The best way to buy bones is to sample them first-hand. Unfortunately, in the world of rhythm bones, this is seldom possible.

Over the years my personal collection has grown to more than 50 pairs of rhythm bones. My experience is that you never know what you're going to get with bones (especially natural bones) when you order them by catalog. As a practical matter, most of the bones in my collection were ordered from mail-order vendors sight unseen—and happily, I can report to you that I have rarely met a pair of bones I didn't like.

Although I often mix & match bones of all shapes, materials, and sizes, I still prefer to acquire bones in matched pairs. A matched pair is a pair of nearly identical bones. Two matched pairs is a matched set (i.e. four matched bones). A matched set means you have a pair of nearly identical bones for each hand. A matched set is nirvana for some players. As simple as this may seem, it is sometimes impossible to get matched pairs. This is especially true of natural rib bones. After all, it's hard enough to produce a matched pair even if you craft them yourself.

Click items in the gray box at left for classic styles of bones and where to buy them.