Mandolin without marks on the neck

[morix]

My mandolin has no dots on the fingerboard or on the side of the neck.
Do I have to get used to it or is it better to add some?

[sblock]

It won't hurt -- and probably would help -- to add some dots to the side of the fingerboard, where only you can see them. You can do this temporarily with a pinprick-sized dab of hot glue, or nail polish, and see if you like these. You can even apply tiny bits of masking or painter's tape, and peel them off later.

[Marty Jacobson]

What about black Sharpie on every fret except the 5th/7th/10th/12th/etc? :-)
They sell stickers that look like pearl dots. They look fine from an arm's length. Acourse real pearl would cost about the same amount, not sure if you want to go drilling into your fretboard. That's scary no matter how many times you've done it.

[Ivan Kelsall]

A cautionary word regarding 'Sharpies'. I have a pair of high quality monitor loudspeakers with a built-in amp. attached to my PC. The amp. has tone & vol.controls,but there's no marks on them to show you the Vol. / Bass / Treble settings - so i decided to add some. The speakers are black,so i used a silver sharpie to mark the settings. Whatever the solvent is in the sharpies,it disolved the plastic on my L/speaker controls. Where i'd put the mark is now impressed into each control. No real problem,but before you try it out on a mandolin neck where it will be visible,try it somewhere where it won't be,
Ivan

[sblock]

Yeah, avoid Sharpies unless you want permanent marks. Tiny dots made from blue painter's tape and applied to the binding can work surprisingly well. They last about a month or two, unless you're prone to wrapping your entire hand around the neck, and manage to dislodge them. In which case, you might need to work on your left-hand technique!

If you wind up liking them, you can later decide to install permanent dots. An easy way to do that is just to drill a shallow hole and fill it with black stuff, like ebony dust or shoe/nail polish. Or, you can buy 'professional' dots to inlay (ebony, abalone, pearl, whatever) and install these with CA glue.

[Jim Garber]

I much prefer the side markers to the front of the fretboard. I generally can't see most of the fretboard front unless I crane my neck into a painful position. However, the only time I really need the dots at all is for upper positions and then maybe only at 7, 10, 12.

[mandroid]

I paid a proper instrument tech he drilled little holes in the upper edge and put little white plastic dots in.
@5,7, 10 & 2 @ 12th

[Marty Jacobson]

Normal black Sharpie comes off with isopropyl alcohol, just sayin'.

I paid a proper instrument tech he drilled little holes in the upper edge and put little white plastic dots in.
@5,7, 10 & 2 @ 12th

Just make sure they know about mandolins having it at the 10th fret, since guitars have it at the 9th fret.

[William Smith]

Its all about feel my brothers! Side dots we don't need no stinkin side dots! Clarence and Tony didn't need them on their guitar, well on the board anyway don't know about the side dots on that ole battle axe?

[JeffD]

Its all about feel my brothers! Side dots we don't need no stinkin side dots! Clarence and Tony didn't need them on their guitar, well on the board anyway don't know about the side dots on that ole battle axe?

So your saying that side dots will prevent me from playing more like Clarence and Tony?

And those who don't have side dots: if you don't sound like Clarence and or Tony, you must be doing something else wrong.

[sblock]

Normal black Sharpie comes off with isopropyl alcohol, just sayin'.

Just make sure they know about mandolins having it at the 10th fret, since guitars have it at the 9th fret.

Yes, black Sharpie comes off with several different types of alcohol. That's not the problem. The problem is that the solvent found in the Sharpie ink can 'melt' some types of plastic binding. If the binding has a finish protecting it, like polyurethane, you're fine. But if it's nitrocellulose or certain varnishes, then the Sharpie ink may reach through the finish to the binding and start to melt it, leading to a 'dimple.' That, or the black ink will simply diffuse down into the surface layers of the plastic binding, where no amount of alcohol will ever succeed in fully removing it. Hopefully, that clears up this point now!

[JeffD]

I have seen beginner violinists use these stick on dots to help them orient their fingers. One could use them on the side of the neck. At least until a more permanent solution is tried.

