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.

  • loweffortnameEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    Gibson may use oysters or other shellfish for fret inlays?

    • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
      3·
      2 months ago

      Thanks for adding some additional thoughts to the list. I also came across a source about Gibson using oysters for their guitars, but as I mentioned the source was nearly 20 years old and I have no idea if this is still the case. From what I’ve read, Taylor only switched to synthetic materials a few years ago so anything could have happened. If I’m unable to find any recent sources I will just try and contact the manufacturer themselves. If they are unable to help I’ll just put them down as undetermined/inconclusive for now.

  • ambiguous_yelp@vegantheoryclub.orgEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    Could you include proof? if theyre email screenshots or too much for a lemmy post maybe you could link to a file hosting site and host a zip?

      • ambiguous_yelp@vegantheoryclub.orgEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        Thank you, I have seen there is little information collated about vegan instruments, this could be one of the only sources on the english internet for this

        • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
          7·
          2 months ago

          I think it’s likely to end up being the most complete. I will continue to research and add to the sheet when I can, if other people want to help that’s great.

    • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Of course! Always happy to try and help people make more ethical choices, especially when it comes to things like musical instruments where the issue is so muddy.

  • SashaEnglish
    5·
    2 months 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.

    • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
      4·
      2 months 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.

        • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
          3·
          2 months 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·
            2 months 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.

    • Fox [any, she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgOPEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Of course!! This is something that gets brushed over a lot in music spaces to the point where I have been unable to find literally anything online like what I’m creating, at least not on the English or Spanish parts of the internet. This is probably going to take a lot of effort and is likely to never be exhaustive but I think it’s worth it in the end.