The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi, I have what I believe is a 1948 Rickenbacker B6. A few of the white plastic fret marker dots are missing from the fretboard. My calipers indicate the dots are .146 inches in diameter. Does anyone have any idea where I might be able to purchase either the dots themselves or rod stock for this material? Thanks!

I had that problem with a couple of my Ric's........

My wife contributed some WHITE liquid that she regularly used in her crafts room. It filled up the holes neatly and when it dried it was just like the ones on the guitar itself.

It was like liquid white........once upon a time used to white-out typing errors.

I used white caulk to fill the holes. Worked fine and hasn't fallen out.

The correction fluid "Wite Out" works good also.

I'm glad to see this discussion. I just purchased a B6 that is missing some dots. I haven't received it yet and I was wondering how to fix them. I was thinking of using some acylic white artist paint from a tube. It's thick and is basically plastic when it dries.

Bruce,
If you don't fancy using "white out" or similar products for your dot markers, there's a company on eBay called Bruce Wei Art who will supply a full set for you. He would make them any size or colour you specify, or even Abalone or Mother of Pearl if you wanted. He's located in Taiwan so the delivery wouldn't be fast, typically 3 weeks to UK. I've had Head logos, dot markers and fingerboards from him and can vouch for quality.

My B6 was missing some dots, and I could not find the right size. First I bought some abalone dots that were too small. I put them in with double stick tape as a temporary fix. Then I bought some that were a little too big. I found a drill bit just the size I needed the dots to be and super glued the oversized dot to the flat end of the bit. A little sanding, and the dot was just right. I've done two or three and have a couple to go. Good to know about the source of custom sized dots mentioned above!

There's a casting epoxy called "Milliput" I've used for this. It's like two little tubes of clay, you cut off a little gob of each and mix them together then you've got about 20 minutes working time. Some different colors, and it can be dyed.

http://www.milliput.com/

Hi, please don't laugh at me, but I found one of my dots missing off my 1946 B6 and couldn't fine a replacement. So I found one of my old mother of pearl small buttons and filed it down to fit in the hole. Used epoxy to glue it in, and wa la it looks pretty darn good!

Dap spackling compound from Lowes or any hardware store. If it yellows or gets dirty over time, just scratch out and do it again.