[Ivan Kelsall]

An easy & also easily 'replaced' solution, would to cut a very narrow strip of masking tape, & stick that onto the fingerboard binding. The marker positions can then be put on using a 'Permanent marker' pen. Over time,the marks (masking tape )may come off,but you can ink them back on again - or,replace the masking tape. It's only a temporary measure,but it's cheap,easily done,replaceable & will be fine until you decide on something more permanent. But - for in my opinion,don't put marks directly onto the mandolin unless you're 100% sure that you won't do any harm,
Ivan

[Eric Platt]

Every once in a while I think about putting dots on the side of either of my old Gibson A models. The unbound necks were never given side dots. Most of the time I don't need 'em. But when working out a new tune, it's sometimes nice to have.

Did drill holes and insert plastic dots on my Strad-O-Lin genre beater. It's a short scale and screwed up my fingering for a couple of weeks. No problem since then. But it's more just getting used to it.

[William Smith]

So your saying that side dots will prevent me from playing more like Clarence and Tony?

And those who don't have side dots: if you don't sound like Clarence and or Tony, you must be doing something else wrong.

I'm just being an idiot Jeff, no worries.

[morix]

Thank you to all for your excellent suggestions!
That of Ivan seems particularly interesting .
I guess it's best to choose a masking tape of a color nearest to the one of the side of the finger board?

PS: Please, excuse me of my faults of English : I am french

[DavidKOS]

Side markers work best for me.

[dadsaster]

I'm a lefty that converted a righty instrument. I used a dab of black nail polish to create side dots and they have held up for 3 years.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hello Morix - Masking tape is usually one colour ,Cream. As most fingerboard bindings are Cream,it should look ok. If your fingerboard is unbound,it should still look ok - it is purely an aid to learning the fingerboard positions until a more permanent solution is found.

As for your English - it's fine !. Far better than my French,

dadsaster - The solvent in nail polish is mostly Acetone,a substance that's notorious for dissolving plastics,paints & varnishes. It could be used to mark the masking tape strip that i suggested,but i'd honestly never use it directly on any binding or 'finished' surface. It worked for you,but i'd personally be hesitant in it's use. Used carefully,it could be a better idea than using the Permanent marker pen that i suggested,but i'd try it on a piece of masking tape first - just in case !,
Ivan

[Dave Fultz]

This place sells stick on inlays for instruments.
https://www.inlaystickers.com/
I’ve put a very nice looking alabaster rosette on a too plain uke. Looks very nice and is amazingly thin.

They do have fret board dots.

Here’s their side dot markers
https://www.inlaystickers.com/produc...t-side-markers

[ajh]

What I have done that really works out well is using a new/sharp drill with a small bit...make a small dimple in the side of the fingerboard with just the tip angle of the bit. Wipe on a bit of drywall patch compound into the divot. Wipe the surface clean. Practice on scrap first. No sealant required.

[ajh]

What I have done that really works out well is using a new/sharp drill with a small bit...make a small dimple in the side of the fingerboard with just the tip angle of the bit. Wipe on a bit of drywall patch compound into the divot. Wipe the surface clean. Practice on scrap first. No sealant required.

arggh....."using a drill with a small, new/sharp bit...."

[Ivan Kelsall]

I'd forgotten about the 'stick-on' inlays that Scootch mentioned,despite having mentioned them a few times myself - well remembered !!,
Ivan

[ukenukem]

For my Rogue I wanted side dots so I went to a big craft store and found a sheet of very thin plastic and a 1/8" hole punch. I think it cost about $6. I stuck the dots on at the usual frets then added brush on superglue to seal. All they had was grey but the mandolin is black with white binding so it came out fine.

Rogues are perfect for such modifications!

On another insttument I used tiny adheasive jewels. Also from the craft store. That was an instrument I did not mind the slight bump. Again sealed with brush on superglue.

[sbhikes]

Post-it notes adhesive is the least damaging. You can just cut a small bit of the post-it note containing the adhesive.