ItWasKnight Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 I've decided to attempt to make inlays for the guitar I'm trying to build while I wait for Fernandes to produce more humbucker drivers for that sustainer kit. After giving it much thought, it seems my best option would be to buy a "Jackson Style Neck", remove the fretboard, buy a pre-slotted fretboard , do my own inlays, glue the fretboard on, then take it to a shop to get the frets put in (I hope that's not TOO expensive). I went with Morben's suggestion of Inlace, and I'm glad I did. It seemed to be the perfect consistancy - thin enough to pour, but thick enough to pour right to an open edge without any dripping off the edge. For my first attempt at inlays (and routing), I used a scrap 1x4. I got white Inlace and tried adding only a little green dye, but it barely changed the color. I ended up with a very, very light blue-green. My second and third attempts failed because they never dried. I could not get a halfway decent green color, no matter how much dye I added, and I ended up adding quite alot (experimenting, you know). I'm pretty sure it didn't dry because there was just too much dye. I'm going to try clear Inlace with green dye when I get around to ordering some clear. On my second successful attempt was on a 2x4. I tried making it go around a corner and was suprised at how well that worked. It seems to be durable and feels/looks alot like a very hard plastic. All the rough edges you see are because of my shabby routing job (not to mention the fact that I'm doing it on lumber). There are two ways I'm thinking of doing the inlays on my fretboard.. Either make the whole fret into an inlay, and have it like my second picture where it goes around the edge, covering both sides as well as the front.. Or the way I'd really like to do it, but don't know if it would work right... I made this diagram (I hope you can see what I mean by it). Do you think having the inlay and the wood meet at the corner like that would work out? I want the inlays to take up the entire fret without having square ring around it like shown on the third fret. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Just for your info, i charge more for a re-fret, than what you are paying for an entire neck. So, theres a bit of a comparison for you on what it might cost you. Personally, i think your going about it the hard way. Its not going to be easy to do the side inlay (haertbeat??), if it is even possible AT ALL. If your intending on having such a large "inlay", why not simply remove the frets, rout the existing fretboard, do your thing, and re-install new frets (or the old ones if your really cheap, but i have never tried re-installing old frets, so.... )??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItWasKnight Posted May 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Wow, that would be much easier, wouldn't it? If I did it that way, I would still need a pro to level the frets at the very least... How much do you think that would cost? Also, I realize I'm a total noob, but it seems like that inlay down the side woudn't be incredibly hard with a very small router bit and inlace.. Routing it should be the hard part since filling it with inlace woud be cake.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Mate, do it yourself. It is not hard, you just need to take some pride in your work, and have the confidence to give it a go. You've got pro's on hand here to help you out, so you can ask all the questions you want. With the money you save, send a donation to brian to help the site stay online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re-levelling and radiusing the fretboard after you do your inlay will be more work than putting the frets back in dude. For fretwork expect to pay anywhere between $140 and $300. I don't charge enough for fretjobs, that's gonna change this summer, I'm about $100 less than the more local competition. But as I say, the larger portion of the work comes in making sure your fretboard is perfect after the inlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItWasKnight Posted May 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Well, I've started this project, so I intend to finish it at any cost.. Even if I have to pay someone to do it. I seriously doubt I could do the fretwork myself without messing something up and costing myself alot of extra money and work.. How long does one of these $300 fret jobs take to complete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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