ajay Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Once a DeadHead, always a DeadHead. I had this inlayed by Bill Nichols at Nichols Inlay. Definitely only for the true DeadHead. He inlayed my "Steal Your Face" into Ebony with Gold Mother Of Pearl, Blue Paua Shell, and I don't know what the Red is. You can't see it in the picture, but this AJ has nicely matched really golden Mother of Pearl on the headstock, and the Pearl that bill inlayed nearly matches the Golden MOP perfectly. It even has a blue hue like the Gibson MOP. Bill does everything exactly as You request. There was a simple black plastic Truss Rod Cover about a tenth of a MM thick from the factory. It's probably similar to what came installed on AJ's in the 30's. They were probably celluloid though.. Being a DeadHead and a big Bob Weir fan, I decided to put a little Jerry and Bob tribute in place of the black plastic. The nice thing is, it's like a Henna tattoo. You can return it to stock any time that You want. Bill Nichols does perfect precision work at Nichols Inlay. He can be reached at bill@nicholsguitars.com if there is something that You'd like to replace Your black plastic with, Bill is a real artist. As I said, my "Steal Your Face" is not for everyone, but as for me, I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Bill did inlay work for me as well. He put my wife and kids' names on my fretboard: And he did this surfer inlay on a guitar I gave my son back in 2010 as well: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 I really like the work that he did on Your guitars. I have a '68 Kalamazoo B-15 in all solid Mahogany. It's the guitar with Jerry's guitar pick. I'm seriously considering having Bill do a complete Top Purfling done in Gold Mother of Pearl, and also a thin perimeter binding on the headstock. I think that it would make my little Kalamazoo a really special guitar. I bought it from Gruhn's in Nashville, and the tone on it just floors me. The pick on the pickguard I picked up at Rich Stadium when Jerry tossed it right at me on July 4th 1989 in Buffalo. he tosed it and it hit me right in the chest and it landed on my shoe. Besides the perimeter binding, I think that I'm going to have the bridge modified to a solid bone saddle instead of the current ADJ bridge. As good as it sounds with the ADJ bridge, I have to think that it will be a killer sounding all Hog little guitar. I'll have quite bit invested, but I really like this old Hog, an I have decided to make it my own and keep it until I croak. Bill does AWESOME work. I think that the top binding would be money well spent. It would definitely make it an heirloom Kalamazoo. It was built by Gibson in Kalamazoo just before Norlin moved in and showed the world how not to build a guitar. I think Bill needs some more work from me to make this little guitar really special. By the way Themis, are those guitars both B-15's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Custom truss rod cover is a nice way to go - completely reversible . I toyed with the idea of a custom MOP inlay directly onto the headstock, but I feinted and ran when the estimate came in at $900. Sal - love the surfer, very cool. Where did you find that design? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Dan-How ornate was that inlay going to be? It might have been worth it if it was by Greven or someone like that that is going to find a place in guitar history. You may not ever be able to sell it here, but there are places where guitar art is easily sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nid2007 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 These are great, thanks for the posts. I once explored something like this after seeing Farmworkers logo worked into the neck of the Kris Kristoferson SJ. I will definitely give them a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 These are great, thanks for the posts. I once explored something like this after seeing Farmworkers logo worked into the neck of the Kris Kristoferson SJ. I will definitely give them a call. Do get ahold of Nichols Inlay. Send him a photo and he can do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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