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Inlay question


irishdazzler

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Hi guys,

 

I know this may be a bit fussy, but I have a small chip on one of my inlays on my Les Paul.

 

It irritates me and I know that its probably best to smooth it with a repair but I was wondering if any of you have ever replaced an inlay?

 

I don't want to change shape or position - just a straight replacement

 

How hard would it be? and any idea of aprox cost?

 

thanks!

 

D

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I know that Duane had a small corner of a fret inlay damaged while he was having the frets on his LP scalloped. I'm not sure if he had it repaired, but I think he did.

 

Hopefully he'll read this and give you some insight as well.

 

Jim

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They're not hard to replace. My Dad and I redid the dots of a P-Bass necklike this: Take a small drill bit and make a small hole in the center of the inlay. Get a soldering iron nice and hot and put the tip in said small, hand-drilled hole. (don't go all the way through the inlay when drilling the hole BTW.) The heat will cause the plastic to shrink and it will pop right out of the hole. Just glue in a new one and you're ready to go. You can source inlay material from various sources, but Stew-Mac sells pre-cut mother-of-toilet-seat inlays for not a lot of money.

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They're not hard to replace. My Dad and I redid the dots of a P-Bass necklike this: Take a small drill bit and make a small hole in the center of the inlay. Get a soldering iron nice and hot and put the tip in said small' date=' hand-drilled hole. (don't go all the way through the inlay when drilling the hole BTW.) The heat will cause the plastic to shrink and it will pop right out of the hole. Just glue in a new one and you're ready to go. You can source inlay material from various sources, but [b']Stew-Mac sells pre-cut mother-of-toilet-seat inlays [/b]for not a lot of money.

 

Yes, that method will work on MOT..but Stew-Mac (AFAIK) from their catalog sell only

real MOP and Abalone, even in their pre-cut LP sets.

 

I've used their pre-cut sets and bulk MOP packets to do my custom fretwork inlays

and these are fairly expensive..especially if you don't need a whole set.

 

However, you can get an individual 1" x 2" MOP blank from them for around $8,

cut it or file it to size, sand it on the edges to get it to fit into the space,

and use 5 min epoxy to glue it in.

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I just received my 2010 Grizzly Tools catalog, the Prez of

the company builds his own guitars, so they carry industrial tools

AND guitar-related goodies. Page 384 of catalog has inlay materials,

pre-cut, various shapes. May or may not help... Here's the link:

 

 

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2010/Main/384

 

384.jpg

 

 

OR, go to GrizzlyTools.com, scroll down to small box that says

"see 2010 catalog", click index, go forward one page to listing

that has "guitar parts", click on that...

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I just received my 2010 Grizzly Tools catalog' date=' the Prez of

the company builds his own guitars, so they carry industrial tools

AND guitar-related goodies. Page 384 of catalog has inlay materials,

pre-cut, various shapes. May or may not help... Here's the link:

 

 

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2010/Main/384

 

 

 

OR, go to GrizzlyTools.com, scroll down to small box that says

"see 2010 catalog", click index, go forward one page to listing

that has "guitar parts", click on that...[/quote']

 

 

This is perfect thank you! hopefully they ship to the UK, but if not at least I know that people out there are selling what I want!

 

cheers lads

 

D

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You have to stop posting catalog!!! I just spent the past 2 hours going through the entire thing!! It's a woodworkers porn mag!!!

Sheila

 

Yeah' date=' I KNOW!!!!! I was slobbering over the various woods/veneers thinking

about Maybe another guitar project? I would REALLY LOVE to have an LP

made out of PAUDUK...Reddish/Orange wood, super grain, BEAUTIFUL,

and EXPENSIVE.... I made some stuff out of it in high school wood shop,

NEVER forgot how gorgeous it was.

 

[img']http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/Animalfarm1984/pauduk200002209-25-05.jpg[/img]

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Yes' date=' that method will work on MOT..but Stew-Mac (AFAIK) from their catalog sell only

real MOP and Abalone, even in their pre-cut LP sets.

 

I've used their pre-cut sets and bulk MOP packets to do my custom fretwork inlays

and these are fairly expensive..especially if you don't need a whole set.

 

However, you can get an individual 1" x 2" MOP blank from them for around $8,

cut it or file it to size, sand it on the edges to get it to fit into the space,

and use 5 min epoxy to glue it in. [/quote']

 

They DID have MOT... It may be unlisted now. You might have to call them up and ask for MOT.

