vintage Martin fretboard markers

I was admiring my Martin Style 1 and looking at the tiny fretboard markers and wondering what material did they use ? Does anyone know for sure ??

Looks to me like it was celluloid which I doubt you can get. I cheat and use 1.5mm pearl...

I drilled small holes in my dotless martin fretboard and filled them with off-white magic-sculpt clay. Works well.

I also considered buying a set of "side" fret markers for a guitar and inlaying those. They are the tiny dots set into the top side of a guitar neck. They might look great.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Inlay,_pearl/Pre-cut_inlays/Pre-cut_Side_Dots.html

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Structural/InlayDots/dots1.html

Or these little guys:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Inlay,_pearl/Pre-cut_inlays/Gold_Pearl_Dots.html

Looks to me like it was celluloid which I doubt you can get. I cheat and use 1.5mm pearl...

Click to expand...

Maybe guitar picks??
I wonder how useful they might be, they are pretty cheap for a bunch of flat celluloid, and some nice colours as well.

davidp

Most likely it is celluloid. You can still get celluloid from a number suppliers in the US but the prices have become elevated, and suppliers fewer, because the shipping companies have labeled raw celluloid as a hazardous material so you have to pay a flat fee to ship it regardless of how much you ship. There are a few companies who don't charge that fee. Of course, it doesn't make much sense because those fees aren't attached to products that have celluloid on them. Most side dots are ABS plastic.