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Posted

You'll find cheap MOP, the same place as cheap abalone, cheap AAA flame & quilt maple, and cheap Brazillian RW.

Nowhere B)

Whilst there are bargains to be had, basically you get what you pay for. You can spend every waking hour searching for a killer deal on materials, or you can just bite the bullet and spend more to get what you need so you can use your time for building.

The more you build, the less you'll fixate on price, and more you'll be concerned about getting really good materials. Take the deals when you find them, but don't wish your life away trying to find them if they're hiding :D

Posted

inlayusa is a scam, they dye their shell to make it look better but when you sand it it goes away, and they fill in voids with epoxy, it's not really any cheaper than anyone else, but the quality really isn't there. They don't respond to emails or phone calls either :D

Posted

I agree about Inlay USA

Stay away from it. It is a scam. If it's not then he's flat out just lame..

On the other hand.. Mother of pearl DOES come in sheets, as does abalone, and about a dozen other species now..

Abalam is laminated pearl sheets that are 9" by 5"..

That's right. BIG sheets.

The thing is with MOP you get joint lines between the joined areas. It doesn't look good unless you are either going for that look, or use smaller pieces of it.

Chuck Ericson (The Duke of Pearl) has all the shell species and also laminated shell (abalam). He patented it actually..

He also has a $1000.00 minimum order.. Not quite the begginers budget.

I recommend rescuepearl.com, they offer a lot of Chucks materials, and distribute it at a lower price quota. Andy Depaul at luthier supply is also great.

They ( both Rescue pearl or Andy) will send you items by the ounce/piece if needed.

I like real shell the best, it has more luminecent qualities. BUT, the abalam has a lot of distinct qualities. I use it as well.

This Chimera is both real brown lip pearl and abalam pearl.

Real brown lip only gets pieces as big as an inch and a half or so..

The entire back tail area of the fish is abalam brown pearl. It's the only way I could get a piece of it that long, with no joint lines..

chimera.jpg

Craig

Posted

hey Jeremy,

thanks for the post about inlayusaSCAM.com,Iwas going to oder stuff from them but not now.If thery are that bad maybe they should not be on the suppliers list unless they are helping to fund this forum

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