I think that even a person who doesn't typically like inlays would still appreciate the incredible beauty of your work - it's absolutely stunning!

I’ve been looking forward to an inlay instructional video. It’s an understatement to say that you do amazing work. Thank you for sharing.

Amazing inlay work that you do. Can’t wait to see more of your work.

I actually just started practicing with my new dremel the last couple of days so that I can learn inlays. The timing of this video was great! Thanks!

I have been wanting to do inlay work on the guitars that I am building and this video has been very helpful in understanding some of the process. When you said you think of it as paint by numbers... that made so much sense. Thanks and looking forward to the inlay series.

I’m really looking forward to the detailed how to for complicated inlays. Great vid guys.

@alecpitts6843

2 жыл бұрын

Checkout stewmac. They have a great set of videos for inlays, it's like 4 hours long. Walks through everything step by step, and is almost therapeutic to watch.

I really love your inlays and am super excited by the idea of you doing a bunch of videos on how you do yours, I want to try and use like woods for my inlays i.e. keep the Janka hardness pretty close with all the materials on any given fretboard.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about inlaying.

Awesome video, just discovered your channel and I will keep track of your work for sure! Cheers from Spain!

Very cool. Love the thought process behind this. Makes me want to try it out. :)

Great video! Thanks so much

Awesome! Very great explanation. Paint by numbers analogy is a game changer!

Beautiful work sir.

I love your videos man!

Thank you! Fantastic.

Grit's book is INCREDIBLE!!! I was in on the original run when he was raising money to print it... Best money I've spent on a book.

Your inlays tell a story a human story I like it thanks

Loved the video guys, thank you for the information on inlays. I’ve been thinking about trying to add guitarists to fretboards like you do. However, I will not copy you 😂, I am fascinated with your work it’s masterful. Once again thank you for the information

Yes, please do more on the design element as well as techniques - that Nashville skyline is absolutely excellent! Very useful video; can't wait for others on this theme.

@karelenhenkie666

2 ай бұрын

If your still wondering, look into stenciling. You can 3dit photos into simple shades/ hues of Grey and separate the layers. Ive done this for stencil art wich makes beautifull pictures with just a couple of simple shades. Then all you need to do is separate the layers,print them out and choose appropriate coloured Woods.

@GarlandStringedInstruments

2 ай бұрын

@@karelenhenkie666Thanks for the tip!

Woooow! Great Work! As I was watching the video, I was wondering which kind of woods are good/bad for fret inlaying and how thick/thin the woods should be. Thanks!

Looks like Matt could put an entire pitcher of coffee in that cup. I saw the Stewmac series you guys did, which was great. Now I'm following your channel. You do some amazing work.

Great videos! I like the shade of color you are using for the faces. What wood types are you using to get that color? Primarily the lighter flesh tones.

Another great video Chris.... Please, please keep going with the 3000 yo build. I need to see the next step for the arm bevel :-p

Great stuff. I am working out a headstock of Alfonse Mucha's spring and my frustration has been moved to inspiration and excitement. You need to do more on your design process. Cool stuff.

@gui-texzan7477

2 жыл бұрын

Wow. Mucha's work is timeless. Your headstock has potential. You may also try to find some of Grit Laskin's work for inspiration.✌️

An Artist, my man... I love you brother.

Love inlays but I’m only really interested in getting inlays onto a danelectro for some reason. I just love dano’s for the tone they have for my budget. However if I ever have the budget for it someday I might consider getting a tidalcaster as they sound gorgeous and have some of the most beautiful finishes I have ever seen on a guitar. The sun bursts both show the wood grain while also having incredible colors. Best sunburst finishes I’ve seen.

holy cow what a talent

thank you . Chris and Matt . what is the pin vice for ?

How do you have the time to do all of this stuff???????? Amazing!

Thanks for this. I really look forward to the series on inlays. Some questions, I have already. Do you sand down all the material down to the same thickness before you start? If so, how thick is an assembled inlay normally. Are there any woods to avoid? What are your go to woods/materials you use for certain colors (eg. Dark outlines, white highlights) What can you do to prevent contaminating neighboring parts of inlay? Eg. Staining maple, with ebony saw dust

Those are the most impressive inlays I have ever seen. I have been playing guitar for 25 years.

