do you use the fret dot markers

tangimango

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You prefer or use the fret dot markers or non just like jake shimabukuro? I prefer the side dots on the neck.
 
I like the clean look and I prefer the side fretboard markers only when possible, and I use them.
 
I actually don't care whether the fretboard has them as long as they are on the side so I can use them to play. I will say I have had a guitar that had fret markers on the side of the fretboard that were so light that when I was playing outside at a late night gig, I could not see them. So, consequently, they need to be, for me, big enough to actually use.
 
+ 1 on only side markers needed.
 
Side markers are great when a uke has them. But it depends on the uke. On my Kiwaya concert the front dots are small and don't catch my eye. I added a single side dot at 7 on this uke. On my King soprano, the front dots are visible from above so side dots are unnecessary. My flea needs side dots because the black frets blend into to fretboard - my only complaint about stock fleas and flukes. Its a minor issue so I help off on a wood fretboard upgrade.
 
Depends. On an ebony fingerboard I really like the clean look of no dots - just deep, rich "blackness". However, on rosewood or others, I like the dots. The abalone inlays on my Koalohas are gorgeous and really set off the wood.

Mostly a cosmetic issue as I strive to play by feel and not looking but sometimes it is nice to have the "reference point" when making big leaps up and down the neck. To that end, I do what many others do with my Flea and put dots on the side with a silver Sharpie.
 
I never see the fret markers on the top, but I do use the ones on the side.
 
I never thought that I used the markers on the fretboard, but then someone loaned me a uke that didn't have them, and I realized that I missed them. I'm not quite sure how I look at them while I am playing, but evidently I do.
 
They sure do help when you are trying to figure out how to play something you're watching on youtube. :)
 
I use both side and top markers and I miss them when they're not there. My Martin doesn't have any side or top markers. I like the look, but miss the reference points. My Daughter's Luna Pineapple has triangle shaped markers on top that are easy to see behind the strings.
 
I have a couple fretless instruments I had made... I prefer the clean look of the neck not being cluttered with dots. The side markers I like, unfortunately, my eyeballs have a hard time seeing such small markers. When I had the instruments made, I had side markers made that were a 'bar' shape and were the width of the fret... easy to see, even in low light.
 
I also like side fret markers - the front ones are for the audience, not me.

I would like them at the 3rd fret, too, but all my ukuleles that have them start at the 5th fret.
 
Side dot markers? Heck, I couldn't even tell you if all of my ukes have them or not, I find them completely useless :) I don't really even notice the fretboard ones except on some sort of subconscious level - I do know that if I pay attention to them, I get mixed up when switching between my ukes with 12-fret and 14-fret joins. So I try to pay attention only to the ones at the 5th and 7th.

ETA some hours later: I think I just realized why I have never paid attention to side dot markers: Kamakas only have one side dot, at the 7th fret, even though they have fretboard dots at the 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th.
 
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yes, I do use them. Preferably the side dot markers, since those are more easily visible to the player.
 
I also like side fret markers - the front ones are for the audience, not me.

I would like them at the 3rd fret, too, but all my ukuleles that have them start at the 5th fret.

I have a uke with a 3rd fret marker, and I just find it to be needless, disorienting visual clutter. It's more helpful to have visual clarity, which the 5-7-10-12 arrangement provides nicely: not too little, not too much. I also have a uke with a marker at the 9th fret instead of the 10th, and as a result, I sometimes get that area of the neck confused with the area two frets down.

I would prefer that the highest marker on tenors and baris be placed at the 17th rather than 15th fret, echoing the 5th fret marker, which it matches in terms of note names. I don't get lost close to the 12th fret, I get lost higher up. It's also common for the body to join the neck around the 15th fret on these sizes, so putting a marker there is a bit redundant.

I definitely use the side markers. I have a uke with only one side marker (at the 7th fret), forcing me to peer over the fretboard to stay oriented higher on the neck.
 
My ukes don't have side markers, so I get a sore neck peering aroudn to see the fretboard markers, which are a waste, if I had side markers....
 
Yup. I can't even park my car in the garage without using my tennis ball on a string thingie that hits my windshield. Those dots sure come in handy as I learn 2nd and 3rd position chords.
 
Yes. Front ...side ...and I'd have them round the back as well, as I tend to move my ukes around a bit as I play them.....Not flashy just for comfort and reach....
 
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