sheraton or bigsby installers

[TWANG]

I just got a little flash..

sheris have the triangle in block inlays..

abalone tirangles in pearl blocks..

 

So took a washer and a piece of abalone inlay.. rounded the thing out..

buffed it up a bit..

 

and if you ever have to cover a bushing or bushing hole.. I'm telling ya this thing looks fantastic.

If I can get hold of some pearl on ebay I think I'll take a crack at abalone triangle in

pearl circle...

how classy would that be?

 

the stuff's hard to work.. chips easy.. scratches easy..but I got this really thin.. less than half the thickness of a

dime.

and you can round the edges down.. so that if you run your finger over it on a flat surface it just glides.. no edge at all.

takes a while.. aint easy just using abalone.. gonna be harder using pearl and matching it up like they do

on the inlays. But I'm going to get a set done.

 

pink blue green black gray lots of colors and it just shimmers.

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow and post it in this thread.

this beats the pants off aluminum or plastic for sure.

 

I've got a ton of this stuff for the other inlay projects I've been half heartedly messing with.

 

this one's not quite perfect yet, but will be by the time I get a pic up.

 

I might even go ahead and pull the dots out of my lp studio and replace them all with this stuff.

Nobodys seen that before.. lp studio with abalone dot inlays. :D/

 

I was working so hard carving out a flower I got stupid and didn't realize I could have been doing simpler things, too.

 

Maybe I can carve me an epi E for an inlay on the truss rod cover.

Or a big circle for the switch...

with matching inserts on the knobs..

:-

 

man.. there I go again, huh?

 

TWANG

[dbirchett]

Twang, be very, very careful. Pearl dust is toxic. Use it in a well ventilated area and use a mask when you are cutting filing.

[Thermionik]

TWANG - you confuse me with your rambling..... but inspire me too.

 

Are you saying you might be making covers for the bushing holes from the tailpiece when a Bigsby is fitted to a Sheraton, and that they would reflect the fret-marker inlays? Because if you are, and if you were prepared to mail to the UK, and if the price was right.....

 

I would be interested, for sure. GASsing for a Bigsby right now, but don't want the plastic strip across that most have.

[stan 58]

I've used MOP to cover holes in my guitar and it works great, and looks great. Stan.

[TWANG]

yeah.. I use my paint mask with plastic aluminum abalone pearl and wood.

wood is toxic, too.

and of course paint.

 

what am I stoopud? *S*

 

and yes, right now I've got one made.. abalone dot large enough to cover the bushing hole.. looks fantastic.. nice and thing smooth rounded top.

I'm going to give a shot to 'triangle in dot', but I've got to get some MOP first.

 

And yes I'll ship anywhere. I don't know how much I'll charge. Not much really, maybe ten bucks for a pair of dots in abalone.

It does take some time and skill.. though the abalone pieces aren't all that expensive.

and as dbirchet reminds, it's toxic stuff.

 

After having built the first one, I've got a good idea of what the best process is.. so I could do several at a time, step by step,

and wind up with a very thin rounded top piece that would fit the bushing hole perfectly. just glue that sucker on.

 

Triangle in dot will be harder.. so I don't know yet what I'd charge for that.. after all you have to get the seams smooth and even..

so you're talking about a longer period of time, and wearing that mask isn't all that much fun. (not a paper mask, either, two big

cylinders sticking out your face)

 

What's the general opinion.. ten bucks too much? shipped, I'd say. Even england would only cost the price of a letter to mail, they weigh nothing.

You almost can't tell it's in the palm of your hand, in fact.

 

MOP would be nice, alone, too.. esp. if you already have MOP inlays elsewhere.. instead of abalone.

But for sheris.. no doubt about it.. abalone is the way to go.

 

I've got a bigsby coming for a guy, so I'll probably change strings, take off my tailpiece and set the bigsby on.. with at least one dot on the top

and show you a pic.

it's a black bigsby, so it wont match, but will just give the idea of it.

 

TWANG

 

 

Even an abalone dot would look good and in fact, I think, better than most of the things I've seen or have tried.

[Thermionik]

TWANG - you rambling rascally rapscallion you.....

 

ten bucks a piece plus shipping - put me down for the triangle in dot.

So for a matching pair of triangle-in-dot, $20 plus P&P. You show me a picture, I'll PayPal the money, or mail dollar bills registered, whatever suits you.

 

And I can wait for quality, man - never spoil the ship for a hap'rth of tar.

What are the chances of firmly glueing the thing to a screw-top, so they can be finger-tightened into the holes rather than stuck on? Little blob of nailvarnish on the thread would allow them to be set at the right orientation to match the triangle direction to the neck markers.....

 

You want to PM me - I'll give you details and stuff if you are serious.

[TWANG]

I think airplane glue would do it.. duco cement. it's good for wood metal and plastic..

I'm using that to hold the aluminum bushing cover on my lp.

 

ten bucks a pair for the plain abalone is ok..

ten bucks each on a pair or triangle in dot.. I guess so.

Gotta see if I even can though.. getting that tight might be something else.

 

Do you mean use a bolt and glue them to the top.. you lost me there a bit...

then use nail polish to firm the thing up a bit at the threads?

seems ok.. should work. better than locktite or something radical.. I use plumbers tape sometimes on problem nut/bolt connections..

that stretchy tape for leaky pipes.. works ok.. tight but not stuck tight.

 

Gotta get me some pearl.

I think I've got a couple of old piano keys in my junk box, maybe I'll start with one of those first, see how it goes.

 

The whole thing, not having tried it, seems to be the seams between the abalone and MOP.. but I know the exacto saws I have are accurate..

and with a little filing.. should be ok.

Next thing would be thickness matching.

But, I know I've gotten this one test abalone dot so thin I could easily snap it.. or crack the edges with hard fingernail.. so thickness is certainly variable enough.

 

I'll try to get on it.

TWANG