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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 5, 2015 at 5:27pm

Thanks. That was what I figured and glad I asked. I thought about doing it for my younger daughters cbg I am working on but will fret it instead. I will still burn her something nice on it though. Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 5, 2015 at 6:05pm

There is a third approach that is very doable, cut slots and inlay strips of a contrasting material, usually a sheet of veneer, but maybe even just coloured putty or glue with a pigment added.

I did this once with a broken bandsaw blade on a lap steel, it's pretty much the easiest inlay you can do other than dots
This is also what guys typically do when rendering an unused bass into a fretless

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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 5, 2015 at 6:24pm

Thank you for the reply and ideas. Would that be for playing with slide or can you fret notes that way? The inlay would be raised at all or do you mean to make it flush? Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 5, 2015 at 9:11pm

Oh no, it would be sanded back smooth. And yes, you could sound notes against the wood if the action is playable sure

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on March 5, 2015 at 9:44pm

Here's a couple of guitars..built pretty much the same, the first is fretless, the second one is fretted. On the fretless, the markers and position dots are just inlaid into the edge, but you can do exactly the same as full marker across the face of the fretboard.

Fretless guitars are NOT just for slide - properly made and well set-up with a decently low action they can sound great - no dull thud, but a mellow tone akin to a fretless bass. 

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