Question about custom inlay material

[Miffy rules]

The generator thing got me wondering. I know for normal inlays there're mop, abalone, and ebony. Now if I want a red or green inlay, what will the material of the inlay be? Plastic? Will it look cheap? Is there any close up pic of such a material?
[img]graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]
Thanks.

[Iced In Flames]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

Well if you are going custom shop then you can specify what you want. But you are at their mercy for the pricing.

[Miffy rules]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

The problem is I know no shit about plastic. I mean, there're all kinds of plastic, and there must be all kinds of looks then, so which am I going to choose for a classy look? And how expensive will that be?

[CoryKer]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

Unfortunately, IMO, if you're going for a classy look, coloured inlay isn't gonna fit that bill no matter what it's made of.

Abalone (or sheets of abalam) can have different colours, such as a green, ripply tint. Maybe that helps a little?

[Miffy rules]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

Imo abalone is more like mop with more color variation. I mean the textures of the two look alike. I think the best option is still mop and abalone though. [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Inazone]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

If you are specifically interested in red or green inlay material, abalone is available with natural red or green tint to it, but it's NOT going to be solid color throughout. It will still be a silvery white color with red or green highlights. Very nice looking stuff though. I had green abalone inlays put on a Jackson AT2T a few years back (later sold it like a dumbass) and it looked fantastic. The abalone coloration was very subtle, but when the light hit it directly, was really nice.

[Miffy rules]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

Dude, you've got a pic don't you? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[Outlander]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

How about Jade for green.A nicely polished stone would look cool IMHO,and jade is not as expensive as some other semi-precious stone that is out there.There are quite a few red stones that would work I believe bloodstone has a nice hue to it.
The trick would be to aquire the material first and have it cut and polished and supplied with your order unless you have very good luthiary skills

[ April 26, 2004, 11:27 AM: Message edited by: OUTLANDER ]

[Venomboy]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

You can use pretty much anything for inlays if you can get someone to cut it.

[Iced In Flames]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

I know he is a dickhead but Ed Roman has a nice gallery of inlay materials.


http://www.edromanguitars.com/tech/inlaymaterials.htm

[guitar geek]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

problem with stone is not that they have to be cut, but have to be grinded, sanded and then polished. that is a hell of lot of work, way more than just sew it like you can do with MOP. I used to do that for fun, but it will be a hell of a lot of work. the price of the inlay will be marginal, but the costs of shaping it will be horrendous.

harrald

[TDurden]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

There you have quite good pictures:

http://www.luthiersupply.com/shellblankpage.html

[TommyD]

Re: Question about custom inlay material

> There are all kinds of inlay materials,some rather expensive,some not. Natural ivory can by dyed to whatever color you want,but an slab of ivory large enough to cut a Jackson logo out of will cost about 8 bucks per square inch x 10 or so for the raw material alone,then whatever the CS charges for labor,which might be double that. If you wanted a blue logo for example,turquoise is a nice option. Companies are producing exotic stones such as turquoise,malachite (green),and lapis lazuli (bluish-purple),in a reconstituted form,ground up and layered,which results in a more consistent color,and none of the eccentric machining properties usually associated with these materials. There is also a couple different synthetic ivory materials available,and since this is truly an aesthetic application,would suit nicely,but not sure if these can be colored reliably. Look at several gun/knife handle suppliers such as www.constantines.com and www.knifeandgun.com and see if you can find something you like. Tommy D.