Official Luthiers Forum!

Just looking for some ideas for fret position markers. Materials, designs, etc...I would like to stay relatively simple (no ornate inlays). Also, I am thinking about inlaying wood into the fretboard but I am worried as it may expand and contract differently that the board itself because of the lack of a finish. Let me know what you think. Upload some pics if you like! lets see some fretboards!


-Eric

Wood looks nice gong in, but it doesn't wear very well. The lighter inlaid woods end up looking grungy pretty fast. Have you considered recon stone? It comes in about a billion colors

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

never heard of it, I will have to check it out. I was also thinking of corian...

You can find it at jewler's supply houses. Rio Grande IIRC has a bunch of it.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Here are a couple...one with doves flying down the fretboard and the other with swallows flying up/down to cherry tree inlay at 10-14th frets.

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Hank Mauel

Here are some martini glass inspired red abalone markers I made once.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

As I've always considered the fretboard a working surface that has to be re-fretted, planed, sanded, I don't go farther than dots and diamonds. Most folks tell me that vines, tress of life, all that stuff only confuses them on the fretboard anyway.

viewtopic.php?f=10106&t=25575

Fretboards, tooling, and such.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

I use 1/4" maple dots. Sealing them with CA does a pretty good job at making sure they don't get too dirty.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

How do you seal the maple without getting it on the fb?

Does the CA wick into the maple without leaving behind a high spot?

I do get some (just a little) on the fretboard, but I scrape/sand it all off. I do this twice before final sanding. Once finished, there is no trace of the CA around the maple dots. Of course, you still have to be cautious when you apply the CA and not spill too much of it outside the marker dots.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

alan, do you tap dowels in then flush cut, or cut plugs?

my first guitar i did with dowels and obviously the endgrain got a bit gunky. Didn't seal them because i didn't think of it, so they got gunked up.

thanks

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brendan 3.0 new and improved, with better interpersonal subroutines

I use a plug cutter for the exact purpose of not wanting end grain markers. Plus, the conical shape of the plugs make it easy to push them in place. I usually make them about 3/16"-1/4" tall. I press them in using a vise (after putting some CA glue in the holes) and fush cut watever is left proud if the fretboard surface.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Hank,

Would you mind posting a close up picture of the swallows if you have one? I've wondered if any one had a purple martin inlay.....maybe a generic swallow would be close enough. Did you cut the inlays yourself or purchase them?

Thanks!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Tell them not to look at the fingerboard while playing.
If Doc Watson can play that way, so can they!

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Hank Mauel

Here is a photo of a laminated fretboard (honduras rosewood and purpleheart.
So far no problem with schinkage...

working on numero uno, flowers marking the 12th and 9th frets....there will be frets soon....

Then why have anything at all? Like I said, it's a working surface...and they are called "position markers".

I'm with Haans on this one, I think inlays are distracting and hard to pull off without looking gaudy. But I'm not an inlay guy so… I only put dots when requested, otherwise side dots are more than enough. I usually frame the fretboard with one single curly maple line, two maximum.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I completely agree with you. I am not a fan of the ornate inlays either. I am planning on doing something which incorporates the side dots and front position markers into one element. Maybe just a strait...say 1/8" wide, channel that comes right off the side of the board and extends about 3/4" towards the center. (hope this makes sense) I have some corian samples that I took from Home depot to use. They are white with some very subtle bluish specks.

-Eric

Have you checked Michael Bashkin website? I think he does something similar to what you describe, quite stunning and elegant work.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Ya mean like this?!? Let's see, what fret am I on?



Lovely it is, but where'd the ebony go? How'd you like to plane the F/B and re-fret this?

I think you'd be SANDING that fretboard if it needed to be levelled & re-fretted. Still, it'd be scary.

a blank fingerboard says to me. . .i'm looking with my ears, and who cares what my guitar looks like (within reason folks). its about the sound i make and i know what position my fingers are in. nothing can add to the beauty of a jet black ebony board. im not anti inlay however. my friend keeps moaning that my guitars don't have dots. if you play a guitar regularly you dont need em in my humblest opinion. side dots are ok by me.

If I get to decide, I make 'em with side dots only. I've done some vines and things, but that stuff is really not my cup of tea

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin