There are few places on a guitar that catch your eye more than the fretboard.  It is hard not to watch a player’s fingers move around the frets, constructing chords or picking out notes.  This is especially true if the fretboard has nice inlay. The original Les Pual guitars from the late 50’s are characterized by large, trapezoid-shaped inlays that dominate the look of the fretboard.  The mother of pearl inlay is set off by the rosewood fretboard.

This inlay is one of the first steps in building the guitar.  It is easiest to accomplish before the fretboard is attached to the neck of the guitar.  It is also one of the most detail-oriented tasks in the build.  Nothing like jumping into the deep end with some slow, precise work right off the bat.

The fretboard and mother of peal inlays come from Stewart MacDonald (stewmac.com).  The fretboard is rosewood and came pre-slotted for the frets using the standard Gibson 24.562″ scale.  It also came pre-shaped to the 12″ radius that is common with Les Paul’s.  This means that the fretboard is arched from side to side, with the thickest point along the centerline of the fretbard.  This creates challenges when installing the inlays.

I’m using a Dremel tool with a plunge router base to do the inlay.  I need a flat bottomed recess for the inlay, so I can’t simply rest the router on the fretboard.  This would create an arched recess that matches the curve of the top of the board.  If I used plastic inlays, I could probably flex them in place, but the mother of pearl would likely just crack.  The wood strips on either side of the fretboard shown on the right provide a level surface for the router base to rest on.

Next, I made stop blocks for either side of the router base that allowed me to route out straight lines for either side of the inlay.  The edges have a slight curve to them, so they had to be free handed.

A sharp chisel and exacto knife are used to clean up the corners where the 1/8″ router bit won’t fit.  Working slowly, I have successfully fit five of the nine inlays.  Another couple of hours and they will be ready to go.