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Fret Inlay Alternatives

I've read a few posts about using hole punch to cut a small circle out of a guitar pick and use it as a fret inlay.

I was looking for some other alternatives. I read somewhere else that you could actually use solder to fill an inlay hole in a fretboard. Has anybody ever tried this.

I also saw a post about using inlace, and wondered if there was a simple epoxy resin available at a hardware store that would work the same. It would have to be sandable. What would be really cool is if there is a clear epoxy resin that dries hard, but you could mix in some model paint (Testors) while it is still in it's soft state to change the color.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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Permalink Reply by THENUGE on March 15, 2010 at 2:45pm

i use a 1/4 plug cutter to make my postion markers, and drill the fretboard with a 1/4 inch forstner bit. i glue the position markers in with wood glue and sand flush..it is easy and looks good to imho

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 15, 2010 at 6:36pm

Thanks... :D
but...
not even close..
neither a guitar or a mandolin is built to have any of their strings tuned to c... so the scale is hardly going to start on the 'one'

If you consider that the 'bass' string on a mando is a 'G', the answer holds true.. the marker is at fret #10 rather than #11, this is the difference between the keys of C & G.. (F)
but the 9th fret on an 'E' string is a C#.. this is where it all falls apart..

perhaps i didnt make myself clear enough..
and as I said, I doubt the answer anyway

Michael Gajeski said:

Well, I know that they aren't marking a major scale. If they were, they would be marked on 2 4 5 7 9 11 12.
Jef Long said:
I have another riddle about dot markers for you...

have you ever noticed that the 'dot' (or other) markings are not in entirely consistent places when you compare a mando type instrument to a guitar to a banjo etc?? eg a guitar has one at fret nine, where a mando has it at #10... this troubled me quite a bit when i first got a mando..

I was told a few years ago after asking a master luthier that the dots actually mark out the c major scale, nothing more, but I'm not sure thats entirely true either..

If anybody can explain the thinking to me I'd love to hear it..

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Permalink Reply by BenBob on May 17, 2010 at 6:15pm

I guess the guitar layout does correspond with first 4 harmonic nodes. E.g. for an A string:

1/2 string: 12th fret, A, root
1/3 string: 7th fret, E, fifth
1/4 string: 5th fret, A, root
1/5 string: 9th fret, G#, maj 7th
1/6 string: ~3rd fret, E, fifth

At that point the harmonics are getting too weak and hard to find unless you're doing random electric pick squeals.

Interesting, I knew my main guitar (a Larrivee) has no markers on the ebony, but I just looked at it and noticed for the first time that it has no 3rd marker on the side of the neck; only 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th. I don't remember ever missing it though.