Difficulties seeing the side dots on the neck on a dark or dim stage

Dave Merrill said:
In the dark?
Click to expand...
Yeah. The dots are bright white and can be easily seen on a very dim stage. I use it on some of my older PRS which have dots that don't contrast much with the rosewood fretboard. Obviously, you can't see them in complete darkness, but as long as there is a little light, which is much more typical on stage than complete blackness, it works great. It might wear off after a few gigs but it's easy enough to re-apply. Cheap and easy.
 
I cut small strips of black self adhesive vinyl and run them across the neck at frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12. That way, they're easily visible and, more usefully for me, I can feel them when I'm playing. I remove them once the gig is done.

Got this tip from Thomas Nordegg after having seen one of Steve Vai's stage guitars - works great!
 
Baked/roasted maple with black dots are the worst for me on low light stages. My old Peavey Wolfgang has a flame maple neck with black dots that I have no problem with but one of my newer EVH's have a roasted neck.
These days when building or purchasing guitars to tend to go with rosewood or ebony.
 
https://www.masecraftsupply.com/Moon-Glow_c_262.html

Masecraft supply is where I get my sheets of Moonglow for side markers. I've seen the small dots sold by other companies & I'd have to agree w/ AndyEagle that they just don't work well unless they get a good light charge. Even then, they're a bit small to hold the charge for long....

I've been using fiber optics for side dot markers in the instruments I build for the past 20 years.
So naturally when I found out about the Moonglow material my first thought was to backlight it w/ optics.
This way you can keep a charge to the Moonglow. It works great!
Also with backlighting, you can control the intensity of your glow. Zero to hero.

I've made some lap steels for a seeing impaired friend & the look on his face when he could see the position markers was priceless.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0254.JPG
    IMG_0254.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 52
  • IMG_0252.JPG
    IMG_0252.JPG
    2.9 MB · Views: 44
  • IMG_7454.JPG
    IMG_7454.JPG
    1.6 MB · Views: 47
  • XPHO8358.JPG
    XPHO8358.JPG
    2.1 MB · Views: 49
  • SRRB4611.JPG
    SRRB4611.JPG
    3 MB · Views: 55
I have a couple guitars with Luminlay side dots, and they're quite good once charged up; I would say they glow pretty nicely for 30 minutes or so, and if the stage lights hit them occasionally they recharge enough to get me through a show. That said, I really wish guitar makers would just incorporate fiber optic or LED position markers into the sides of the neck.
 
Planta Fantasma said:
https://www.masecraftsupply.com/Moon-Glow_c_262.html

Masecraft supply is where I get my sheets of Moonglow for side markers. I've seen the small dots sold by other companies & I'd have to agree w/ AndyEagle that they just don't work well unless they get a good light charge. Even then, they're a bit small to hold the charge for long....

I've been using fiber optics for side dot markers in the instruments I build for the past 20 years.
So naturally when I found out about the Moonglow material my first thought was to backlight it w/ optics.
This way you can keep a charge to the Moonglow. It works great!
Also with backlighting, you can control the intensity of your glow. Zero to hero.

I've made some lap steels for a seeing impaired friend & the look on his face when he could see the position markers was priceless.
Click to expand...
Do you have a website for your work?
 
Planta Fantasma said:
https://www.masecraftsupply.com/Moon-Glow_c_262.html

Masecraft supply is where I get my sheets of Moonglow for side markers. I've seen the small dots sold by other companies & I'd have to agree w/ AndyEagle that they just don't work well unless they get a good light charge. Even then, they're a bit small to hold the charge for long....

I've been using fiber optics for side dot markers in the instruments I build for the past 20 years.
So naturally when I found out about the Moonglow material my first thought was to backlight it w/ optics.
This way you can keep a charge to the Moonglow. It works great!
Also with backlighting, you can control the intensity of your glow. Zero to hero.

I've made some lap steels for a seeing impaired friend & the look on his face when he could see the position markers was priceless.
Click to expand...
Every time you post your work I'm floored. Even your routes for the fiber lines are lovely.
 
iaresee said:
Every time you post your work I'm floored. Even your routes for the fiber lines are lovely.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the compliments. I appreciate it.

I was very fortunate to have an apprenticeship under Steve Helgeson of Moonstone Guitars (RIP).
We made a lot of acoustic guitars during my time there. Steve had an emphasis on making them look as good on the inside as on the out.......

At some point, another luthier will have my instruments on their bench for a repair. I'd like to be known for doing quality work & not for being a hack. :)

Cheers!
Gabe
 
ruso said:
Do you have a website for your work?
Click to expand...
Thanks for asking, I don't have a website anymore or any social media at this point in time.
I should probably get an Instagram account setup again. Last time I had an account, the only people I attracted were weird ex-girlfriends. Lol!!!

Cheers!
Gabe

P.S. I've posted lots of pictures here on this forum. Feel free to check out any of those if you have time.
 
Planta Fantasma said:
https://www.masecraftsupply.com/Moon-Glow_c_262.html

Masecraft supply is where I get my sheets of Moonglow for side markers. I've seen the small dots sold by other companies & I'd have to agree w/ AndyEagle that they just don't work well unless they get a good light charge. Even then, they're a bit small to hold the charge for long....

I've been using fiber optics for side dot markers in the instruments I build for the past 20 years.
So naturally when I found out about the Moonglow material my first thought was to backlight it w/ optics.
This way you can keep a charge to the Moonglow. It works great!
Also with backlighting, you can control the intensity of your glow. Zero to hero.

I've made some lap steels for a seeing impaired friend & the look on his face when he could see the position markers was priceless.
Click to expand...

DUDE... 🤯

I'm going to steal that idea for my next build but holy crap there's no way it's gonna be as beautiful as that. Amazing work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom