Here’s a beautiful example of a mint Manuel Contreras classical made 1991
Typical of handmade classical guitars, there’s no side dot markers. I’ve devised a technique that matches the quality of the build.
First I carefully measure and drill the spots for the 2mm dots at the 5th and 7th frets. Using a homemade awl and a stainless steel brad point bit, the dots have to be on the money.
I then select two Mother of Pearl dots that match in color and radiance. Installing them requires superglue, tweezers, and a small brass hammer. At this point they have been flied down to the surface of the finish.
Here the side of the fingerboard has been prepped with padded sandpaper up to 4000 grit.
Here the side of the fingerboard has been prepped with padded sandpaper up to 4000 grit.
After a few moments with some Menzerna compound and carnuba wax, you can’t tell they were ever installed after the build.
This guitar is about as new as they come.
