At the risk of cries of 'Sacrilege' I've just added some (easily removable) 'C' markers to my 1985 10 string Ironwood (#1642).

I got a couple of sets of 'Mother of Pearl' style guitar inlay sticker, one set just dots (large (~6mm?) & medium dots for the standard 'inlays', plus some small dots for the side of the neck), and another set of 'bird' inlays. Inspired at least partly by the numbers of type of each sticker style I decided to use size or 'bird type' (flying or sat) to also indicate the octave. I used the seven 'medium' dots for the seven C3's, and the smallest dots for the C5's. My idea was to use 'flying birds' for the C4's (middle C), but on a 10 string 2 of those are 'edge' strings where there wasn't enough width, so in those two cases I used 'large' dots. A sitting bird is the one 'stickerable' C2 - the C2 on the low bass string at the 12th fret didn't get a sticker as the 'real' 12th fret inlay dot occupies the space.

I've only had one practice with the newly decorated Stick so far, but I think I'm going to like the idea...



I'm now wondering if I can find some 'Mother of Pearl' stripes or some such to use in place of my 'plain while tape' linear inlay substitutes. I think the white tape looks okay, but MoP might look better...

Tastes vary...

PS. The tuning is Baritone Melody, should the question arise...

Those look a lot better than the stupid office supply red dots I have marking the C's on mine!

I'd seen pictures of that sort of thing (& I think one that had a whole array of primary colour dots?). I guess that would be an extra incentive to improve to the point of not needing them? LOL!

However, I wanted to come up with something that I could comfortably live with till that point arrives (& maybe beyond, as Abby has done).

I rather like that the 4ths on melody, 5ths on bass, an offset tuning, and the different shapes, combine to give a pattern that might seem semi-random to the casual observer but that actually encodes useful data.

The first time I practiced after fitting them & did a little simple improv, I suddenly found myself wanting to make use of that extra data & tap an extra root note with my right thumb. Something I'd never even considered before!

Looks rather cool.

One of my students is using A dots rather than C dots on an SB8, tuned from low C# to high C. It looks really nice. Depending on your tuning, it might make more sense to use A dots...

Thanks Marty & Greg for the comments.


Based on a study of the dots visible in the video, I think that Abby is using a matched reciprocal tuning of some sort with the dots at E if MR or F# if RMR (so I'd guess it's MR)?

I supposed that 'octave markers' is a more generic term, with the base for the pattern being chosen to optimise the useful data for your tuning (and intended use)?

I think "Octave Markers" would make a great name for a band...
BTW I think those extra markers look really cool - on a dark wood Stick. They would not make it, on my bamboo.

'Inlay Stickers Jockomo' (https://www.inlaystickers.com/) do a wide range of designs, some are available in a range of colours but even so most of them do seem to favour a darker background?

The birds give flight to the music (and it looks pretty cool).