Fender Custom Shop - No More Clay Dots

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9981
    tFB Trader

    The black ones are [fiberboard] ... but the white ones ... which fade to 'biscuit' or grey ... there is a lot of debate... There are stories that the dots were punched from white floor tiles ... or that they were made of celluloid nitrate ... all sorts of theories.
    I have read that the white ones fitted between 1959 and 1964 were fiberboard, just like the black ones, but then they moved onto 'lino' floor tiles for the white ones up to the CBS era.

    I'm not sure why people should get all excited a tiny bit of fiberboard or lino. I guess it is because people like the way they age, so giving a bit of the 'old guitar mojo', much like crazed 'nitro'?
    Interestingly the grey fibre-board I use for post CBS pickup bases is pretty much the right colour as faded markers from the get go ... not sure why fender couldn't use those that.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • TINMAN82TINMAN82 Frets: 1845
    Right, so it’s uncertain what a “clay dot” actually is in the first place and whether the original clay dots might have been bits of kitchen lino?!

    Think this one can be filed in the “who cares” drawer...


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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Cork sniffers will be swivel eyed, ever been on the Les Paul forum ? anal doesn't even begin to describe the fascination for inlays etc
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  • guitargeek62guitargeek62 Frets: 4066
    sweepy said:
    Cork sniffers will be swivel eyed, ever been on the Les Paul forum ? anal doesn't even begin to describe the fascination for inlays etc
    Yeah, but they're properly authentic...
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    sweepy said:
    Cork sniffers will be swivel eyed, ever been on the Les Paul forum ? anal doesn't even begin to describe the fascination for inlays etc
    Yeah, but they're properly authentic...
    Main thing I look for is period correct inlays, well after the slot width on the screws obviously, I'm not a savage.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26749
    sweepy said:
    Cork sniffers will be swivel eyed, ever been on the Les Paul forum ? anal doesn't even begin to describe the fascination for inlays etc
    Is cork an option for inlays? Does it smell good?! :D 
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    They'll be back but in a far more expensive "Historically Accurate" range of models. I estimate about £8k a pop.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9981
    tFB Trader
    Personally I can't see this drive for absolute 'authenticity' either ... MOP looks great and is hard wearing ... but then people get their panties in a bunch about the shape of the corners on PAF covers ... some people need to get out (and play) more.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18378
    Half baked idea.
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    tFB Trader
    Philly_Q said:

    A few years ago @WezV reliced a Fender neck for me, he wanted to experiment with clay dots - and used some old poker chips.  I don't know if they're similar to the original material.
    It looks okay but the Harvite chip material is more granular than old clay dots.
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9499
    So what are non-Custom Shop clay dots made of? Something like the MIM Classic 60s... just some generic plastic of the right shade I guess.
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  • mattacjonesmattacjones Frets: 503
    edited July 2019
    Will it affect the tone tho?
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  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    Jokes aside it will be interesting to find out what's caused them to discontinue these.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I hear they have swapped to Ali dots
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Good. Pearl is much nicer, always has been.

    Hopefully they’ll drop the hideous green pickguards next...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    Not authentic.
    It won’t work for my white boy blooz wailing.
    I will never buy a Fender product again...

    </sarcasm >
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • gavin_axecastergavin_axecaster Frets: 526
    edited July 2019 tFB Trader
    OilCityPickups said:
    Philly_Q said:
    That's a bit of an odd one.  Is there an environmental aspect?
    Aren't 'clay' dots just bits of compressed fiberboard?
    The black ones are ... but the white ones ... which fade to 'biscuit' or grey ... there is a lot of debate. I buy a lot of compressed fibre board ... it's what Strat and Tele pickup flat-work is made from ... and it's made in medium grey, black and rust red ... and as far as I've been told ... has never been made in white, which was the colour of the 'clay' dots when new. There are stories that the dots were punched from white floor tiles ... or that they were made of celluloid nitrate ... all sorts of theories.
    Isn't this pickguard made from white fibreboard? Supposedly an early prototype.The texture certainly looks like it in the first picture.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9981
    tFB Trader
    OilCityPickups said:
    Philly_Q said:
    That's a bit of an odd one.  Is there an environmental aspect?
    Aren't 'clay' dots just bits of compressed fiberboard?
    The black ones are ... but the white ones ... which fade to 'biscuit' or grey ... there is a lot of debate. I buy a lot of compressed fibre board ... it's what Strat and Tele pickup flat-work is made from ... and it's made in medium grey, black and rust red ... and as far as I've been told ... has never been made in white, which was the colour of the 'clay' dots when new. There are stories that the dots were punched from white floor tiles ... or that they were made of celluloid nitrate ... all sorts of theories.
    Isn't this pickguard made from white fibreboard? Supposedly an early prototype.The texture certainly looks like it in the first picture.
    I heard those were sprayed with white nitro  ... much like the prototype black ones were sprayed with clear nitro ... and the production Bakelite ones were clear lacquered also. Mind you ... unless you saw the back ... who knows 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16543
    Philly_Q said:

    A few years ago @WezV reliced a Fender neck for me, he wanted to experiment with clay dots - and used some old poker chips.  I don't know if they're similar to the original material.
    It looks okay but the Harvite chip material is more granular than old clay dots.
    just seen this.   i actually used two types of dots in my experiments.   Harvite and "composition".  they both acted the same way, but the composite  stuff used a finer grained material than the harvite  it was also paler but i think that was mostly from being younger





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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22516
    Good to see you back @WezV!
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