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You have to stop posting catalog!!! I just spent the past 2 hours going through the entire thing!! It's a woodworkers porn mag!!!

Sheila

 

Now! Now! Sheila....calm down. They are purveyors of fine machinery..not porn.

Actually..I'm lusting over .....and I never knew there was a tool specifically made

as a "cotter pin puller"...learn something new everyday as they say.

 

I've got this site bookmarked now.

 

Very nice "King Tut" inlay on the back of that guitar in the front pages of their

catalog..a bit much I suppose.but still very nice work!

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Yeah' date=' I KNOW!!!!! I was slobbering over the various woods/veneers thinking

about Maybe another guitar project? I would REALLY LOVE to have an LP

made out of PAUDUK...Reddish/Orange wood, super grain, BEAUTIFUL,

and EXPENSIVE.... I made some stuff out of it in high school wood shop,

NEVER forgot how gorgeous it was.

 

[img']http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/Animalfarm1984/pauduk200002209-25-05.jpg[/img]

 

Well, I made my own custom LP type , semi hollow 2.5 inches thick, with f holes,

neck through design, laminated spanish /maple/spanish cedar neck/tone block,

carved quilted maple top, spanish cedar sides, and a padauk back.

 

This is a DC 25.5 scale that uses the GFS mean-90s and has a Neodymium "fender style"

stacked hbucker as the middle p_up.

I set it up with a 5 way switch, fender style master vol/two tones and a GFS

Clapton style midrange boost preamp.

 

I found machining the paduak a bit challenging, as it raises a lot of toxic orange-red

dust and you really need to wear a mask and use an indoor woodworking air filter

to work with it..but it has a beautiful grain, I must admit.

 

01_29_2.jpg

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Now! Now! Sheila....calm down. They are purveyors of fine machinery..not porn.

Actually..I'm lusting over .....and I never knew there was a tool specifically made

as a "cotter pin puller"...learn something new everyday as they say.

 

I've got this site bookmarked now.

 

Very nice "King Tut" inlay on the back of that guitar in the front pages of their

catalog..a bit much I suppose.but still very nice work!

Routers and band saws and table saws and jointers and moulders and DOVETAILS. . . (breathe)

 

Cotter pin puller, eh?

 

Bookmarked myself.

 

What part of the King Tut do you find "a bit much"? The use of 18K gold or the 1 carat diamond!!!!

Sheila

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Yes' date=' that method will work on MOT..but Stew-Mac (AFAIK) from their catalog sell only

real MOP and Abalone, even in their pre-cut LP sets.

[/quote']

 

I think in this case the heat from the soldering gun softening the glue enabled HC to pop the inlay, so either MOT or MOP would have worked.

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What part of the King Tut do you find "a bit much"? The use of 18K gold or the 1 carat diamond!!!!

Sheila

 

Well..all of it. I know, there is a fine line between a work of art and a finely crafted

musical instrument..but somewhere in between there must exist a realm of

pratical-lity...given a choice, I much prefer fine woods, bookmatching and maybe

some nice marquetry..and of course a beautiful sound too.

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Well' date=' I made my own custom LP type , semi hollow 2.5 inches thick, with f holes,

neck through design, laminated spanish /maple/spanish cedar neck/tone block,

carved quilted maple top, spanish cedar sides, and a padauk back.

 

This is a DC 25.5 scale that uses the GFS mean-90s and has a Neodymium "fender style"

stacked hbucker as the middle p_up.

I set it up with a 5 way switch, fender style master vol/two tones and a GFS

Clapton style midrange boost preamp.

 

I found machining the paduak a bit challenging, as it raises a lot of toxic orange-red

dust and you really need to wear a mask and use an indoor woodworking air filter

to work with it..but it has a beautiful grain, I must admit.

 

[img']http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb302/carverDan1/01_29_2.jpg[/img]

 

Gorgeous, Gorgeous!!! The Pauduk control cover is a great idea, good choice!

I wasn't aware of the dust issue... I just want a solid body LP style body and neck,

a STUDIO style without binding would most acceptable as I don't have the garage full

of the routers, planers, etc. to pull that off (my next-door neighbor does, though - AND

he's a git player himself... Hmmmm.). I am willing to hand-carve the top even if it takes

months. The neck... there's another can of worms. I DO have the full-scale plan/drawing

from StewMac of a 1959 Gibson LP with all measurements, curves, etc. as a reference.

Ahhhhh, just a pipe dream, perhaps.

 

Stewmac link:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plans/Plans/Les_Paul_Plan.html?tab=Pictures#details

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