Taylor Acoustic Headstock Inlay and Binding

[bluewaterpig]

I have a Taylor 912 with a plain headstock...nothing but the Taylor inlaid script. I'm looking to add two different elements to the headstock...

1) The abalone design in the first pic

2) The outline/binding in the second pic


So the situation is that I'm looking to replicate it with decals, but if the price is right or the decals just really don't cut it, I'm definitely willing to have the actual inlay work done.

Can anybody recommend either..

1) An inlay service (luthier, website, etc.)

2) A method to create the white binding

3) A way to create the effects with decals (more so for the binding...I've already found a bunch of decal services that can create an abalone design)

Pic 1


Pic 2



Thanks in advance!

[joeguam]

My first thought is that you'd have to find someone who could match the Taylor UV finish if you wanted to do the inlay.

[charles Tauber]

My first thought is are you willing to spend a few hundred dollars to have these minor cosmetic changes made?

[Ned Milburn]

No two ways about it - binding is expensive. I have re-bound old guitars with plastic scraped to the level of the original finish, thus forgoing the need to blend-finish new binding to old finish. This lowers the final price for the customer, but still not cheap. The headstock has corners, which add time to the binding job (ie: more money). Routing the headstock while the fingerboard is installed will be tricky, ie: more cost.

Why not save up and buy the guitar you want, then get rid of the present guitar?

The decal or something similar might be available, but if you don't want it scratched off, you'll have to finish over it, meaning it is likely best to remove the finish and then re-finish the whole headstock. Again, this adds more time and money...

[jrmyrnsm]

I think the easiest way to get it would be to try and find someone selling a neck with the inlay and binding you like from a broken guitar... Maybe on eBay or craigslist or the classifieds here? I know they don't come up all the time but it would be the easiest way to completely get what your looking for.

As for the decal route... I saw a video on YouTube the other day of a guy that used white auto pinstripe tape to put white "binding" around his GS mini and from what you could tell in the video it looked pretty good. Probably easy to spot up close but if you just want the effect you could probably achieve something that would look realistic from 2-3 feet away... If I still had my GS mini I might give it a try. And as you mentioned there are lots of decals available to replicate the inlay part...

[guitarguitar]

The satin finish does not require uv cured components, any catalyzed satin finish with 20-30 sheen will be fine. That torch inlay and a binding rout professionally done should be in the $600 range. Any faux techniques will not serve the instrument and shouldn't be considered.

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