Help me in deciding?

[Andy DePaule]

I am having a custom Pedal Steel Guitar made by Mullen company for me.
The guitar will have all the aluminum parts highly mirror polished.
Not only those parts but also the covering instead of being Formica will be mirror polished aluminum. The effect will be an all silver steel guitar.

I did not want them to use the standard fretboard with Yellow, Red, Grey and Blue position markers. Instead I wanted one of their older ones that were Black with silver position markers. They no longer can make or have those in stock.
I told them I’d be willing to have one made and send it to them.
I know of a place that make signs from polished brass or polished stainless steel.
Being the great people they are, they agreed to let me do that.
I decided to try to design a fretboard for the guitar and came up with these.
I came up with these possible designs to their specifications and did these virtual images of them.
The first virtual image is fretboards in Black with polished Silver frets and position markers.
It is also possible to do a reverse image with fretboards in Polished Silver with Black frets and position markers.

Now for your input;
Please let me know which you all like best and post a response to help me decide because I like all of them. On all of them I enlarged the “Mullen” name to fill both bottom frets instead of the standard smaller name on just the last fret.
Left to right they are as follows;
.1. Standard original Mullen position markers,
.2. This is an older National design using roman numerals.
.3. This is a[parts of an older Banjo design called Ribbons And Bows.
,4. This is a[parts of an older Banjo design called Hearts And Flowers.
Above is the Black & Silver and below is the Silver & Black reversed image.

I am going to have this made very soon so I look forward to your ideas?
Thanks for your help,
Andy

[Richard Sinkler]

On a polished aluminum guitar, I would choose a black fretboard. I think a white fretboard would get lost against that finish. I like the fretboard on the far right and the 3rd one next.

[Andy DePaule]

Okay Richard,
So you like the Banjo styles.
Only the upper deck will be Black Formica and the lower deck Silver.
Think you may be right about the Black boards.
Thanks.

[Tucker Jackson]

Those are nice looking fretboards. I think the silver ones will make it hard to see the strings -- especially since they have those gray streaks running through them. Maybe some folks with the white Sho-Bud boards can pipe up and let us know if that's an issue.

As for patterns, all great looking, but I think #1 edges out the others for a really minor reason: the 2nd octave pattern of that one looks easiest to navigate. On the other three, even though they have distinct patterns from fret to fret, they all kind of visually 'run together' when they get small in that 2nd octave. Meanwhile, the way the pattern on #1 gets wider as you play up the neck is easier to differentiate in the heat of battle. But it's such a small issue that it shouldn't knock the others out of consideration if you really like another pattern better.

Black #1 would be my choice.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Since you haven't been playing a Mullen, the fret markers may not be as important. In my case, I would choose the black original Mullen icon fret board.

[Andy DePaule]

Thanks again Tucker,
Yes I agree with most of what you said.
Would not be white, but polished stainless steel.
Andy

[Andy DePaule]

Thanks Jerry,
Actually I had a SD-12 Mullen years ago when the fretboards were Black and silver.
But good point.
I never should have sold it, but was getting frustrated with my playing back in 1996.

[Rick Barnhart]

Not knowing how reflective the polished fretboards will be, I will tell you I once owned a Fender lap steel, the fretboard had a reflective mirror like quality. That was the most distracting thing ever, it was useless. If it was mine, I'd choose the black fretboard #1with polished original style Mullen fret markers, as a nod to the builder.

[Andy DePaule]

Thanks Rick,
Good point.
Yes they would have been high polished.
So far only one person has liked those.
Everybody else likes the Black boards with the silver markers and frtts.
Looks like I'll be going with black.
Best wishes,
Andy

[Jerry Overstreet]

Andy, your name is one I recognize from the late 70's in the old Steel Guitarist magazine articles? Right?

Fret boards, if you aren't thrilled with Mullen's original design markers, hearts and flowers is hard to beat on any instrument. Good luck with your design and I'm sure any of them will look fine on your new Mullen.

