I have a fretless build with a dark fingerboard, and it needs some fret position markers. I am wondering if anyone has used automotive pinstriping tape, and if so, how well did it work?
The fretboard is already installed, so I want to stay with something that doesn't involve any drilling or cutting if possible.
I did buy some of the stickers from eBay, but they are all for standard width necks, so some of them are too wide and will look like crap if I cut them down.
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For the face, I went with some commercially available stickers. I put some dots on the side, but I am not sure I like them. I may do the brass tack thing on the side.
Oh wow, those look great!!
For side marker dots, my wife introduced me to solid brass beading wire. A 10' length runs about $5 at the craft store, and it polishes up really nice. I use the 14 gauge wire - it's slightly larger than 1/16" diameter (14 gauge wire is .065" diameter and 1/16" is .0625" diameter,) but it slips right into a 1/16" pilot hole and fits snug. Most craft stores also carry copper, stainless, and aluminum beading wire. I know you requested something that doesn't involve drilling, Dan - I'm just tossing it out there.
You might also try a hobby or crafters store and look for kids type stickers.
I've found some really cool ones including dice, chevrons, and multi-colored shapes. They often are $2 or less
I love those brass pins for side markers. I've used them as markers on the face of the fretboard sometimes as well-just trim them shorter, pre-drill some pilot holes, use a nail punch to get the head fully flush and you have shiny(if small) markers in front.
I also know a local builder that drills indents in the fingerboard with a 1/4" Forstner bit, fills the holes with carpenter's glue and packs it with a light-colored sawdust-upon drying, he polishes the bumps down with 250 grit sandpaper and reapplies finish or oil. Sometimes (and you'll need a flush-cut saw for this) he will drill those same holes through the fingerboard into the neck, glue in bamboo chopsticks for his markers and cut flush-I hope he never has to remove that board though with all those anchor pegs...
Brass or nickel escuchion(spelling?) pins make good side neck markers and would keep the face of the fingerboard clean and uncluttered but show up well on dark wood.
I will give the dots a go.
The wood is pretty dark, so a burned in mark won't show up very well. I do that for the lighter ones, but this one is just too dark.
If the wood isn't too dark (i.e not ebony) then burning some markers on would work, you can get pyro-pens on ebay for dirt cheap or just use a soldering iron, looks good and its a nice personal touch as well.
-use a paper punch to punch out dots from any sticker material .
-use a sharpie , or oil pen for cds
- consider side markers