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What size fingerboard inlay pearl dots do you order for a Martin style Dred. My ruler, both ins. and mm., seem to fall between the sizes listed in stewmac. Pals, Vic.

Vic: Can't answer your question specific to a Martin, but here are my thoughts. The fingerboard dots are more for decoration then use by the player. Player more likely to use side markers. Given that I like to use a variety of sizes, with the smallest at either the 3rd or 5th fret and then as you move up the board gradually increase in size until the 12th, use 2 mid sized dots for twelve and then let the rest decrease in size. This gives a repeat taper of the fingerboard and then a slight bit of contrast. Too many dots or too big of a size creates too much of a pull for the eye and tends to not one's vision take in the rest of the guitar. Just my opinion of course.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

...fretboard markers are also useful to other musicians who may be unfamiliar with a song, and so they refer to the other guy's fret hand and look at his chord shapes etc, with relation to the markers on his axe.....

Zip: Thanks for that ..........................never claimed myself to be a player.....!!!
Tom

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I like 1/4" up to the 12th fret and then 12 on 3/16". This is about the size of modern Martins. Older ones were larger. I wouldnt like them much smaller and no micro dots except on sides.

Taken off a mid 40's Martin D-28, The fifth and seventh fret dots are .285" in diameter. The ninth, twelfth, fifteenth and seventeenth are .250".

If its a new build I prefer diamonds and snowflakes.

For some reason, many suppliers don't have the largest Martin fretboard dots in stock. And some want you to buy 100 dots to get a decent price. One place that has all sizes, in manageable quantitates, is rescuepearl.com.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

LMI will have what you need.

Maybe check the Martin 1833 shop. They sell inlay sets
http://www.martinguitar.com/guitar-make ... _product=0

The Martin site does not list fretboard position dots other than side marker dots, though they might have them--you might give them a call; I've always found them friendly and helpful. LMI does not list the large 7.11 mm (9/32") Martin dot, although they will sell you nine 7 mm dots for $7.25, or about 80 cents each. Rescuepearl.com has both 7 mm and 7.11 mm dots singly for 55 cents each.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

Just to add one thing--I personally have never seen a Martin D-18, 21, 28, or 35 that had dots that didn't have a 5/16" dot at the 5th fret, 1/4" dots at the 7th and 9th frets, and 3/16th inch dots at the 12th, 15th, and 17th frets. The picture below shows this pattern on my 1969 D-35. That said, on the dread I am building now I'm using slotted diamonds and squares.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

I like a clean look so my dots get smaller as I go up the neck so that they don't seem too big for the distance between frets. For frets 3 and 5 I use 5mm, 7 and 9 get 4mm, and the rest get 3mm.

Chuck