Thanks for the information. You are very generous! If you want to apply some finish to a headstock with inlay, how do you protect the inlay to avoid staining? (for example, using tru-oil). Or the question could goes... how do you finish your headstocks that have inlays?

People like what they like. Your work is pretty awesome!

Haha Chris this is funny. I clicked on your link cus I was gonna buy the pearl cutting saw. Looking at, I said wait a minute, I think I already bought that saw! Ha! I bought that thing over 20 years ago from Stew Mac. Thanks for reminding me man! I do need blades...

When you do your inlays on the fret board, I assume you have cut the fret slots first. After you inlay over the fret slots how do you recut the fret slots if you are using mother of Peral.

i wanna learn how to do these. i want to make a fretboard with dimebag, EVH, and Randy Rhodes inlayed

FINALLY INLAYS!!! LONG AWAITED!!!! SORry I am so excited :)

Paint by numbers…. Brilliant.

When your grain filling has your inlay ever been ruined? Or is the wood stabilized in vacuum with epoxy, so it doesn’t change color?

How long did it take you to do the Nashville inlay ???

Where do you stand on CNC cut inlays? I feel like it is a cheat as far as the artistry goes. I learned to cut inlays by hand with a coping saw and jeweler's files and it's the craftsmanship of it that impresses me.

If you need a specific color, maybe a red or green, would you dye or stain a piece of wood to get a certain color? Thanks

Is it too complicated to make inlays in maple Fred boards or headstocks? Thank u

It was Larry Robinson when I was growing up, I'll be keeping a close eye on this guy!

Do you use all three sizes of blades Chris?

Hi Chris, I am very interested in trying my own face/photo inlay, I have a lot of patience lol but just not sure what programs etc I might need on my computer to vectorize etc so my question is what programs do you use...if you don't mind me asking? Cheers, Mike

While Driftwood guitars prefers to use wood in their inlays. It wish to take a moment to touch on the risks associated with cutting shell. I met instrument maker Haskell Hale decades ago at the National Folk Festival; the year was probably 1979 or 1980. To this day I still recall my first impression of him was that he had scarring over his face. To this date I still every so often get triggered and feel compelled to pass along his warning about what can happen if shell gets too hot when it is being cut. I was still a teenager at the time. By the end of an extended chat he made sure that the teenaged guy standing before him (me) understood that cutting pearl with an electric jewelers saw was very dangerous, and that he would never fully recover from making this mistake. I would like to think that I asked good and interesting questions and that was a part of why we had an extended chat. But I digress. I took his warning to heart and obviously he made quite an impression on me. To be fair his warning about cutting shell was a minor part of the impression he made on me. Given that this lesson is still the root of my getting triggered every so often many decades later; I can say that this casual meeting proved to be substantial.

The thing you were saying you did not know the name of is typically called a Pearl cutting jig or brace. It's a traditional jewelers tool used for cutting small thin material such a pearl, abalone or other similar materials.

In your opinion do inlays change tone, or life expectancy of the instrument

That little piece of wood to cut on is called a birds mouth

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

Wow! Who knew?

This is the first thing you’ve talked about where I’ve just been like “oh no way am I going to try this myself.” I don’t think I could draw out most of your inlays, let alone craft them out of wood

It would be interesting to inlay the major tools used in the construction of the guitar.Or would it??????

While these aren’t my thing (though maybe a sci-fi idea would change my mind 🤔), the work and craft is amazing. Love your vids… 👍

Could you guys do a reaction to Crafter guitars production tour out of South Korea?

Does the paint come of of the inlay when a person plays and solos

@DriftwoodGuitars

Жыл бұрын

These is no paint. Every color you see here is a different piece of wood that is hand cut and glide together, than inlayed into the fretboard.

@Lance_A

Жыл бұрын

@Driftwood Guitars Do you have any where in Los Angeles CA where a person can get work done I would like to get something done to my guitar

Confirmed my hunch that it was Illustrator converting photos to vectors. Still, making that into a real thing is a lot of work. I can't recall if you've ever shown how you radius the fingerboard? After putting in all the tedious labor, that step must be nerve-wracking.

If anyone wants to see some additional amazing inlay work check out the Moore Bertha Ukulele. Lots of cute Brent for inspiration.

