Replace Your Boring Inlays

EVH Guitar Inlay Replacement. In this video I replace some black inlays with some beautiful Spalted Ash inlays I sourced from Kentucky.
Inlays were glued with Starbond thin CA glue
Nail file and buffer- they no longer carry the one in this video. here is a similar item.
a.co/d/cpbGOBz
Star Bond Super glue
a.co/d/1nFWCvU
#guitarinlays #nashvilleluthier #MIGraduate #guitarupgrades #guitarcustomization #guitarrepair #guitartech #truoil #starbond

[@lousekoya1803]

Great job and tutorial ! Thanks

[@JimsGuitarGarage]

@@lousekoya1803 Thanks so much.

[@lousekoya1803]

@@JimsGuitarGarage Hey !!

[@DreidMusicalX]

It might have been easier to use a Dremel with a 1mm diamond bit to punch a starter hole in the inlays.

[@JimsGuitarGarage]

Great advise! I did end up using my Dremel with a flex-shaft and a green tapered silicon carbide tip to clean up the edges after switching to the brad-point tip in reverse. Due to my error, (probably not hitting record, or double tapping) none of that process was recorded. It certainly sped things up, and made for a cleaner edge.

[@NintenDub]

I like my boring inlays. Dots are classic

[@JimsGuitarGarage]

@@NintenDub LOL, I love my dot inlays too! These are just enhanced or upgraded dot inlays!
The dark brown fretboard and black inlays was not not the vibe the customer was liking. I sourced the Spalted maple from his property, so when he mentioned he didn’t like the look, I suggested we use the wood from his own tree in his property to give the guitar a more unique look.

[@hoilst265]

Yeah, if you're gonna have a fine maple or rosewood fretboard...I wanna feel that, not a square foot of plastic in a giant block inlay.

[@clutch2827]

Heard you should not use Tru Oil on the fret board because it needs to breathe.

[@JimsGuitarGarage]

@@clutch2827 Not relevant in this case; this is roasted/baked/torrefied Maple. Maple should have a finish on it, check out any Fender maple fretboard guitar. They put multiple layers of polyester on them.
Ebony and rosewood have natural oils in them, so you don’t need to apply a typical finish, and it wouldn’t stick well if you did, due to the high oil content of the wood.

[@user-lx2dc4mp6q]

I was disappointed that none of the work was visible. It was trying to read a book looking over someone's shoulder. Then you didn't even go into how to install the new dots. Spalted maple is too soft for inserts. Then what did refinishing the neck have to do with changing the dots? It is also my belief that the original dots were harder than normal. Because it being an EVH the builders assumed the player would play harder than on most other guitars; therefore more prone to wear.

[@JimsGuitarGarage]

I will certainly take your advice to use better viewing angles to record in the future.
Installing the dots is as simple as flooding the inlay with water thin CA glue, as covered in hundreds of other videos, so I chose not to record that process. Spalted maple or any other inlay material will be hard enough when glued in with CA glue properly (flooded), plus a hard finish was applied over the inlay. Refinishing was done, because the customer didn't like how dark and uneven the finish was on the fretboard from the factory, as stated in the video.