Frequently Asked Questions About Acoustic Instrument Construction: Position Markers

Subject: Seeking Answers to One of Life's Mysteries
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 14:34:01 -0700

Howdy.

You guys have been so helpful in the past. I have a question regarding one of life's mysteries: What is the background (nigh universal, it seems) of selecting what frets get marked/inlayed? Always the same frets get the little dots regardless of the manufacturer. What is the rhyme or reason behind this phenomena?

I, as well has a host of others, want to know!

Fondest Regards, Jim Llewellyn

Greetings Jim,

Glad to assist if I can:

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner on this one...I put it on hold until I could attempt some in-depth research. I couldn't find anything in my library...

This is truly an enigma...I'm not sure who set the standard. However, it does serve tremendous practicality. Imagine becoming accustomed to one guitar, your beginner level model, only to find yourself lost when purchasing a more advanced model.

Position markers on the fingerboards served other purposes as well...as I'm sure you're already aware...
1. For many makers...they serve as a signature and distinguish model from model...
2. They add a beautiful aesthetics to certain instruments...depending on the model. Usually higher end models will have more elaborate position markers.
3. Vintage collectors depend on many position marker references to determine the age of an instrument.

Thanks for submitting your questions...I will watch for any future references to the history of position markers and how they originated.

By the way, I used to know a Jim Llewellyn that worked as CEO of Fisher Electronics in Bano, California (Fisher is a metal detector manufacturer). I suspect you're not one and the same...even so, I know he also had an interest in acoustic music...we used to talk about David Grisman whenever we met up at metal detector gatherings.

Thanks again for your input...Mickey