Have you guys ever "updated" an inlay after the fact. Say a guitar has dot inlay and the artist wanted trapezoid instead. Can that be done after the fact? (frets already installed, etc.) Or will a complete refret need to be accomplished for something of this magnitude?

@ericeugenecole7090

2 жыл бұрын

Yes it is often possible to replace extant inlays with different ones. I have a bolt-on neck for an electric that I will probably remove the dots from and replace with smaller dots which will be centered in a color/species similar wood which will not contrast much with the current fretboard. Replacing smaller inlays with larger inlays is often easier to do than the other way around.

I thought that Breedlove used to do inlays for Taylor.

At the beginning the way you describe creating the inlay and it looking like nothing and then all of a sudden it looks like some thing is the way most art that I have created is done. There’s a moment where it just blows your mind because it went from looking like a bunch of nothing to something amazing. And it’s funny how fast that happens. People don’t realize that the person creating art is just as blown away by the art as other people.

Monarch butterfly i associate with MK Utra mind control.

Inlay video!

i love dot inlay

I feel like I had tools I'd make some awesome ass inlays

I would think a CNC would be better at creating the recess that the inlay fits into, not the inlay pieces themselves. But you'd obviously need to do that CNC routing before you put the guitar together...

The thing-a-malign is called a “jewelers birds-beak”.

Interesting 🤔

Question.. now with all laser cutters and micro cnc available all-around... is not the true human craft "in danger"? I mean, using this machines you can pull a much more perfect piece like in 10 times les time. And you can build in flaws to "mask" that is done by a machine...

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

I’m sure that’ll be the case moving forward. But that’s why I’ll continue to insist on doing it by hand, as that’s what people are paying for.

I hope that you understand copying a photograph taken by someone else, even if you are copying in a different medium or dimension is a breach of copyright. Someone did this to me and one of my photographs and I screwed them.

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

You sound like a pleasant person.

@pete-davis-photography

2 жыл бұрын

@@DriftwoodGuitars I'm actually a very pleasant, easy going person but I protect my intellectual property very closely as everyone should do. In the same way as I protect my physical property. Like you, it's my living, I work hard to produce what I do so I protect it. I don't abuse or steal other's work so I expect the same in return. All I am doing is upholding my rights in law.

You would freak out looking at my art! 😅🤣

Jewelers bench pin

Gentlemen where is that 3000yr old guitar!!!!!

Surprised you didn't mention Larry Robinson....

Your comment about how some people do not like much inlay resonated with me and Wanted to take a stab at exploring this. I have great admiration for the sort of work which Linda Manzer and Grit Laskin do. They are stunning examples of how those artists can integrate their art on to musical instruments as a canvas without compromising the essential musicality of instruments themselves. At the same time some inlays come across as a distraction and to my eye end up hindering the aesthetics of the instrument. Let me paint you a mental image of what I mean by hindering the aesthetics for the purpose of illustrating what I am thinking of. Begin with abalone inlay adjacent to the guitars binding on the soundboard like a Martin Style 41. Add more abalone adjacent to the binding along the back and sides: think Martin style 45. Then adding more abalone outlining the headstock plate and outlining the fingerboard on the soundboard. Then more abalone on the fingerboard binding. Now add more abalone or M.O.P. in big slabs to the fingerboard which offer nothing intuitive about the story the inlay work is intended the convey. Or perhaps add all of this with no story at all. Then perhaps some more shell up the center-strip of the back and add bridge inlays. And having gone to excess already, add some more shell to the pick guard and the knobs on the tuners. Maybe throw on a gold metal-flake style pick guard and some sequins, then maybe some more sequins. Hmm I wonder if I could add color-shifting backlighting on the fretboard too. This is a good place to pause and review the hideous end product. It is tons of bling which detracts from the thing; in this case the guitar. Now I will try and paint a new mental picture of a different approach to an eye-candy guitar. I will make this up as I type. Begin with some highly figured Acacia like Tasmanian Blackwood or perhaps some Koa from Hawaii for the back and sides and maybe the soundboard too. Bookmark the top, back, and sides for visual symmetry. Even if you build it with an asymmetric cutaway; the power of the book matched figure or grain will benefit from this symmetry. Ultimately finish all of this wood in a manner that makes the wood figure pop-out in a 3D-like manner. Perhaps use some similar wood for the neck with a similar finish treatment. Instead the gold sparkle pick guard lets use a thin sheet of rosewood with 3 or 4 unique snowflake inlays which are a half-inch or smaller in diameter and are contrasted against the mood pick guard. Then polish that pick guard to a high gloss with no finish. To doll this guitar up a bit more add some binding of the same wood used on the back/sides and/or the soundboard and set off this binding with some thin strips of Purple Heart and ebony or black plastic. For the headstock and fretboard; choose some ebony or rosewood with conspicuous figure which will compliment the other woods you have utilized. Add an intricate snowflake inlay at the 12th fret. Let’s pause here: the wood figure will be the primary eye-candy featured. The snowflakes are petite contrasting accents. The Purpleheart and ebony contrasting strips which set-off the binding calls out the outline of the guitar; however except when viewed from very close no one will know that some purple color was snuck in to the visual palette of the instrument. In the case of Acacia’s the purpleheart accent as tiny as it is can call out the red tones which can be found in these woods. In this second example I went with only 1 inlay in the fretboard; albeit possibly a multi piece inlay. The pick guard got a few tiny accents. And the binding got a little pop of contrast and color. These inlays as described will not tell a story of their own; they instead serve the purpose of adding subtle visual accents which the figure and color tones of the wood are contrasted against. The second mental picture will always appeal to me far more than what I described in the first mental picture I tried to paint. Outside the realm of Manzer and Laskin level inlay artists. I prefer my inlays to be subtle or visually blended in to the instrument as a whole. When using high-grade figured woods; extensive inlays often distract and detract from the inherent beauty of this wood. The old adage of less-is-more rings clearly in this context.

