Backstory: I am a vegan musician. I recently had a conversation with another user on here after I had mentioned musical instruments and how they have historically used animal products. A lot of manufacturers have now switched to all plant based components but it is very very unclear as to who exactly is vegan friendly or not.

I have decided to attempt to create a spreadsheet detailing which instrument manufacturers are vegan-friendly or not.

These are the ones I have found answers to:

Fender - Seemingly yes

Bedell - Yes

Martin - Not vegan, uses animal-derived glue

Taylor - Yes

Moondot - Yes

Fishman - Some models are definitely vegan, have not found a definitive answer for their entire range

Steinway - Yes

Baldwin - Yes

Ludwig - Seemingly yes

Evans - Yes

Remo - Yes

Gibson - Not sure, I have found something about them using oysters(what?) in their guitars but this is about 20 years old so not sure if anything has changed

Incredibow - Yes

Cardiff Violins - Yes

Franz Hoffmann - No

T Sonada - Yes

If anyone has any knowledge of other vegan/non-vegan manufacturers to add to the sheet, preferably with a source, please let me know. If you find that any of the info above is incorrect then again please let me know.

  • SashaEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    Guitar maker sigma uses bone for it’s nuts and probably bridges too. I’m not sure about Epiphone, they used a plastic nut on my LP but for all I know the inlays are some sort of shellfish.

    It’s also highly highly likely that a lot of guitars use shellac which is produce by an insect, especially likely for accoustic and classical guitars.

    • josie@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
      4·
      1 day ago

      Thanks for helping and adding some names. If possible do you have a source on Sigma, if not I will try and find one within the next couple of days. Yes, I believe classical guitars are generally the main offender when it comes to animal parts in guitars, similarly it appears that a lot of the classical-type violins are the ones that still use horsehair.

        • josie@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
          3·
          1 day ago

          Thanks for the source, I am pretty sure that Fender is vegan then since I haven’t found anything online that suggests otherwise and haven’t noticed what you’ve described on the bridges and nuts on any of my Fenders.

          • SashaEnglish
            1·
            1 day ago

            If Fender uses bone, they’re probably a whole lot more selective about it. My nut only splintered because it was a dodgy part, I don’t think it’s the norm. Sigma makes relatively cheap guitars, so I wouldn’t hold Fender to the same standard.