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What are guitar inlays?
Guitar inlays are decorative elements which are set in the exterior wood of both acoustic guitars and electric guitars. A beautiful inlay gives each guitar its own unique look, making it more personal and visually appealing. Guitar inlays can also serve to support the physical structure of the guitar (although this kind of inlay is not what most people think of when you say “guitar inlays”). While inlay can be done on any part of the instrument, guitar inlays are usually found in the neck (aka fretboard or fingerboard) and headstock, and also around the soundhole on acoustic guitars.
What designs are popular on a fretboard?
Fretboard inlays are a type of guitar inlay that serve a definite purpose. These inlays are installed both for ornamentation as well as for positioning, to help inexperienced guitar players navigate the fretboard. They are commonly installed between every other fret in the shape of small dots, large blocks, parallelograms, or diamonds; although shapes and sizes tend to vary by manufacturer. Fretboard inlays usually mark odd-numbered frets and skip the 11th fret in favor of the 12th (the octave). There are two main common patterns, outlined below.
- The most popular fretboard inlay pattern involves single inlays on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 21st frets with a double inlay on the 12th and 24th fret (if there is a 24th fret). This pattern is quite symmetrical with double inlays on the 12th and 24th frets.
- The less popular pattern includes inlays on 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 22nd frets, and again with the 12th and 24th fret inlays doubled. Playing these inlayed frets gives you a perfect minor pentatonic scale. This pattern is also quite similar to the layout of a piano’s keyboard, begging the question, why is this inlay pattern less popular for guitar fretboards?
What designs are popular on the headstock and soundhole?
Manufacturers often inlay their name and/or logo on the headstock. Rosette designs are often found around the soundhole of acoustics and can vary from simple concentric circles to the intricate fretwork that mimics historic lutes. These are aesthetic inlays.
What about structural inlays?
The neck of many guitars, as well as the body of hollow-body guitars, will often have a stringer installed (more commonly known as a “skunk stripe”). A stringer is a term used in surfboard design which is basically a long, narrow, structural inlay. For the guitar, a neck stringer serves to fill in the hole where the truss rod is installed. Many acoustic and hollow-body guitars have stringers (skunk stripes) installed along the length of the body of the guitar as well.
Binding and purfling are other types of structural inlays. Binding and perfling are the narrow bindings along the outside edges of hollow-body and semi-hollow-body guitars. This binding serves to keep the body pieces glued together, reinforce each section, and prevent cracking and warping along the edges. Binding or purfling found on solid body guitars is a purely cosmetic inlay.
What are guitar inlays made from?
Cheaper materials include plastic or sometimes even just paint for fret markers. There are also sticker and decal kits that can be purchased and installed for aesthetics. Higher end and older guitars will most often have inlays made from mother of pearl, abalone, ivory, exotic woods, and other materials. Some very high end guitars don’t have fretboard inlays at all, assuming that a well trained player doesn’t need fret markers.
In Summary
Guitar inlays serve several purposes, including aesthetics, fretboard marking, and architectural support. More elaborate inlays are an aesthetic component of many limited edition, high-end, and custom-made guitars. A good rule of thumb to follow is the more elaborate and intricate the inlay work is, the higher the price will be!
Do you have any questions? Ask in the comments below!
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