the cool guitarists have one. And for god's sake, buy a strap lock. I use Grolsch gaskets to hold both strap ends on the strap buttons and have never had a problem. Bonus: They come free with a Grolsch beer.
Picks
Most of them are plastic. Rarely they are made of tortoise shell, but laws pretty much put this material out of business and they are more expensive so you won't accidentally buy one.
Amps
Most are as vegan as your cell phone. They still involve some ethical quandaries like mining, which can be exploitative of humans, and their manufacture can be sweatshoppy.
Consider the Glue
Vegan guitars may be hard to find, because a lot of guitar builders use hide glue to join wood pieces together. Many guitar sellers don't include the type of glue used for the guitars they sell in the specs, and I found that most don't even know what type of glue is used. There are so many factors involved choosing a guitar is overwhelming for many musicians. When you add the vegan glue factor, it makes it even harder.
If you feel okay buying products with nominal amounts of non-obvious animal products, the glue might not bother you. Since car tires and a few other things we vegans tend to use regularly do include nominal and non-obvious amounts of animal products (IE, car tires are not foie gras, fur, or leather) I think there is a justification for ignoring the glue issue, but I respect your opinion if you don't want to buy a guitar unless you're sure it doesn't use hide glue.
For the purposes of this guide, I will give this advice: If you care about the glue issue, get a used guitar, and buy it with the below criteria in mind. Buying used doesn't contribute to the supply and demand of hide glue in any significant way, since it's disconnected from the manufacturing process and purchasing of hide glue on an industrial scale.
If you still don't want a used guitar with hide glue, a few options are at the bottom, but they are expensive. If you have the cash, you can get a vegan guitar custom built too. If you can't shell out the cash, then maybe building your own guitar is a good option.
Many guitars probably don't use hide glue, but I just haven't found an authoritative source about which guitars are hide glue free and which ones have it.
Glue Aside, More Info on Animal Products
Leaving aside the issue of vegan glue now, it is slightly inconvenient but not at all impossible to find an otherwise vegan guitar. Both acoustic and electric options are plentiful, if you look at the specs of the guitar and avoid commonly used animal products.
I'll include some of the guitars I considered buying below, but especially if you're buying used (which can be a much better value) there are a lot of good options aside from what's here. Aside from being vegan, your creative process should probably guide what guitar you get.
The Nut
A "nut" on a guitar is the piece of material the strings are slotted through at the top of the guitar, between the first fret and the tuning pegs. It is often made of bone, especially on more high end guitars. Luthiers insist that bone sounds the best, but since I'm vegan I don't care. I just need the best synthetic nut, and I found that to be TUSQ (aka GraphTech). Some companies build guitars with TUSQ nuts. Some people replace their bone nut with a TUSQ nut, which is good to look out for in used guitars. Cheaper guitars often have a plastic nut that isn't made of TUSQ—be on the lookout for fancy names, they won't call it "plastic" but will try to make it sound better, in this case it's called "urea," which is just a fancy name for plastic. Some guitars have a nut that is made of another synthetic material that is not TUSQ (resin, for this example). Some guitars have nuts that are obviously not bone and is visibly vegan, like brass. Yes, twelve year old vegan guitarists. I said BRASS NUTS! If you check the nut on the guitar you're considering, that is one of the key things to look out for.
The Saddle
This is the thing that the strings go over on the other side of the guitar, closest to where your strumming hand is. It's often bone on acoustic guitars, and the TUSQ replacement options are just as above. For electric guitars it's often metal, so no worries there.
Inlays
The inlays are mostly for the player to be able to quickly see what fret they are on. These are the little dots on the fretboard and neck. Keep an eye out for the most common material, which is "mother of pearl" IE it's made from mollusk shells. "Pearloid" is a common replacement, and is another fancy word for plastic. Get plastic or metal inlays and you're good to go.
Pickups
Pickups make the sound in an electric guitar and are sometimes dipped in bees wax. It's hard to get this info, and the same caveats as the glue apply. Buy used if possible. I think most companies now use another form of cheaper wax like parafin, but the information available on most retail websites is thin because the type of wax used isn't a concern for most guitar buyers.
Shellac
This is made from bugs and is not commonly used on newer guitars. Just make sure the finish is polyurethane or nitrocellulose lacquer.
Vegan Guitars
Lots of good options, here are a few:
- From what I can tell and from emailing the company, Gordon Smith guitars are accidentally vegan. I have one and I love it. Brass nut, aluminum inlays, etc.
- Gibson Les Paul. This is a gold standard guitar. If you want to never buy another guitar again, this is a very good option if you like a fat, warm, crunchy sound.
- Epiphone Les Paul. A cheaper option that you will buy, play for a few years, and sell because you really want a Gibson Les Paul now. New ones are mostly (see caveats above) vegan, old ones might have non-vegan inlays and nuts.
- Yamaha Revstar. Super cool and weird Japanese guitar.
- Here is the super expensive acoustic by Bedell that is one of the only guitars specifically marketed as vegan. I haven't played one, so I can't speak to its tone.
Some stringed instruments used to use catgut, but classical, acoustic, and electric guitars currently use nylon or steel strings. Check the package when restringing and you won't have a problem.
Straps
Get a couch guitar strap. It's a vegan company and all the cool guitarists have one. And for god's sake, buy a strap lock. I use Grolsch gaskets to hold both strap ends on the strap buttons and have never had a problem. Bonus: They come free with a Grolsch beer.
Picks
Most of them are plastic. Rarely they are made of tortoise shell, but laws pretty much put this material out of business and they are more expensive so you won't accidentally buy one.
Amps
Most are as vegan as your cell phone. They still involve some ethical quandaries like mining, which can be exploitative of humans, and their manufacture can be sweatshoppy.
thank you very much for your research!
ReplyDeleteThe Shellac and the Pickups came as surprises, but i am wiser now, thanks to your comprehensive due diligence. Thank you!
ReplyDelete