Abalone and Pearl abalone Difference?

[wezzywest]

Could anybody tell me what the visual difference is between abalone and pearl abalone? also which type would have been used on the vintage Martin 00-42 and 45`s.
Cheers.

[fazool]

I think the nomenclature might be leading to some confusion. I've never heard the term "pearl abalone"


Abalone is a type of shellfish and the shell material is used as an inlay called abalone.

Pearls are found in oysters. Mother of pearl is a name to the decorative shell material that is the same as a pearl and, originally, came from oysters. But, name-usage expanded and that term "mother of pearl" is accepted to mean most any shell material that looks pearl-like.


I cant find it now but there is an abalone inlay artist who has a really informative website about this stuff. I'll keep looking.

[fazool]

found it.


dukeofpearl.com


lots of info there on the different types of abalone etc

[dneal]

To oversimplify: Abalone and mother of pearl are basically the same thing differing in color (because of the species of the mollusk). Usually abalone is the name for the multi-colored nacre and mother of pearl is the white to pink colored nacre.

You probably need to narrow down the date range of "vintage" if you want to know which was used.

[wezzywest]

Thanks for the info and link Fazool. much appreciated. I`m off there now.
Cheers.

[wezzywest]

Originally Posted by dneal

To oversimplify: Abalone and mother of pearl are basically the same thing differing in color (because of the species of the mollusk). Usually abalone is the name for the multi-colored nacre and mother of pearl is the white to pink colored nacre.

You probably need to narrow down the date range of "vintage" if you want to know which was used.

Thanks for that, I will be looking at plenty of headstocks today!!
Cheers.

[psychojohn]

Visually you'll see the difference in my pic of my EJ Henderson Hand Carved fret board markers of a stylized southwestern sun. The white rays and white circle around the brass bezel are pearl and the central sun inside the brass bezel is abalone. Of course, abalone on the edge of the guitar top too.



John

[wezzywest]

Originally Posted by psychojohn

Visually you'll see the difference in my pic of my EJ Henderson Hand Carved fret board markers of a stylized southwestern sun. The white rays and white circle around the brass bezel are pearl and the central sun inside the brass bezel is abalone. Of course, abalone on the edge of the guitar top too.



John

Great comparison, thank for that,
Cheers.

[Stomp]

On 42/45 style Martins, abalone is inlaid around the edge of the body, fretboard and headstock, sometimes pearl is used for the fretboard marker inlays on older guitars:



On "G Shield" Guild guitars, you'll see pearl and abalone inlaid together on the fretboard :

[wezzywest]

Thanks for the photos Stomp, much appreciated.
Cheers.