First Attempt At Inlaying

[doomlord]

I have been toying with the idea of building a guitar for some time. I must thank all the poster's to this forum for the free advise I have regularly taken. I have now taken the plunge and finished my first fingerboard. The idea is not orginal as I have no artistic talent. The idea was taken from a Ken Lawrence Explorer I saw on the ESP forum which I expanded upon. It has taken me around 3 months to complete this fretboard. I have some ideas for a guitar I would like to stick this onto, but living in a 3rd floor city centre flat presents me with with a few issues.

Doomlord

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/doo...66/IMG_2711.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/doo...66/IMG_2710.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/doo...66/IMG_2709.jpg

Edited August 14, 2006 by Maiden69

[spazzyone]

great work

will look better fretted

[Inisheer]

Is the heading correct, that is your first inlay? That's great work! Can't wait to see future projects.

BTW, what are those ideas for a guitar to stick it onto?

[cSuttle]

Looks good. Interesting design. Should make a wicked guitar.

Edited August 14, 2006 by cSuttle

[Maurits]

That is really cool, even if it were your 20th inlay!! So what style body are you thinking of?

[doomlord]

Yeah it is my first full fret board. I practiced all the techniques on scrap before I had the courage to start the real thing. I started my working life on the tools so I am comfortable work to drawings and making components to tolerances, I basically just took my time with it.

For my sins I am also a massive Judas Priest fan, contrary to everyone else I have ever met I really like Glenn Tipton's Custom Hamer;

As this guitar is not a production model I approached 2 custom shops for quotes to make one but both rejected my submission on grounds of not wanting to upset Hamer and said I would need to change the body shape. So I thought sod it I'll make it myself, slowly :-)

[Maurits]

No need to rush anything is there. Not the biggest fan of that bodyshape, but it would look really good with that inlay I imagine. Be sure to buy a jacket like Halford to go with the axe though

Plus the pants of course

[Doeringer]

Damn nice! My first was a block inlay and it looked like i used my teeth to route with.

[rsguitar]

very nice inlay, and if this is your first I can't wait to see the second andthird and so on............

Great job!!!!!!!

Mike

[Prostheta]

Three months to complete huh? Patience in getting results proves itself here!! You could churn out twenty crap boards in three months, but one GOOD one in three outweighs the twenty by far.

I hope I can spend that long doing my wife's inlay, except I don't want to spend that long doing it, but I know I should, but...etc...

Great work man - it will look totally awesome when fretted and guitared up!!

[sumphead]

I hope I can spend that long doing my wife's inlay, except I don't want to spend that long doing it, but I know I should, but...etc...

There is a joke in there somewhere, but...

Awesome Inlay BTW. And even better as a first! I haven't had the guts to try it for myself. I think it would look good on one of metal matt's creations.

R-

[Xanthus]

.......

Holydamn... That is motherlovin' beautiful, man! Congrats and a HALF!!! Put as much time and care into the rest of the project, and I'll be more floored than I already am!

Nothing bad to say here, nothing at all.

Though, perhaps, has anyone done a study as to what percentage of a fretboard would be comprised of MOP, inlay, etc, to make a difference in tone?

Beautiful board, man. Keep us posted with the rest of the project.

\m/

[doomlord]

Thanks for the comments guys I appreciate it. With regards Doeringer's comment about being dissapointed with his/her block inlays, I thought about this and during my practice attempts found it much harder to route a straight line than a curve, hence no straight lines on the design. Talking of designs I already have my second sketched out.

My main problem is I start numerous projects and struggle to finish them, so I must keep focussed and finish this first guitar before I start cutting MOP for a 2nd fret board. If anyone wants to beat me to it, be my guest.

I have decided not to make the body exactly as in the picture as I prefer the variation of this body shape which has the rounded corners, haven't got a picture to hand but if you have seen the 'Painkiller' video then you'll know what I am talking about.

As for the Rob Halford jacket, my options are open :-)

I'll move over to the 'in progress' forum when I start the body/neck. Need to do some thinking, drawing and planning first. Until then cheers!!!!

