https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:14:57 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/paged/2/#post-79447 Sun, 12 Dec 2004 11:46:55 +0000
At school I help teach a guitar class to fairly young kids and I recently started bringing in the Martin....It was hard for them to follow along on what frets I was fingering.

I just wanted to explore my options on inlays. I think for now I'll use some masking tape or stick on dots then later on ,when I'm sure about the inlays, spring for the real thing. The guitar will still sound the same either way :D I suppose thats really what counts anyway.

Thanks for the help and advice, everyone

Sally]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Sally45 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/paged/2/#post-79447 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78734 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 21:25:20 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance gnease https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78734 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78729 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:45:07 +0000
And Nils brings up a good point, you usually don't see them normally when standing. I find myself looking for them when I'm sitting down and playing but I notice, like when I'm on the couch playing in the dark and watching television, I sort of feel my way around by feeling the edge of the frets. It's kinda like a quick reference "Three and the one's the 5th fret, then 7, then 9." A quick mental note and then it's back to watching the show. It's almost subconscious, a tactile thing.

And then there's string players with their strips of tape. Some teachers use it some hate it, either way, the student eventually takes the tape off and just goes by hand position.

But on a steel string like this one, it wouldn't look non-traditional to have dots on the fretboard. It's not rosewood or ebony I think I read somewhere. It's some sort of synthetic material. Might be better to have it done professionally.

Or...use the stick on dots, or the side markers.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78729 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78708 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 19:49:14 +0000
Markers help in one situation - when you're playing with another guitarist, and trying to follow each other's changes.

A little over a week ago I played with a guy who had some great guitars... one was a custom Dana Bourgeouis with a really intricate vine inlay on the fretboard. He let me play it for a bit... but when I was playing it, he had trouble following changes I did - the inlay was too busy for him to quickly figure out where I was on the neck.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78708 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78689 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 17:48:20 +0000
I find that if I am holding the guitar correct or standing with a strap I can't see them anyway. If I get lost I just use the side markers.

I guess my point is if you don't need them for playing then why go through the trouble of adding them unless it is purely for appearance or to add value to the guitar. My concern would be the potential of a botched job.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Nils https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78689 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78686 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 17:29:06 +0000

It sure is a beauty!

Having no fretboard markers is sometimes a custom-only option on some guitars - because it looks cooler to some people. I sorta like the Nigel Tufnel guitar with the letters "C" and "F" and "G" inlaid in the fretboard though :)

Anyhow, if you need the position markers and don't want to permanently change the original appearance of the guitar, you might also just put little stick-on dots on the fretboard. They'll get ragged and ugly after awhile, but you can always take them off, clean the goo off with some adhesive remover or fretboard cleaner, and put new ones on. The other idea is to put the dots (or a tiny spot of nail polish) on the edge of the fret board facing you. I had to do that on my classical because it was originally a righty and I had no reference point on the other side. There's only a single dot at the fifth fret, but after awhile I got used to it.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78686 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78641 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 13:47:17 +0000
One other thing occurred to me about this inlay thing, though... maybe it's a classical guitar. Those usually have fret markers only on the side of the fingerboard, usually just at frets 5 and 7 (sometimes just 5), and installing dots might hurt the guitar's value.]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78641 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78615 Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:41:24 +0000
Best used in a drill press where you can set up a fixed depth perpendicular stroke, then you would have to devise a jig to carry the fingerboard level and at the same height. Easier said than done since the back of the fingerboard is round.

All said and done. Let the shop do it.


Michael]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance mikey https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-78615 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-77949 Thu, 02 Dec 2004 00:21:40 +0000
DemoEtc-The guitar is a Martin DCX-1E ...beautiful guitar. It was slightly used when I bought it but still in great shape. I could go on for at least a few more paragraphs ranting about how great the guitar is...but i'll use some self control :D .]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance Sally45 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-77949 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-77912 Wed, 01 Dec 2004 20:52:43 +0000 Guitar Repair and Maintenance DemoEtc https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/fretboard-inlays/#post-77912