Inlay replacement

[Sharkfin]

I am looking at having the inlays pulled and replaced on my RR Import. They would need to pull the dots, route for sharkfins and glue them in, and whatever else I don't know about.

I asked a local shop about it and they basically said "The problem is that in order to install new inlays, the frets have to be pulled to do it properly. So you'd be looking at not only the inlay work, but a full refret job as well. Pricing to have everything done is expensive...between $250 and $300 depending on if the fretboard is rosewood or ebony."

Would you agree to this statement? You can assume I don't but maybe I'm just ignant

[DalyTek]

Logic tells me yes, you would need to pull the frets to properly route the inlays on the board, but I have no experience personally.
If I were you, I'd PM Sully and ask him directly.

Hell, take a road trip out to his garage with some beer and maybe you two can make a day out of it!

[DonP]

Stickers?

[warlok]

You can't be accurate usiong a router on top of the frets so yeah, you'd have to pull them. Also, if it's normal dots in the middle, the sharkies (factory Jackson looking ones) won't cover the whole area where the dots were. And last, $250-300 for inlays and a full refret seems pretty cheap to me. But it really depends on what you're doing it to. Is it a real screamer that you got super cheap?? You could buy a Rhoads Pro for a decent price and have what you are looking for..

[DonP]

I guess what we are trying to tell you is to get a new neck or a new guitar if you want sharkies instead of dots. You'll be better off in the long run.

[ulijdavid]

You can route the sharkfins without pulling the frets if you have a CNC do it. The problem would be leveling the sharkfins to the fretboard. In order to do it properly, you would have to remove the frets. If you found someone COMPETENT to do the new inlay routes, cut the mother of pearl sharkfins, glue in the sharkfins, level the fretboard, and complete a fret job for around $300, you are getting one hell of a deal.

To echo the other suggestions, find a neck with sharkfins (if your RR is a bolt on).

[Sharkfin]

Thanks for the input fellas. I wanted to be sure extra work wasn't being pushed on to me for what I wanted done. I thought about getting the stickers but I don't think they look all that great. I could get a new neck but, no Jackson neck has the type of MOP that I intend to use. I might bite the bullet and get it done, it's worth it for me. The guitar isn't a lemon by any means but if it comes out the way I've imagined it it's gonna be really sharp. I ordered some MOP inlays & they should be here early next week. Since I'm having the inlays already pre-cut and ready to drop in that will bring down the cost of the whole project.

creeping on 666 posts!

[Devotee]

I concur with ulijdavid and warlok. Even though $300 is a damn good deal, i think it's way too much hassle just for some sharkfins. It might be worth it if you had the whole fretboard stripped off and had custom inlays done on a new one but even still it's a huge pain in the ass.

EDIT: Since you're going ahead with it, post before, between and after pics.

[DonP]

Thanks for the input fellas. I wanted to be sure extra work wasn't being pushed on to me for what I wanted done. I thought about getting the stickers but I don't think they look all that great. I could get a new neck but, no Jackson neck has the type of MOP that I intend to use. I might bite the bullet and get it done, it's worth it for me. The guitar isn't a lemon by any means but if it comes out the way I've imagined it it's gonna be really sharp. I ordered some MOP inlays & they should be here early next week. Since I'm having the inlays already pre-cut and ready to drop in that will bring down the cost of the whole project.

creeping on 666 posts!

You could take those MOP inlays and upgrade a nice MOTO inlaid neck.

If you want to see a lot of people replacing inlays, check out the LPF or MLP forums. People are always changing out the Gibson OEM inlays for upgrades that look more true to the originals. BUT...these inlays are all plastic, so it's quite easy to shape them to fit the radius of the fretboard without taking the frets out. MOP is a way harder material to work with.

Look for threads where they take you step by step removing the old and putting in new. Lots of good info.

[Sharkfin]

You could take those MOP inlays and upgrade a nice MOTO inlaid neck.

If you want to see a lot of people replacing inlays, check out the LPF or MLP forums. People are always changing out the Gibson OEM inlays for upgrades that look more true to the originals. BUT...these inlays are all plastic, so it's quite easy to shape them to fit the radius of the fretboard without taking the frets out. MOP is a way harder material to work with.

Look for threads where they take you step by step removing the old and putting in new. Lots of good info.

Here's a step by step (<- LINK) I found here a few years back. Lots of pictures and done very nicely on a RR.

666

[Newc]

If you get the PCS-style inlays (smaller) and mount them in the center of the spaces, you should be able to cover the dot holes.

[Sharkfin]

Here's a small spoiler for now Gold MOP. Pretty cool huh?