[verhoevenc]

That dragon is AWESOME! See that's my problem. I'm a HORRIBLE drawer/sketcher. I have to go the Larry Robinson route and ifnd images I like, trace them and then alter them to my liking. I could never jot out something like that free hand. So you've got a one up on me in the inlay world! Hence why I'm stuck doing whales and fish and frogs lol, cause I can't draw anything design based stuff like that hahaha.

Chris

PS: If you make any sweet sketches that you know you're not gunna use... feel free to send them to me I'll keep them around for future reference. However I wouldn't wanna do something that you're also gunna do. But yeah, like you mentioned above "if anyone wants to beat me to it" I don't wanna beat you. But if you don't plan to use the design (or another down the road) I'll keep them in my design vault for a rainy idea-less day.

[cSuttle]

Thanks for the comments guys I appreciate it. With regards Doeringer's comment about being dissapointed with his/her block inlays, I thought about this and during my practice attempts found it much harder to route a straight line than a curve, hence no straight lines on the design.

Your exactly right. If you are doing it by hand, a geometric shape is the hardest thing to do. This is because if you are even a little off on the shell cut or the route it really shows up. However, on a curved design, if you are a little off it really shows. Everyone just thinks you meant it to be that way.

[doomlord]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but have a second look at my comment in the first post re: no artistic talent.

I have a large photo library of guitars from trips to music fairs, surfing the web etc, the dragon was one I found a few years ago. The photo wasn't great quality but fiddling with the brightness and contrast of the image was enough to start me off, I free handed it from the photo and improvised the areas which were not so clear. Not my design so happy to share it if anyone wants hi-res scans.

[sexybeast]

Daaaaaaaaang, that's a nice looking inlay. Great job, man.

[THIRSTYGUMS]

thats very very nice, a total success. A huge pat on the back to you Doomlord, keep posting projects. What did you use for the inlay, blocks of pearl or laminate?

as for having "NO ARTISTIC TALENT" thats patently rubbish, as everyone here will agree im sure!

fantastic piece of work.

[Digideus]

Kewl Inlay

Kewl Name!

You should design a few in turbo cad or something. I think that designs like that are an area that a lot of guitar builders dont touch because of the complexity of the work. Perhaps you should do a few more and then offer your services to the whole luthier community. Im sure a lot of builders would send work your way.

Fantastic work! Keep it up!

[Ben]

Awesome!

The above applies to both inlays in this thread

You are very talented

[doomlord]

Thanks for the comments. All I was saying with the artistic talent comment was that I am not great at drawing off the top of my head and have to trace or copy other designs. I was just being clear that I wasn't trying to gain credit for it being an original design.

I used MOP blanks that I bought from some guy in Australia off ebay.

I'd definately consider doing some work for others in the future but to be realistic that is a few years off yet due to my domestic situation and my portfolio being a bit limited.

Chris

For info this is where I got the idea from.

[THIRSTYGUMS]

Thanks for the comments. All I was saying with the artistic talent comment was that I am not great at drawing off the top of my head and have to trace or copy other designs. I was just being clear that I wasn't trying to gain credit for it being an original design.

I used MOP blanks that I bought from some guy in Australia off ebay.

I'd definately consider doing some work for others in the future but to be realistic that is a few years off yet due to my domestic situation and my portfolio being a bit limited.

Chris

For info this is where I got the idea from.

really?? yours is better!

[doomlord]

Yeah, I took the pattern from the first 4 frets of the Ken Lawrence guitar and then repeated it 3 times down my fingerboard enlarging it slightly to match the width of the neck.

[Maurits]

Both inlays look really great. How long does one of those take you?

[doomlord]

It took me 3 months working a little in the evenings and longer at weekends to get from raw materials to finished product. I can't remember how long in hours but I would estimate 25-30hrs cutting the MOP and then the same again filing the pieces to make sure the curves all flowed as smoothly as possible. It then took about 8 hrs to rout out the ebony. Hopefully I can do my 2nd one quicker.

Chris