There's a lotta things about inlay you don't know anything about, Dottie. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.

Well as you can see from my profile picture I use your inlay photo...the reason?...well I'm guitar crazy but more importantly my last name is Cash...and my first name? have a guess?

I instantly went and bought that book despite having no intention of making inlays. What just happened to me?

F. It's too late. I've already done my first inlay.

the deflection of such a small bit would never allow that level of accuracy

Wouldn’t Marquetry be a good source of ideas and techniques.

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

100%

JACK.S.inlays

that wood thing you dont know the name of is a bench peg

I want to lean more.

live stream different angles of the shop...and just narrate what you're doing for time to time.

The grey haired guy is a bit cocky for having only 34k subscribers no? Guy with the hat - This channel would be better with just you on it by yourself buddy. 😉

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

You’re right. Thanks buddy

@APK-pn4qh

2 жыл бұрын

@@DriftwoodGuitars only joking dude. Love what I've seen of the channel so far! Subbed. 😎

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

Haha I never know when I’m being trolled or it’s just someone poking fun. Thanks man

@APK-pn4qh

2 жыл бұрын

@@DriftwoodGuitars Neither do I in all honesty lol. Glad to be on board. Those inlays are truly amazing.

@johnnybird7593

2 жыл бұрын

Looks like you have taken a lot of inspiration from Grit Laskin...🤔😊

why is Ron Thorn so famous for his inlaywork and not u? why is he the principal master builder an dnot u? DOnt get me wrong i like the Thorn stuff aaaaalot. but what makes him so special compared

When are you going to finish the video series you already began? You stopped the 3000 yo guitar build at video 20. Why don't you finish that before you start another series.

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

What are you talking about? We literally released a video today. Episode 22. Guitars take a long time to build, sorry it’s not fast enough for you.

Johnny cash... Or Hugh Jackman? Jimi Hendrix or prince? John mayer or Johnny Depp? Hmm? Come on... Let's be honest here...

@DriftwoodGuitars

2 жыл бұрын

Haha I hear you man! I made the same comments when I was making them.

@justinc6497

2 жыл бұрын

Looks pretty obvious to me. Maybe time to visit the optometrist?

You're about 30 years too late for that pal!

Talk show...

These inlays are not gratuitous.

do you happen to know where some one can buy custom fret boards that arnt those dumb stickers

@DriftwoodGuitars

Жыл бұрын

Depaul supply sells real abalone shell inlays that are ready for installation.

Want to learn inlay? Get Larry Robinson’s Inlay techniques DVD’s there are 3 in the series. Basic,Intermediate and Advance. If you are unfamiliar with Larry Robinson then Google him.