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You are here: Home / Pictorials / Pearl and Abalone Inlay

Pearl and Abalone Inlay

One of the most beautiful customizations to a musical instrument is the addition of shell inlay. Typically this might include peghead decorations, fretboard position markers or more elaborate motifs such as vines and flowers, and body purflings. Virtually any surface of the guitar can receive an inlay although for tonal reasons inlays to the Spruce top are usually limited to the sound hole rosette and body purfling.

Cutting and inlaying shell such as Mother of Pearl or Abalone requires great skill and is one of the most difficult techniques in guitar making to execute with precision. A handful of individuals make a full time living cutting pearl. Dogwood Guitars is proud to offer custom inlay as part of our spectrum of services. Inlay is not inexpensive but the results are always worth it!

inlay 4Please contact Greg to discuss your ideas for a custom inlay on your Dogwood guitar, or to have inlay work performed on your instrument. Any inquiries for inlaying your design must include an actual size image file which may need to be resized for correct placement and fret clearance. This is necessary to determine the time and pearl cost so that a quote can be given. PLEASE NOTE: Fretboards can not be inlaid with frets in place. If you require inlay work on a completed neck, a refret will be required as part of the quote. The cost of the refret is $350.

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Ordering your Dogwood Guitar

Please Note: Due to my heavy repair and restoration schedule, I am no longer building custom acoustic guitars. This is an archive page. Thank you for choosing to order one of my handmade acoustic guitars. From the day we begin to design your dream … [Read More...]

The Science and Theory of Tonewoods

Search out any discussion about tone and tonewoods on the internet and you will quickly find a wide variation of opinions among players and builders alike. However, the majority will almost always list "tonewoods" and/or specific species of Spruce … [Read More...]

The Importance of a Good Setup, Part Two

In the first part of this article, I discussed the elements of a basic setup. These include checking the neck relief and the action at the first and twelfth frets, as well as installing new strings and performing a few other basic adjustments. In … [Read More...]

1968 Fender Jazz Bass Neck Work

A customer brought me a very cool 1968 Fender Jazz Bass neck. The neck is fretless and- as the Beatles would say, "very strange"- it had no nut slot. There was also a piece of binding missing at the heel. The customer was interested in having the … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: European Maple Eminence

"Several years ago when I found out that Greg was starting to make hand made guitars, I knew that I wanted one. Did I need one? No, but that didn't mean I wanted it any less! This past January my wife out of the blue said I should contact Greg and … [Read More...]

Building a Monarch: Top and Back

The building of any guitar begins with selecting the woods to be used. A bookmatched set of Spruce or Cedar is selected for the top, and a back and side set is chosen for the body. Standard woods for the latter are Rosewood, Mahogany, or Maple. Many … [Read More...]

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Technical Articles

Bolt-On Necks: High Tongue Frets

I am including this article as a special page in the Services Menu because of the frequency with which the issue of high tongue frets arises. The tongue is the part of the fretboard that extends into the body of the guitar. On acoustic guitars, the … [Read More...]

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Viewpoint Articles

The Three Elements of a Great Guitar

Guitar players and collectors have so many choices available to them. New, used, factory brands, custom hand built...how do you narrow down the choices to the best option for you? In my opinion, any guitar should be measured by three … [Read More...]

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