The Inlay Course
The Inlay course at Custom Pearl Inlay started easily enough. Dave Nichols is the guy that runs it. First you have to understand that Dave is really good, he’s been in the business of lutherie and pearl inlay since Adam was a cowboy, he knows an awful lot of people, and he’s pretty down to earth. He only asks that you listen to him, (like really listen), and that you try your best.
Or don’t.
He already knows how to cut pearl, you don’t.
First I started cutting up simple, and small pieces, with relatively few sharp corners. Getting the right angle of view so that you’re focusing on where the blade is going rather than where it’s been is one of the first things you learn. Shortly thereafter you notice that there’s a pain in the small of your back and that you probably should breathe a little more often, and maybe more easily too. So Dave admonishes you to sit straighter, hold youself “so” and relax – this is fun. Apparently one guy tried the course for a day, (it’s a week long course) and said NO, (with several explicatives) and converted over to starting the guitar building course.
It’s not for everybody.
Eventually, I got to the stage that I had some pearl cut, a fretboard routed out to accept the pieces of pearl, and the relatively simple patternn was ready to be glued.
The next step was to sand off the glue with various grades of sandpaper, polish it, and (small leap here) build a guitar around it .
Here’s the cleaned up version. Not bad for a beginner…
- I think it’s that distinctiveness that draws me to doing inlaying – it makes things unique and gives whatever you’ve made a flair that immediately catches the eye of the beholder. Hence the term “Making It Personal”.
- As I was nearing the end of the inlaying course I discovered a pattern for a hummingbird and fell in love with it. I just had to try it, even if I figured that it was way above my skill level. Dave helped a lot, with his advice and soothing words, especially when one of the wing feathers broke. It’s incredibly easy to bust a thin fether that’s attached at only one end. Dave also took pity on me and did the routing on the headstock – there was no way at my skill level at that time that I could have done an acceptable job of the routing.
The hummingbird is a classic
The GWND stands for the band of which I’m a member – The Grateful We’re Not Dead – we’re a country comedy group that plays for charities. You’re welcome to click on the link to it from this site.