fret markers for neck

[JasonAz]

I played ashow yesterday, where there was no light on the stage.. Once in a while, I couldnt tell what fret I was gonna play up the neck because I coudlnt see the dots...now i dont mean the dots in the actual fretboard...but instead on the top of the neck(facing up at me).. what can I use to make the dots bigger on the neck. Stickers would just fall off..

 

[Brett's Les Paul]

I use a fretlight when it's completely dark. It's a small clip on LED that goes on the headstock and shines down the fretboard. Pretty cool looking and it was cheap. I got it from Musician's Friend. If I recall correctly, it was about ten bucks.

 

[JasonAz]

Im just looking for the top dots to be bigger......i play up the neck barre chords a lot, and tend to miss that F#m for example on the a string... even in light sometimes it can be a hassle

 

[TDJMB]

Danny Gatton used something like cubic zirconia.

 

[musicofanatic5]

Danny Gatton used something like cubic zirconia.

What I was gonna say. Get some little fake faceted diamonds and replace the fingerboard side markers with them.

 

[JasonAz]

I dont know if i can replace them, its a strat and theyre just painted on. I need soemthing thats flat, diamonds seems like theyll hurt my thumb when i do a hendrix thumb barre chord

 

[Guitardave]

Here's a super simple solution. Use fingernail polish in whatever finish you want and paint dots on the side - finish with a top coat and it'll work perfectly.

I recently re-acquired my old PRS CE-22 and forgot about the crappy fret markers it had. I was playing it last night at a jam and couldn't see them at all....grggh.

It's a Platinum silver flake finish so my wife is going to use silver sparkle polish to make the new markers. I'll post some of the before/after shots.

I did the same thing with a red polish on an old Zion strat. It had white dots on maple neck and they were practically invisible. Afterwards it was awesome - I could always see them in any lighting!

Not sure about removing it too easily so I wouldn't recommend for a guitar unless you are sure you are going to keep it!

 

[Guitardave]

Couple of other ideas - which I may try before committing to the nail polish is to get some reflective mylar stickers...the type of stuff kids use to decorate their schoolbooks. Basically any sort of silver metallic reflective thing - use a hole punch to cut out some dots - stick 'em on there and see how well it works.

I used to carry around removeable file marker dots in my guitar case and would just stick them on before each show. Yeah...they come off easy - but they work in a pinch. Good thing to keep in your gig setup...

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/112987/Avery-Permanent-Round-Color-Coding-Labels/ are the permanent type - never tried them but I can't imagine it'd be hard to remove the glue residue when they wear out.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/837603/Office-Depot-Brand-Removable-Round-Color/ - what I used - but I did need to replace them pretty regularly - sometimes between sets if it was hot and my hands are sweating then they would tend to slide off. Again - not a big deal and it was an easy way to make it thru the occasional show with bad lighting.

 

[Stratobuc]

http://www.fretlord.com/

 

[JCar24]

youtube Keith Urban's rig rundown (cant link at work). If i remember correctly he used some sort of tape or something on his guitars. It was real ugly but if it works for Keith...

 

[jonahboo]

nail polish - pearl white

 

[DRS]

http://fretlight.com/

No need to thank me