Fretboard Marker Dots
 

Do you use them and what do you use them for ?

daniel

Fret board marker dots can be used for visual orientation if the player requires a little help in that area from time to time while learning a piece. They are also a traditional way of adorning the fret board with decorations and sometimes they follow a theme that is represented on other areas of the guitar.

I play many tunes that require a capo on different locations so I sort of turn them off in my mind most of the time.

I don't know what other use they would have other than decoration and orientation.

It depends on how much of the fretboard you use. If you stay within five frets of the nut or capo you won't need dots. When I played lead electric guitar dots helped me find positions all over the neck. When playing acoustic in a standing position it's the edge markers that are most useful. I can't see the actual fretboard unless I lean forward.

If your talking about dots on the face of the fretboard, I don’t use them as I can’t see them when I play.
The dots on the edge however I still need. Not for simple first position stuff, that’s pretty easy to get used to. But pieces where I go up the neck, and especially making jumps from say 1st position up to the 8th fret where the visual aid helps.

JeffD

I have a hard time seeing the side fret markers on my guitars, and have grown quite dependent on the fretboard markers. On the few guitars I have that don't have them, I've stuck stickers on the fretboard (my favorite are the small numbers and letters that used to come with blank videocassettes)

Side dots help locate where your fingers need to land when your are moving your fretting hand around from place to place in multiple fret spaced jumps.
On the other hand they can throw you off if you occasionally use a capo on certain frets (most commonly perhaps on frets one or three).

It's considered blasphemy in the classical world, but I add side markers to all my nylon string guitars at 5, 7, 9, 12 & 15

You can get rub on marker at String by Mail. They're great for trying out where you want to add them before making a permanent decision

They sell them in several different styles.

https://www.stringsbymail.com/rosett...dots-7878.html

This.
I don't see the markers on the fretboard face. The side dots give me visual confirmation of where I am, when moving up and down the neck.

Like the look of fretboard markers

mine were too small so dabbed some write-out over them, of course i could care less what i do to my guitar or what it looks like- i just want it to benefit me, so the larger marker dots are a great tool for me