Inlay work

[Zweite Version]

Ok, I'm gonna let this thread from a Guitar builder forum speak for itself. It is a very close up picture, but still shabby work IMO.

BTW, Before you flame me for ridiculing someone's hard handiwork, read the whole thread.

[Guitarzan]

yes for the going price it is too bad they didn't do a good enough job on that one.

it is a close shot and that may make it appear worse.

but alas, in my old age i want one anyway.

just not that one.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Funny, when I looked at it I thought, "... gee, it looks just like my Gibson. What is the problem?" When I see fancy inlay, like maybe some of the Taylor stuff on their presentation guitars or the PRS dragon, I appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into the work. But for a fretboard marker? How much does it matter to you? To me, it doesn't matter at all. Not since that day back in 1969 when I bought my 1957 Gibson Les Paul, looked at the markers and thought, "hmmm... I could probably do a better job than that..." shrugged my shoulders, and went back to playing that wonderful instrument.

 

So, I look around me at the three guitars that happen to be sitting in the same room with me, and every one of them has better inlay work. The custom made Pellow electric and the custom made Santa Cruz... well, you just can't see any discrepencies. But these are cut into ebony, not rosewood, and they are rather pricy axes.

 

My third choice isn't quite as good as the other two... it's an old Washburn Tanglewood Artist that cost me $1300 with case in about 1979 or 1980, which was also quite a bit of money back then. It's inlays are still neater than the production Gibsons, but I don't think that the Gibsons cost that much back then, I believe that a standard LP was around $800.

 

Yeah, other people are doing neater work. But the Gibson layout... two humbuckers or P-90s with a set-in neck... is still the most desirable and copied style in the upper priced guitars. Back when I was young and stupid I refinished an old Les Paul gold top, because the gold top was tuning green. Wanna guess at what that would be worth in original condition today? For all their flaws and features, the Strat and the Les Paul are still the most copied instruments out there in sound and configuration.

 

Bill

[Guitarzan]

now that i look at the pic again i see the actual routing is clean it is the inlay that has rough edges. and it is a very close shot. nothing looks good that close, even me

[weaseltrap]

Considering that this is a mass produced instrument, (not handmade) the inlay looks about as good as could be expected. If the guitar was custom built, I'd expect the luthier to take his time and do a better job. But in this case, I'm sure the inlays were precut in large quantities, so there was no opportunity to individually cut them for a closer fit.

 

Inlaying MOP (or plastic) is harder than inlaying wood. It's easier to cut a wooden inlay very slightly larger, with a beveled edge so it fits like a cork in a bottle. That makes for a razor thin joint. MOP or plastic inlays aren't flexible enough to do it that way, so they really have to be a perfect fit to avoid fillers.