Congratulations on choosing a great guitar from a great company.

[Donny Hinson]

Good luck with that polished aluminum body. I think reflections in your eyes and the eyes of the audience may cause you problems. I would think that outdoors, on TV, and in larger indoor venues (where you have spotlights and laser effects) people are going to complain about the reflections. One famous guitar player back in the '60s was playing the Steel Pier in Atlantic city with a chrome-plated guitar, and they made him dull the surface with Bon Ami cleanser so the spotlight reflections would not bother the audience.

As far as your fretboards go, I like the old black National design, with the Roman numerals.

[Andy DePaule]

Thanks Donny,
Actually my playing talent is not such that I'm going to end up in big venues with spot lights, so I don't need to worry about that.
Plus I always have my other guitar which is still very good made of black walnut.

I also liked the Roman Numerals a lot, but so far it's just you and me.
Most people like best the third one next to it with the Ribbons and Bows style.A;so the steel I rebuilt last summer has the National markers inlaid in the fretboard.
Thanks again.

[Tony Glassman]

Andy, all 4 black boards look nice. I would avoid the polished silver boards because of: (a) glare and (b) the reflection images of the strings may become confusing. (I can envision a double-course effect similar to that of a 12-string acoustic guitar).

[Andy DePaule]

Hi Tony,
Think your right about that.
I'm already half blind in one eye and silver strings agains the silver fretboard could be a night mare.
Looks like most people like the third one from the left in Black back ground.
My girlfriend also and she get extra votes.
Andy

[Tom Gorr]

My vote for the Roman numeral on black base.

Great artistic work btw.

I also do not care for the idear of an aluminum mirrored guitar.

First issue is the guitar will not look like itself. .. it will be a reflection of everything around it.

Second... aluminum oxidizes to a dull finish... and the oxidation isn't always uniform.so it will look a bit grungy unless you are constantly polishing it or it has some kind of anti ox film on it.

If you are wanting a really unique finish, look into drum wrap. Some drum wrap suppliers I believe can make custom patterned wrap to your design. With your obvious skill in design I am sure it would exceed anything any of us have yet seen.

[Per Berner]

The Roman numerals look extremely cool. I'm nicking that idea for my lapsteel build!

But if I were you, I'd drop the Mullen logo from the fretboard, it messes up the design. Having it on the front apron is enough.

[Dave Grothusen]

Other than wanting to have a one of a kind of your own design there is nothing wrong with the std Mullen FB

[Larry Jamieson]

I like the black board with design #3, Ribbons and Bows...

[Clark Doughty]

My vote for the Roman numeral on black base.

[steve takacs]

Andy I know this is not a choice but like this Williams fretboard with your steel. Steve t

[Andy DePaule]

Well after agreeing to let me design and supply my own fretboard I did that at some expense in time and effort.
Sent it along with others that had their name "Mullen" on them to Mike because I'd agreed not to sell any with that.

However, it seems when Del came into the shop and saw them he didn't want any but his own design used.
So when the guitar arrives I will need to rip that off and put my own on it.
Not a big deal, but was disappointed in them going back on something we agreed on.
Well, stuff happens.

I also decided to upgrade my order from an RP model to the G2.
May as well get the best they have to offer.

I have already bought gold tuner knobs to match the fretboard and the roller nuts they use. Love the look of gold and silver together.
This is what it looks like;



While it was here at the house I laid it out on my own steel to see how I liked playing with it, and I loved the way it looked.
Easy to use even though the pattern is not the same on the 3rd fret to the 9th as the 15th to the 19th.
It is a knock off from the old Hearts and Flowers Banjo inlay set.
I've now had orders for four more with the peoples names in the bottom.
Can do them to any scale and numbers of strings. I'm designing a number of them to pick from and have ordered a dozen in silver and gold without any names to sell to whoever likes them. Will do more designs in the future if there becomes a reasonable market for them???