Is this doable? Fingerboard dot replacement.

theoscarpaco · #1 07-26-2016, 12:08 AM

I was/am planning on having a custom guitar built in honour of my late grandfather. I was given one of his western shirts after he passed and I've all but wore it out. The buttons remain shiny and my idea was to have the luthier modify the shiny buttons on my grandpa's shirt and inlay them into the fingerboard as the dots seen on a traditional fretboard. Think D-28 style dots. Really, it wouldn't look to anyone else like anything was different about the guitar. But I'd know that the dots were my grandpa's shirt buttons.

But then, I got to thinking. If it's feasible to have a luthier or good tech simply drill out the dots on one of my existing guitars and replace them with my grandpa's buttons, that would likely save me thousands of dollars.

As builders, would you undertake this for a customer? Would you trust your favourite local setup/tech guy to do it?

Here's a couple shots of the buttons so you know what I'm talking about.

Thanks in advance for your input! I'm excited to get this done and to keep my grandfather part of the music for years to come!

John Arnold · #2 07-26-2016, 06:52 AM

I would certainly do it. Whether your local tech is able or willing is something you would have to determine.

fazool · #3 07-26-2016, 06:59 AM

I upgraded my plastic GS Mini markers to abalone so I know it can be done "easily".

The bigger challenge will be getting the buttons in the right form - they are domed on the edge where the metal wraps around the white part. You may have to have them sanded down flat which will make the shiny chrome look thinner.

theoscarpaco · #4 07-26-2016, 09:29 AM

Thanks! Actually, if the whole buttons were inlaid they would look too big, so I don't plan on having any of the chrome showing anyhow. I just hope that they don't lose their shine once sanded to size. There are about 15 buttons on the shirt so maybe I can experiment with one.

Frank Ford · #5 07-26-2016, 02:40 PM

Before you spend too much time on this project, you might want to verify the composition of the "pearl" part of those snaps - usually it's plastic. A simple test: straighten out a paper clip, heat the end of it on the stove - get it really hot - and touch it to the surface. Plastic will melt immediately, mother-of-pearl will show no effect.

mirwa · #6 07-26-2016, 05:32 PM

After you have identified if they are plastic or real pearl(they appear to be plastic to me), it may take some work to get them out of the holder,

From the picture the holder is rolled around the pearl, this is old school way of mounting, they do the same on saxophones, you will destroy the pearl if you try to lever it out in any way.

In this instance you need to lightly grind the circumference of the pearl housing to remove the rolled edge.

To then remove the pearl, (provided it doesnt just then fall out) heat the back of the button with a small butane torch, it will release it fine

Steve

LouieAtienza · #7 07-26-2016, 05:43 PM

They might work real well on a guitar strap, and maybe even the flannel material could be incorporated as well...

Earl49 · #8 07-26-2016, 06:36 PM

Neat idea overall, and a nice tribute to your grandfather. If they turn out to not be plastic, then maybe consider surface gluing or inlaying just one of the buttons as-is on the peg head - maybe even the back side - or put one on the truss rod cover (assuming you have one). That would be a lot less work than a bunch of finger board dots ground down from individual buttons.

I once inlaid small pearl dots into the plain finger board of an old Silvertone, my first guitar. I bought the right size dots from Stew-Mac and a brand new drill bit of the proper size and went SLOWLY with a hand drill to avoid chip-out. It worked out well. Using a Forstner bit would have been safer, but I did not have any at that time.

downtime · #9 07-29-2016, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

They might work real well on a guitar strap, and maybe even the flannel material could be incorporated as well...

This seems like a great idea to me and much more feasible.

Hot Vibrato · #10 07-30-2016, 09:17 AM

I think it's totally do-able. although it might be tricky to get them flush with the surface on a fingerboard that already has frets. I don't think they use real pearl for snaps, but plastic "pearloid" inlays are common, so I don't see why the buttons being plastic would be a deal breaker. They could be inlayed and sanded flush with the surface. Take it down to 400 grit sandpaper and then #0000 steel wool, and they'll look beautiful.

riverrummed · #11 07-30-2016, 02:09 PM

Be sure to tell the luthier doing the work (if it gets that far) to check that the dots that are already on the guitar aren't some kind of metal stud before he assumes otherwise. I just had MOP dots put on a Larrivee, which I thought would be a piece of cake, turn out to be a real bear because the existing micro dots were some kind of metal.

murrmac123 · #12 07-30-2016, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riverrummed

Be sure to tell the luthier doing the work (if it gets that far) to check that the dots that are already on the guitar aren't some kind of metal stud before he assumes otherwise. I just had MOP dots put on a Larrivee, which I thought would be a piece of cake, turn out to be a real bear because the existing micro dots were some kind of metal.

The OP is talking about inlaying on the face of the fretboard ... presumably your Larrivee dots were on the side of the board.

Standard size MOP- type inlays on the face of the fretboard are unlikely to be any kind of metal.