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John Hall has dropped a video to his YouTube site showing how to inlay pearl along the edges of a bound, fretboard. It is such an incredible addition to the appearance that I wanted to try it. After a couple of so-so attempts, I asked John for advice. In typical John mode, he explained the process to me and said, oh hell, I’ll make a video about it in the morning. Sure enough, it’s there today.
Following his instructions, it took me about 15 minutes to get my table saw dialed in exactly where I wanted it and about 10 minutes to cut the board. You can do it faster with experience, but, this was my first attempt and I kept stopping to check the fit. I can’t believe how easy this was and how perfectly it turned out compared to my previous hare brained attempts. I can’t recommend this any stronger if you want to add a little extra glamour to your fretboard/neck. Thanks to John for always wanting to “pay it forward” (and don’t forget Glen).😂

here is the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RctLZUkd_cM

Thanks John for another awesome video! You are very generous with your time and knowledge. It is appreciated!

we are here to share

Nicely done on the fretboard. I haven’t watch the video through to the end but am assuming you are not cutting the frets slots through the pearl as the fret barbs would get hung up on the hard edge.

Also it seems to me for a finished look one would want to continue the theme around the headstock too.

You are correct, you need to create clearance for the fret tang to go through the pearl. I use a die grinder and a 0.031” bit to cut a tang slot on each edge.
I also plan to inlay and bind the headstock on this project.

Typically for a bound and purfled fretboard you just cut a portion of the tang off using a tang nipper. Then the end of the fret rests on top.

when you do the pearl strip , I open the slot before gluing in the binding so I have more tang contact and we add a drop of glue ( tite bond original) to help. It acts more like a filler

Good replies! I’ve done several cross fret inlays and have to make room for the fret tang. This has the same issues and it’s good to think about before hand.

It reminds me of the Taylor Koa Builders edition guitars where they run a strip of koa down the edges of the fretboard.

All that said it looks so attractive I think I’ll do that on my next guitar.

Steve,
I prefer notching the pearl and gluing the tang into the pearl slot as opposed to clipping off the tang over both the binding and the pearl. In my experience, when I’ve removed that much tang, the fret ends can get a little wonkie looking, and not seat tight against the binding. But, your mileage may vary.😂