The Steel Guitar Forum

Anyone have any possible interest in black plexiglass fretboards with faux shell overlays? The overlays are made using a process I developed for pickguards that incorporates printed plastic and holographic material and from not to far away looks very real and shines and glimmers - Below is a small scanned sample of what they would look like - I will make small samples on a thinner plastic that I would mail to people so they could examine them before they buy - the plexiglass would be black and I have several styles and colors of real shells scanned - the black plexiglass would be the fret marker lines and I can incorporate different design markers - I will be posting this in both pedal and non-pedal sections - any length and any width would be available - Obviously cost would depend on the amount of customization the customer wants - Feel free to make any helpful comments - DB

Totally trippy! Dennis, I'm diggin' those quite a bit. If I ever get around to making my own lap steel, I'll definitely give you a ring. I think it would be cool to do the whole top of a guitar or uke with this stuff...very trippy indeed!

An entire party room ceiling? YES!

Ron Whitfield wrote:An entire party room ceiling? YES!

If you've got the money - I've got the time - DB

Hey Dennis !

Anyway to possibly do this ?

Very cool-looking material, Dennis. And it's durable enough for a pickguard? Great!

Any idea how the color holds in the long term? Would the inks fade after a few years of exposure to light and air?

I agree with Fontaine. A guitar top made of this material would outshine any MOTS guitar out there! Let us know when samples are available.

Stan Schober wrote:Hey Dennis !

Anyway to possibly do this ?

Stan - I would have to use white vinyl for the striping so, yes I could do that - DB

Kekoa Blanchet wrote:Very cool-looking material, Dennis. And it's durable enough for a pickguard? Great!

Any idea how the color holds in the long term? Would the inks fade after a few years of exposure to light and air?

I agree with Fontaine. A guitar top made of this material would outshine any MOTS guitar out there! Let us know when samples are available.

Kekoa - The images are printed on a laser printer so the toner will be on this earth long after you and I are gone - It will be a couple of weeks before the samples are avaiable and I will post to let you all know - I was mainly just wanting to see if there was any interest at all and there seems to be enough for me to build a webpage and create the samples swatches and a couple of sample fretboards - Thanks for the comments - DB

Man, I don't know. I have a hard enough time keepin' up with the rest of the band as it is. Spacin' out on my own fret board could be embarrassing.

Dennis Brooker wrote: Stan - I would have to use white vinyl for the striping so, yes I could do that - DB

Coudn't you print the striping as well?

That sure is a pretty design Stan.

Mark Bracewell wrote:

Dennis Brooker wrote: Stan - I would have to use white vinyl for the striping so, yes I could do that - DB

Coudn't you print the striping as well?

WHat he said.

That sure is a pretty design Stan.

Coming from someone with such innovative ideas as yourself, I consider that an extreme compliment.
The credit should go to the maker of the shell pattern, though.
(it doesn't look as good on a white fretboard)

Interesting idea Dennis, I'd think a paua blue would look cool too.
Here is some I got in from New Zealand.

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Here's some more general comments that will hopefully answer some of your questions - I will have shell patterns in several different shades but many red, blue, green and gold to start with - the material is printed on small sheets and will be cut into small pices and applied to the black fretboard so that what is left are black fret lines - If you want a white fretboard then I would use white plexiglass so understand I'm not "printing" the fretlines - to make white fretlines on a black fretboard I would have to use white vinyl or if you want red line then I'de use, you get the idea - I can't print white and I can't print the whole fretboard - the thickness on this material once applied is only .012" thick which is pretty thin - I can also make it look as though the markers are inlaid as well - I will post an example shortly - Feel free to make comments and ask more questions - DB

Here's just a quick sample of "inlays" - When I do projects like this for customers I can post the design on a private webpage and email them the link (as I'm my own webmaster as well) or I can email them the design in a PDF so they can print it out and see it actual size or in this case a section of the fret board - DB

How about the Reverse, using the Shell as the Markers and all White or Black?

Can you cut the Fret Boards at a Tapered ?

exapmle: 3" on the narrow end and 3.25" on the wider end. -- plus the length , 17- 20" is there a limit?

lastly , vinyl with shell markers, peel and apply. -- no plexi or wood.


In every case you have a good thing going and are an asset to the lap steel folks.

GeorgeBoards

George - Yes, I could use the shell as just the markers as well - There is no limit on length or taper of the plexiglass - The material is peel and stick and I may make the material available to customers to do their own peel and stick - I can also make labels as well with logos, initials, etc. I would not use any copyrighted material without permission - But for now my plan is to offer fretboards from black or other colored plexiglass with my "digital shell" material - If you want something made special or other than a fretboard anyone is welcomed to ask - DB

Maybe this stuff would look good on mirror plexiglass

Hi Dennis,
I am working on my first re-build of a lap steel.
It's a 30ish Bronson. I like the fret boards you are making. Can you supply these finishes on a crack n peel vinyl? I will not be removing the existing fretboard, maybe a thiner plexi will work better then crack n peel.
I'm kinda thinking out load here. I can fill in where I removed the fret markers and some of the low spots on the board itself. This axe was played hard as a conventional 6 string over the years, and has a lot of wear to the board. I like this idea from Stan Schober wit a couple of mods to it

Here are a couple of pic's of my lap steel. I am still not sure about the color of the body, I am just winging it as I go.

Thanks,
Jim

James - I can supply the sheet in the fashion as I intend to and then you can apply the sheet to whatever thickness of material you wish - You would then need to apply that material to your existing fretboard with an additional adhesive - PSA material does not work well with wood - I would suggest applying my faux material to a thick paper and then gluing the paper to the wood fretboard - Maybe someone else on the forum may have some other suggestions as well they can offer - DB

Dennis,

Have you tried laminating your product? Say maybe a 10 mil film laminate. Since it is toner based it should hold up to the heat. We do a lot of laminating where we afix a double sided adhesive backer for perminent applications. I think once I fix up the fretboard this stuff will stick well. I own a Printing and Graphic Finishing business in Nashville, so I have a lot of toys to play with.
Jim

James - It won't take the heat but I'll keep trying to come up with something that will work for you - DB

Here's the page link http://www.dbrooker.com/shell-mat.html to my webpage for my faux shell material - Forum members get a discounted price - I'll put a link and price in the "ACCESSORIES FOR SALE" section - Still feel free to ask questions - DB