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Further to the thread in the quot;Off Topicquot; room, I thought we'd see exacly what everyone thinks about this. The question is - what do you prefer, inlay-wise, on your electric guitar? And why? If you had a dream axe, what would it have?

Discuss!

Vines

I prefer the simple look of dots.

I really don't like fancy-pants inlay work.

I'm primarily a Fender guy, so I went with dots. On Gibsons, I prefer trapeziods; dots on a Gibby says quot;cheapquot; to me.

Overall, I think dots are more practical. They can be installed with a drill, making manufacturing easier amp; less expensive.

I remember a buddy of mine back in the late 70's bought a Hamer Standard (maple-topped sunbusrt Explorer). He had to send it back because the neck warped sideways. Hamer attributed the problem to the large trapeziod inlays -they were apparently having trouble getting the wood dry, and the large plastic inlays caused the neck to warp as it dried. They replaced the neck with a dot-inlay. I assume they've since learned to dry wood properly. (And I'm not dissin' Hamer, they rock. I'd love to have a natural Standard, just like Rick Neilsen's.)

Dots are boring, and the only dots I like are on a Fender or Music Man. Fender because it's a tradition, and Music Man because they're small and look less crappy. Dots on anything else make me think quot;cheap.quot;

I've always been a sucker for the Birds in a PRS guitar. I will have a Mccarty with the bird inlays some day!!!!

personally i like dots on a fender, and on other guitars, trapezoids and shark fin inlays. i dont know why but dots look great on a strat neck, they just look right, but on other guitars they don't, they seem a bit cheap like ankalar said. if you took the same inlays and put them on different guitars, they would vary in how good they look from guitar to guitar. i think its to do with how well they fit with the neck design, and any other adornments on the guitar (if any).

on my custom though it's gotta be a jackson headstock complete with shark fin inlays, it just looks so cool.

other =gt; nada.

The tree of life and shark fins

I should be getting my dream guitar from the UPS Friday, and it has Dot inlays.

Rock On

pentagramms,a 666 and quot;Praise hail satanquot; on the 12th fret(everything chrome on ebony) are my inlays of choice. All three together on my Custom B.C Rich(maybe a bit overkill but hey,why not?)

Same as many others - Dots on Fenders, Block on Gibsons... I don't give a f*** about other guitars anyway...


Originally Posted by Loserchiefpentagramms,a 666 and quot;Praise hail satanquot; on the 12th fret(everything chrome on ebony) are my inlays of choice. All three together on my Custom B.C Rich(maybe a bit overkill but hey,why not?)

That is classic, if you get a guitar like that, i have GOT to see it.

Rock On

I prefer to have no markings, except for an inlay on the 12th fret.

I do agree with the others though....Strat's just look right with dots.

as long as there is something there i dont care what it is.

i kinda like the girls on the schecter xxx


Originally Posted by KacThat is classic, if you get a guitar like that, i have GOT to see it.

Rock On

well,i already have it for some time now. It cost me lots of money and a year and 3 months of waiting time(mainly due to the exotic wood combination). The 666 is on the first fret,the text on 12th(like the model on ESPs) and the pentagrams are in the places regular dots would be.I had it made with a stage-show-off guitar in mind and i completely succeded in it.

doesn't much matter to me...whatever looks cool...

I do like the inlays on my Haji though...crossed swords are cool!

I find most fancy inlays distracting. I get lost on the board when playing a heavily inlayed guitar. For me I would stay with simple dots. They are functional and they stay out of my way.

I'm pretty inconsistent when it comes to inlay preferences. It really depends on the guitar. Fenders look best with dots and Gibsons look best with blocks (I mean rectangles like the LP Custom ... I don't like the trapezoids). For uniqueness and tastefulness, I really dig the PRS moon inlays and the Gretsch sideways D-shape inlays you see on their hollowbodies.

Generally I like inlays to be small and modest, and I'm not a fan of elaborate designs (although I can appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into them). On some guitars, I think no inlays is the way to go. All you need are the positioning dots on the side of the neck. I designed a Tele project for my friend, and it has an ebony board with no inlays. He hasn't built it yet, but I bet it will look amazing.

I can go anywhere with them, but I prefer the fancier inlays. However with inlays on every fret I could see how that could get confusing. I've never played a guitar like that.

I like my Crowns, Blocks, and Birds. Eventually I want a guitar with the Masonic emblem on the twelfth fret, and the working tools, sun, and moon on the odd numbered frets.

Luke