Fern inlay

[mandolinquent]

Hey guys...I'm getting an abalone fern on my new BRW and I was wondering what do most people do, get the dots and brand in abalone or MOP. I've been looking at some pics of some gibson ferns, but its kinda hard to tell. Ben says an abalone fern with MOP dots/brand is kinda unconventional, but he'll do whatever I want. I'm thinking if I get it all abalone, it will be too much, but if I go with MOP it will look weird.

[Scotti Adams]

...whats your gut feeling?...this is your mando...not ours..the only person who needs to be happy is you..Ive got an Abolone Fern/Logo with MOP dots and it looks fine....only because I had a face lift on mine..it used to have a MOP Flowerpot....I usually go with my first instinct...and just live with it.. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[doublestop]

My Custom Yellowstone has abalone fern and MOP dots as well. It looks great!

[Tom C]

<span style='color:orange'>I'm not sure what mine has as there are many varieties of abalone. Green,red, etc.
I think the colorful stuff gets lost in the peghead. Mine is white and light greyish (I guess MOP). The "BRW" looks lighter across the top and gets ever so slightly darker at the bottom. It probably was not intentional just the nature of the piece used and it looks great.</span>

[Bluegrass Boy]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but abalone shell is one type of mother of pearl. MOP is the shell of several types of mullosk, abalone being one of them. I'd say just get samples of the material and use whatever looks right together.

[Tom C]

Correct, Both are inside lining of shells. Abalone comes from abalone and MOP comes from oysters.

[mandroid]

Why not both? flowers aren't usually the same color as the vase.
Abalone has more color variants, red, blue , green.
the creature with 2 shell halves vs one shell and a big foot, mollusks all.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[jim_n_virginia]

I have a very colorful abalone fern on my Flatiron and white MOP dots on the fretboard and I love the way it looks.

[Chris Baird]

I think this puts an end to the idea that mop doesn't go with abalone. I hope you don't mind Jim.

[Bob Sayers]

I think that the fern inlay on the pegheads of my two Gibsons is abalone and the logo is mother-of-pearl. Interestingly enough, the abalone on my 2004 Varnish Fern is a variegated combination of red, yellow, green, and blue colors. The abalone on my 2003 Wayne Benson Fern is almost uniformly blue, which against the ebony overlay and satin red finish on the body of the instrument is strikingly handsome.

Bob

[Yonkle]

I used Abalone on my fern inlay, and MOP on the fretboard and initials.
I used abalone dots on my first mandolin, and they are too dark, can't see them in certain light. JD