How To Inlay a Guitar Headstock – With Master Inlay Artist Craig Lavin (Episode 1)
How To Inlay a Guitar Headstock – With Master Inlay Artist Craig Lavin (Episode 1)
Master inlay artist Craig Lavin joins us and demonstrates the fundamentals of guitar inlay. In this 3 part series Craig will show you how to install a custom headstock logo into your guitar. We show you step-by-step everything you need to know to design, cut, and inlay a custom pearl inlay into your next guitar build.
00:00 Introduction
0:50 3 Critical steps to a good inlay
1:05 Logo selection / design
6:54 Material selection
9:40 Prepping the logo to be cut
14:12 Setting up your saw
17:22 Cutting and shaping the pearl
29:02 Removing the paper pattern
31:03 Getting ready to locate the logo for routing
Items used in this series:
Ebony Peghead Overlay Veneer
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0991
Pearl Cutting Saw
https://www.stewmac.com/item/4611
Pearl Cutting Jig
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5194
Abalam Inlay Blank
https://www.stewmac.com/item/4444
Pearl Inlay Blanks
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0950
Pearl Fretboard Side Dots
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0964
StewMac Super Glue
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0010
3M Stikit Sandpaper
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5772
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Kinda comical, But there’s more than one way to skin a cat.I appreciate all the instruction,My skills must lack because i routed and glued the Abilone shell to the Headstock and did an overlay,Thank you,I wouldn’t have even attempted such precision work without Thanking you for inspiring me to attempt it! An overlay gives you a second chance,and after it is glued up and sanded Down is Definately good enough for me!
how do you spell the material you mentioned as Keranite? I know that’s not it – I can’t locate anything even similar to that spelling and don’t see that masecraft supply has it listed? Thanks. Great video and I’m on to watch the second and third video
Fantastic tutorial. Thx so much.
Thanks so much Craig for sharing your decades of experience with us on this video series.
Wear a mask, that dust is very harmful.
Greetings Craig, I like your work. I got a lot out of the materials portion of this series. Kirinite!… Yea! I process most of my inlay material from whole shell or scale scrap. Here’s a tip back. For all who love inlay work a Taurus Ring Saw is an amazing tool.
Excellent stuff. Many thanks.
Considering how much effort goes into doing inlays, make sure you spend an hour of design for every hour of production. I see so many gorgeous guitars—even from celebrated luthiers—where they just use terrible typography or lettering and then position it so poorly. It kills me.
This is its own little circle of hell for me… mad props to anybody who can do it.. it is just tooooo fine of work for this old man
A thin piece of model aircraft plywood glued onto the back of the pearl will help reduce part breakages and can be removed by soaking in a jar of acetone overnight. Cheers Andrew
Great teacher…
WOW ! Your the first I’ve seen explain in such a way , that it makes it sooo interesting and obtainable ! great great teacher and vid. !
I’ll never work with inlays, but man your video was amazing. Thanks for sharing all this knowledge, and I have to say, your workshop looks like a very fun place to be/work!
I don’t do inlays, but this was very interesting to watch. What’s more, sharing your artistry in such great detail is very generous and cool. Thank you!
You would make a good surgeon.
We’re can I get kyronite
Extremely usable information! I wish I would have seen this several inlays ago! I would like to add to the StewMac saw I have, where can I get a pearl saw like the one you were using?
Nice tutorial Craig. Good to see someone that likes to do detail work. You should mention the Opti-Visor you are using to see those tiny parts. I’d be lost without mine.
Wouldn’t it be easier to have it cut with a lazer?
I am not sure I even know how to properly "thank you", Craig Lavin! This video is a gift, pure and simple. Offering your kindness, manner, and expertise is extraordinarily generous of you. As a Master Class, this is quite likely my favorite-ever presentation.
wow. now this is a experienced man with talent!!! just wow with detail and expertise 100-100
Fantastic video. Very clear and easy to follow. Thanks Craig and StewMac for making this!!
I never realized how in depth and complicated putting a logo on a guitar is.. it’s very interesting and now I have a new found appreciation every-time I look at the logos on my guitars haha
Thanks, Craig!
Shouldn’t it be two empty frets at either side of the two doted fret?
How lucky we are that a master inlay artist is also a master instructor! Craig covers all the bases here, and I’m sure I’ll return to this series quite a few times as I encounter new challenges. I was dumbfounded by the simple tape flag on the router bit as a blower — worked like a charm! Very smart to repeat warnings across the 3 videos (if you can smell the CA you aren’t doing it right), knowing some won’t watch all 3. Fortunately, I’ll never know how much time and wasted material Craig has saved me. Thank you!
WOW, Craig!!! I just stumbled upon this tonight — this is GREAT!!! Probably one of the best tutorials on doing an inlay I’ve ever seen! So many practical tips/techniques I’d never heard before…wish I’d known about these earlier when I was doing my instrument inlays! THANKS!
Driftwood guitars brought me here.
Can someone clarify the material "kironite"?? Spelling? Suppliers? I don’t see this in a ‘net search so my spelling is likely wrong.
Thanks
This video is such an inspiration! Thanks so much!
Great video. Seems like a laser would save so much time.
Thanks for the video. You cover a lot of information without ever being boring. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to do this, but considering the tiny size of the drill bit I think I’d be unhappy about the amount of wobble in the chuck.
At the chance of never getting answered, could you not do say a logo backwards so the face is in less danger of getting compromised during the template removal?
Wooooaaaah Black Betty 8:24
holy cow this is truly master work
this is gold.
How to dissolve the glue when you can’t use acetone?
Wow Craig, that is most interesting and nerve racking as hell. That is a true art to hand cut the pearl or any of the materials and i’m sure takes many tries to get good. Well explained vid for head stock inlay.
Wow…!😮
Craig is an amazing tutor.
So much detail and precision. And patience!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
how to tune a saw :>>>
Nice marchetry. Have you ever seen the work of the late Phil Petillo?
Thanks so much for this great video. I’ve done some inlay work using pre cut geometric pearl shapes and other shapes from SM. Never had the confidence to cut my own, but years ago I was given some old beautiful pearl sheets that now I may try cutting. I was told how dangerous it is the breathe in the dust. G10 is used heavily for knife making which I am also familiar with. I also do engine turning like you see on the plates of an old pocket watch. I always wanted to a engine turned guitar inlay.
too many commercials
20:32
"I don’t want my blade b r e a k i n g…"
That little head move that he does shows ages of hurt from blades breaking and ruining everything.
You gents rock!
Thanks Craig. Three amazing episodes. I took a risk and did my inlay on an existing headstock. It’s turned out great. Not sure if I can share a picture ! I’ve gone for a logo that references a cocktail I quite like and think Bette Davis drank them as well !
Can you imagine how long it takes to earn this much experience and expertise??
Cant you get a laser machine that could do that more precise so as not to waste expensive materials .
This guy is awesome
I would follow a channel about this stuff religiously. Amazing!