Poll: What inlay designs do you like?

What inlays do you like?

  • Dots

    Votes: 105 19.8%
  • Blocks

    Votes: 207 39.1%
  • Special shapes (a la Ric/Gibson)

    Votes: 58 10.9%
  • Vine-of-life

    Votes: 9 1.7%
  • None

    Votes: 109 20.6%
  • Inlay of carrots

    Votes: 40 7.5%
  • 12th fret only (any shape)

    Votes: 2 0.4%

  • Total voters
    530
I prefer side dots only. Not at all, and most definitely not mother-of-pearl large blocks. Since I've studied and did quite a few fret levelling and see how the truss rod reliefs and backbows a neck, I can tell it works harder with large blocks of mother-of-pearl since those don't bend the same with the wood. They are not the same as the wood. They produce a "stop" or bump in the truss rod, and you have to basically over tighten the truss rod. I've seen blocks pop out of the fretboard and crack due to seasonal changes. Even on high quality basses. They shrimp and swells differently than the surrounding wood. Small dots doesn't produce the same "contrasts" so to speak.

They look cool though, but as it is just bling, and price increaser, I'd rather block them out. ;)
 
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Dots...I like dots. Black dots on my current Jazz with maple neck and white dots on my previous 1965 Jazz Bass.

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Not really sure if my old '65 had the white clay dots, which were common, or mother of pearl dots, which were just coming out. Can't tell from my old pictures.

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Nonetheless, I like dots on the neck...
 
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View attachment 1087325

I like to sing-a,
About the Lunas
And their moon-as
and their bling-a,
I like to sing-a...

--^@
I love their moon inlays.

But I like the design of the Bongo crescents — how they mimic the body shape.View attachment 1087546
I really like that. Understated, yet different.

i found this beauties that i inlaid in an electric mandola project, the wooden ones are PurflexView attachment 1087618
Love those. Would really like to have a bass with inlays like that.
 
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