Making Mother-of-Pearl Nuts

by Ted Megas

Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010



Mother-of-pearl nuts are a beautiful accent to a custom instrument. I used to make all my own. Now you can buy them for 6-strings, but I still make them for 7-strings. Shells that are big enough are getting harder to find, but I still have a few. I’ll walk you through the process.

Photo 1 shows a section from the hinge of a cut shell on top of a half shell. The hinge is the only part of the shell thick enough for nuts.