Nero Fittings: Your Instrument’s Perfect Match
Our Fittings are made from materials that are free of hazardous chemicals and certified by the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Open Standard, the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), the Forest Stewardship Council and Greenguard Certified.
Nero fittings are not only the responsible and eco friendly choice, they give the player advantages over traditional ebony unattainable elsewhere.
Nero is nearly identical to Madagascar ebony in density and sound quality. The player will see little or no change in their instruments acoustic performance, except for the differences of models and design. Our models and designs have been refined by two companies for over 20 years, and the material use testing has taken about 1 year to complete.
Nero is unaffected by temperature and humidity changes. You can say goodbye to issues like fingerboard warping, pegs not cooperating, or surprise failures of tailpieces or chinrests.
Nero is impervious to sweat, oil, makeup or virtually and substance encountered by the string player. It is easily cleanable with mild antibacterial solvents for absolute cleanliness!
Nero's surface wear is far superior to ebony. Players will need far less fingerboard resurfacings or peg refitting.
Stable - means no more worry about seasonal changes or fit problems in the future.
Workable - Nero is made from renewable eucalyptus produce by laying out the paper so it has a "grain" that is regular and strong. It can be carved, scraped, sanded, and filed like ebony. We strive to make our models close to dimension so very little fitting is required for fingerboards and pegs. The only exception is in the pegs, where they are made to normal new installation dimension, as we do not recommend turning them in usual peg shaper. Just off the end, polish and then drill the string hole where desired!
Hypoallergenic - sensitivity of the maker or player to ebony is no longer a concern! We do recommend a mask while sanding or filing do to normal dust concerns.
Long wearing - you will find that Nero wears at less than 3x the rate of ebony, so fingerboard resurfacing will be much rarer.
Cleanable - Since Nero is impervious to sweat, oils, and makeup, cleaning and maintaining the material will be far less troublesome than ebony.
Gluable - Since Nero is not permeable, we recommend scoring the backside of fingerboards with a file or sandpaper. For hide glue, we recommend at least 190 gram strength high clarity glue for the best bond.
"I showed them to my colleague in the symphony, and he said he even thought they were more beautiful than ebony."
-Violinist, New York City
“The ends of pegs polish up with ease and have the perfect conical shape. The install was extremely efficient. They look and feel just like the highest quality ebony."
-Shop owner, Virginia
"That fingerboard went on easier that any ebony fingerboard I have fit up! It planes just like ebony. all you need is a sharp plane (and I always have one sharp anyway)…"
-Shop Foreman, Phoenix
“I went to a local violin shop that had a sample set of Nero fittings installed on a violin. I was impressed by the fact that the pegs were easy and smooth to turn. That could be a game-changer for teachers who spend too much time tuning before even getting to teach!
I was also impressed with the acoustic results. I did a side-by-side trial and it seemed identical to ebony.”
-Violinist, Minnesota
"Thanks for sending me the NERO pegs. They are great...They were absolutely easy to install and turn amazingly easily. We will save a lot of time on peg installs with them and will be using them in the future.
But they are not just for student violins; they look and act like a premium ebony peg as well!"
-Shop owner, Minnesota
“I wanted to let you know that we have been using your new NERO pegs, chin rests and tailpieces, as well as the fingerboards nuts and saddles as an alternative to ebony since we have been concerned about an impending ban.
The pegs go in very easily and are already tapered to fit. They work very well and can be installed in ten minutes as opposed to the hour it normally takes for ebony. The tailpiece and chinrest go on as easily as well, and are nearly impossible to tell apart from ebony and are indistinguishable to my customers. Some have said that they think the new parts make the instrument sound better.
The fingerboards go on just easily as regular ebony, but I don’t have to worry about warping. They also plane down like ebony and finish to a very fine level of polish.
In all I like the new parts very much and hope to use them extensively in the future.”
-Violin Maker, Minnesota
“More importantly, the ability to maintain the pegs stability and string pitch should shave 15 minutes off every classroom string teacher’s limited time with young string students, thereby leaving more time for instruction and expression. Kids need music now more than ever, the ……. Will give them and their school orchestra conductors more time for music.”
-Violin teacher, California
Violin Makers and Players agree...
Discover the Beauty of Nero Fittings Today
Go on this journey with us to make the world better, one peg at a time!
Check Out Our Impact
Ebony trees take about 200 years to reach maturity suitable to be made into fittings.
Eucalyptus trees used for Nero material are mature in less than three years!
We are now ready to make custom orders. All standard models of chinrests, tailpieces, pegs, endpins and endbuttons can be made by our expert maker. Fulfillment timeframe is normally 4-6 months.
Violins, Violas, and Cellos made yearly worldwide.
Save our trees!
Unmatched quality for instruments at a reasonable price, try them to believe them!
The Proof is in the Sound...
We thought about the best way to show that Nero products are acoustically similar to traditional ebony. We used identical French tailpieces in the following video, with identical length Kevlar tailchords, and switched them out on the same violin in the same room, on the same day. The video has not been manipulated for acoustics. Enjoy the demo, and if you feel like guessing which take is ebony, and which is Nero, contact us!
