Easy side dot ideas?

[smperry]

Hi everyone,

I have a Rick Turner Electroline fretless that I love, but have one problem with it. It has dots on the side at every note, instead of the usual spots. So I'm intune but (occasionally) off a half step! I'd like to mark the 4th, 5th, octave, etc. locations with something to help keep me oriented...otherwise I'll just take a pencil to it. Current dots are a material I'm forgetting the name of, but is like abalone...so I'd want something that looked different (color and/or size). Nothing to obtrusive, but enough that I can glance down and notice.

Any suggestions at all? Some kind of sticker over the current ones?

Thanks,
Marshall

 

[Bryan316]

Cut a triangle at the usual 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th... Triangles are easy to make and definitely stand out against the other dots. You can shop online for the inlay material here:

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/Secondproducthead.asp?CategoryName=Shell/Inlay

 

[PaleMelanesian]

You can use really white-out for a really temporary option.

 

[Bryan316]

I've used that White Out typewriter film on my basses, to make big thick white bars on the side of my necks, cuz when I play on stage, I ain't wearing my glasses and can't see the tiny dots. So I just fingernail rubbed the white film onto the side of the fretboard, and voila!

 

[smperry]

Cut a triangle at the usual 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th... Triangles are easy to make and definitely stand out against the other dots. You can shop online for the inlay material here:

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/Secondproducthead.asp?CategoryName=Shell/Inlay

Thanks. Paua is what's there now. I'd have to inlay the stuff on that site right? Or is it thin enough that I could just glue it on top of the current markers?

I've used that White Out typewriter film on my basses, to make big thick white bars on the side of my necks, cuz when I play on stage, I ain't wearing my glasses and can't see the tiny dots. So I just fingernail rubbed the white film onto the side of the fretboard, and voila!

That could be the ticket for an easy fix!

Marshall

 

[funkalicious101]

tape?

 

[Bryan316]

Tape is too thick and if you ever play with your thumb riding on the very edge of the fretboard on top, you'll rub it and it'll bug you. Tape also collects dirt and dust on the edges.

The White Out film is far thinner. It might darken from dirt, but it won't collect. And it's easy to rub/scratch it off and reapply it.

As for triangle dots over the previous dots, yeah, you can just carve away at the dots like you're carving away at the wood.

Although, I'd recommend you get your inlay material, and maybe get a small practice piece of ebony/rosewood and try a couple inlays on that first. If you can get a good job outta it, then you're ready! Also, remember that when you're gluing the inlays in, you can mix the sawdust from the wood you removed, into the glue. So when you glue them in, the outside edges are masked by the sawdust mixed in with the glue. There's threads about that around here, so do a search for that.

 

[SuperDuck]

Get some glow in the dark stickers and attack them with a hole punch. Then take the little circles that the punch created, peel of the backs, and stick them where you want them. If you don't want to glow, you can use any color sticker. The hole punch works well for that, though.

 

[pilotjones]

If you're going to do any inlaying you might consider adding two smaller dots, one on each side of the existing dots, in the "highlighted" positions.

 

[Rodent]

triangle side-dots are easy to install

all the best,

R

 

[smperry]

triangle side-dots are easy to install

all the best,

R

Are you saying they are easy to install or not in your experience?

I'm not going to inlay anything...don't want to mess up my favorite bass!

BTW, the dot inlays are on the neck, not the board. Pictures would've helped, I know.

Just talked to the folks at Turner and I'm going there Monday to have some work done on my fretted. I'll bring the fretless along and see what Rick thinks.

Glow in the dark stickers with a hole punch sounds good though.

Thanks guys.
Marshall

 

[Rodent]

Are you saying they are easy to install or not in your experience?

I'm referring to post #2 in this thread which recommends inlaying triangle side markers as an easy solution to your plethora of dot markers. While triangle inplay pieces may be easy to cut from the bulk material sheet, accutately routing the socket they will mount into as a retro-fit job is a completely different story. Ugh - what a total pain it would be to retro-fit 10 mini triangle inlays on the side of a fretboard

easy solution - NOT!

all the best,

R

 

[smperry]

Gotcha! That's of course what I thought too.

M

 

[steve66]

Get some glow in the dark stickers and attack them with a hole punch. Then take the little circles that the punch created, peel of the backs, and stick them where you want them. If you don't want to glow, you can use any color sticker. The hole punch works well for that, though.

Great idea !