Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Dragon Very cool big kitties Eagle great for Jem prpject. Super badass spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 i saw his stuff a while ago, pretty pricey.... looks like nice work though, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 I have a friend that ordered some of his stuff. It would be cheap if it was really nice, but in person it kind of sucks. He uses VERY thin shell, typical of inlay in the orient, and the fit wasn't that good in person. The bad part was, when my friend radiused the board, he went through all the shell on the edges. I am always impressed with the thickness of shell that the cutters in the orient can work with, it's very thin and brittle. But when I saw the actual inlayed board I was not impressed at all. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Thank you Jeremy. In that case, can you do that kind of thing? I am interested in a snake or dragon inlay. My wife isnt ready for that kind of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Didn't rhoads56 and Clavin address the same exact thing a week ago or so? I believe they called it 'overlay' as opposed to 'inlay' material, and had just about the same comments as LGM just stated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 I too have ordered some of his stuff.. but because his fretboards suck, you have to radius it again properly His inlay material is like LGM said very very thin... some of his abalone is 1 or 2mm thick, but his MOP is thinner than a piece of paper... that's why I don't dare to radius the fretboard further... In person the works don't look good.. he just uses big pieces of shell and scrape the lines in. That looks much less proffessional than using several different pieces. IMO, don't buy the pre-inlaid fretboards!! Too much work to get them ok, and you risk sanding thru the inlays!!! His DIY inlays are great though.... so if you don't mind routing it yourself, try one of those and specifically ask for thick pieces!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Thank you Jeremy. In that case, can you do that kind of thing? I am interested in a snake or dragon inlay. My wife isnt ready for that kind of thing. Hi, yes, I could do preinlaid boards, but not at his prices. A couple of the reasons that his work is so cheap is that 1. He uses very thin shell 2. It's not as intricate or nice as it looks in pictures 3. work in the orient is done at far lower prices than in north america because the workers work for less 4. They harvest the shell locally and I believe his workers process all their own shell as well. I couldn't touch his prices for the work he does, in fact, I think I'd end up paying nearly that much for the shell blanks alone for some of those inlays, I'm just thankful that the work isn't that good or I'd be out of business LOL!! ps Alex, you look different these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 ps Alex, you look different these days Looks like he lost some weight and bleached his hair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 alex is sexy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renablistic Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 looks verrrry nice... 200 aint bad.. IF THEY DIDN"T SUCK AS BAD AS YOU SAID!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 This is awesome. Pre-radiused as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 is it just me though, or do his eagles look like retarded crows? I don't know, I don't think the stuff looks that good, although, for $130 it's cheap enough. The problem with his radiusing, is it's not done well and you need to redo it, that is where you run into the sand through problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 is it just me though, or do his eagles look like retarded crows? yea, they aren't really eagle-looking. I don't think the beak isn't curved enough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 I agree with everything Jeremy has said, especially the pricing. I cant get the materials for what he charges for a small inlay. But, i dont pay myself in bowls of rice either the radiusing would be easier if he used thicker shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavin Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 You get what you pay for. Pay for it and you'll see what you get. Pay for something from me, or LGM, or any other modern trained inlay artist, and you will pay for it now, but your kids and their kids will also enjoy it. The value will most likely go up through time as well. Even more if it's from a "famouse" person, like Larry R. Quality is in the time and passion that goes into to doing things correctly, methodically, and slowly. I personally don't want to produced millions of pieces, I want the ones I produce to turn millions of heads.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decalshopmike Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Have to agree, I've had customers bring some of his work to me and it is pretty average quality, looks OK from a couple of feet away, but when you compare to 'proper' inlay work its pretty basic and bad. Also, he doesnt seem to make any attempt to select the pieces of shell to match the design, which is one of the reasons professional inlay work looks so good when you move it in the light etc... I wouldnt bother with one of the fretboards, if you want something like this bite the bullet and pay out for someone who knows what they are doing and uses thick shell otherwise every time you look at it you'll spot all those little niggling bits and be annoyed. I also wouldnt like to guess how his boards will stand the test of time with the material being so thin ! One thing I find customers dont take into account is how many hours of labour go into doing a really good inlay design - especially as most come to me with a vague idea like 'some sort of dragon' - once you add up the hours of designing the thing, selecting the materials, cutting them, routing, tidying, inlaying, radiusing etc... theres no way you can do them for $200 unless you register as a charity ! Generally they change their mind when they realise that the inlay work is going to cost so much, this is mainly why only rock stars and lawyers have really nice custom work on their guitars... mike p.s. If anyone does need white, red or gold pearl, or green abalone blanks I've got a load of large pieces I use that are 1.5 to 2mm thick, I use these for redoing Gibson boards and they always work well, I can sort out a decent price for forum members if interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.