Official Luthiers Forum!

Anybody ever bought from "Inlaidartist" on Ebay? Most of his stuff is way ovet the top for me, but he has a few real nice pieces at great prices, great feedback. Seems legit. Thoughts?

Ebay inlay

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

I have a fretboard that I believe is Tony's. In fact it came from an auction on this forum. It's well done, very little filler, and the inlays themselves are very intricate. The ebony itself is somewhat scratched, but can be buffed out alright. The only concern I have is not knowing the actual thickness of the inlays, how much room I have to clean up the board. Also, the board's already tapered so slotting will be a bit more involved, but do-able. (Is that a word?). I'd say give him a try on one, and then you're not out that much if you're not satisfied. If you are satisfied, let the everyone on the forum know!

Larry

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

His inlay designs are nice but the inlay is PAPER THIN. I will never buy any more of their products. I bought some rosettes and they were .003" thick and a headstock veneer which I sanded through BY HAND!!!

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I had him do my logo on a 2 peghead ebony veneers and it turned out nice, but the ebony wasn't the highest quality, but it worked. No complaints here.
Tracy

Please don't take this as bashing. I have seen this person's work in ebay- NEVER in person..
I can say this though- most Eastern, and far Eastern inlay is done at .02 thickness.
Most Western inlay artists work at .o4 to .06 on average.

Your getting something that's almost overlay at some point, and is extremely fragile.

Please correct this info if it's wrong!
C.Lavin-

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Thanks for the info, guys. I sent him a message and specifically asked him the thickness. Just kind of an integrity check. I may still pick up a headstock overlay just to check him out without much money invested. At least the finish would offer some protection as long as I could keep from trashing before it got that far. I would be much less likely to buy a fingerboard based on what I'm hearing here.

BTW, love your stuff, Craig. Been a fan of your work for a while now.

Wes

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Good luck finding something that you like. Many of the Eastern inayers are doing amazing stuff. Amazing that it's so thin, as well as artistically. Andy Depaul has some great new things since he's been back from Vietnam. You should check him out. www.luthiersupply.com

Craig L.

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Wes,

I'll vouch for Andy DePaule as well. Great guy, great prices, and great service.

Larry

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

All my pearl is from Dave Nichols of custom pearl in NY. 518-483-7685. All top quality. he does alot of Martins custom work. Great guy and good stuff at reasonable prices

Wes - I don't mean to pile on here, and divert your thread, but I also concur, DePaule makes some very nice stuff - as does Custom inlay, I just recently bought one of DePaule's Waymann Vines to inlay, its very cleanly cut, and nice and thick, there is enough there to inlay flat, and then radius the board. I have mixed feelings about the fella on ebay, if indeed the fret board that Larry won here at the OLF auction was from him, it was pretty darn good, on the other hand, I bought a "high grade ebony overlay" with a flower inlaid, guess it took 2 WEEKS to do, it cost 12 bucks, when I got it, I swear it was inlaid into pine stained black with ink! Its crap wood what ever it is. So needless to day, I'm was not very impressed, if he called this "High grade ebony" then what else will he say?

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Well, just for the record, I'm not positive my board is one of Tony's. I think it probably is just from looking at his work up next to my board. He has billions of comments in his feedback on Ebay, and as expected with that kind of volume, some of it is negative. Some deals with s/h issues, some with quality. Lance, I'd be pretty turned off on the guy if I got the deal you did! You deserve a refund and an apology. I've seen Andy's vine also, it's VERY nice and reasonably priced as are all of his products. THis is one of the reasons I'm glad we have this forum...it's harder to get a bad deal when you're informed!

Larry

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I wouuld check with Andy DePaule. Great work, real top quality pearl

I have done alot of work with Tony, both buying some of his pieces on eBay and having him do a custom inlay for me.

Tony is a Asian inlay artist and as Craig and others have said much of Asian inlay is actually overlay as that is what is traditional in Chinese furniture where the inlay is floated in lacquer (think black or red chinese laquer).

Having said that, if you contact Tony he is easy to work with a quick to please. When I asked him for inlay at the thinkness we are used to, he supplied it with no problems.

Another issue when buying fingerboards and headstock inlays from Asian suppliers is that their climate is mostly tropical so it is easy to run into cracking and splitting with ebony items. One of the reasons why you will see more Rosewood as the base wood that is inlayed rather than ebony is a matter of stability. This is true of not only Tony but most asian sources. When I receive wood from Asia, I try to keep it either wrapped up to gradually acclimate or seal the ends with anchorseal or another sealer.

With Tony and other Taiwanese inlay artists that list on eBay, in general their most expensive pieces are very well done and quite intricate. If anything they are too ornate for most western tastes. On the other hand, the lower priced items are more likely than not to be farmed out to others that will do the work cheaper than the main artist.

Just as in Spain you can walk into Ramirez or any other makers shop and find top quality pieces done in the masters shop, they will also have much lesser quality guitars that are student quality that are done by other shops but carry the Ramirez name. In Asia is the much the same, but there it is less clear who does what work.

If you get a piece that is an inferior wood that is dyed, take up the issue with the seller and insist. I can only speak for Tony but when he heard I was displeased with a piece he not only replaced it, he sent a better piece that he did personnaly at no charge.

That is why you can find a large range from really amazing work to stuff that is very poor quality. With Tony, if you tell him you are not pleased with an item he will replace it without question.