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New here. Hi all.
I have an 87 set neck Carvin with ebony board and MOP block inlays. Some of the inlays have shrunk and are raised up above the fretboard surface. They are not falling out, but I believe that they have loosened. When I tap on them, they sound hollow compared to the inlays that haven't shrunk. I would like to save the inlays.

Does anyone know of a good way to fix this?
Also any info on why only some inlays do this?

It's probably the ebony that shrinks and push the inlays out. Begin by apply some lemon oil on the fretboard to hydrate it, and then see what it's doing.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

MOP won't shrink, so if it's MOP then you're looking at wood movement. Are you dead sure it's MOP and not MOTS, though? If it's yellowed at all during that time it's a dead giveaway it's not MOP, or you could try to nick the edge or scratch the top with a scalpel. MOP is really hard and won't cut or scratch without really high pressure.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

They are not yellowed and are very hard like sea shale.
Carvin claims they only used Mother of Pearl or Abalone.
Looking at them through a magnifier, the ebony board is not tight against the edges of the inlays. Not a wide gape around them either. Also there are no fret end issues.
The board isn't dry.
Maybe the glue has just started to let loose.

Is there a good way to get them out without braking them? They do look to be pretty thick.
If I can get them out, then I can clean up the board, re-glue, and fill.
I'm just worried that I will brake them or damage the board doing it.

Or is there another technique that will work?

Thanks.

Yep, sounds like shell.

If you're going to re-install them anyhow, then why not fix them in place? Fill the gap around them with one of the standards like CA or epoxy and dust or whatever you're most comfortable with and then re-level them to the surrounding area with a rigid sanding block.

_________________
Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Cool.
I'm not sure exactly how thick they are. Some are popped up as much as .016 though.
Should I press and clamp the inlay down, then fill & glue around the edges?
Or just fill, glue, and sand.
I would hate to sand through.

You want to get it down as far as you can unless you're certain of the thickness. I'd be very surprised if the shell was any thinner than 0.04", and it's most likely 0.05" or 0.06", but there's no reason not to save yourself some risk AND some sanding time by getting them as far into their pockets as you can before you tack them down.

_________________
Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Bad news.
One of them has popped up enough to where I can see the bottom of it.
Using a feeler gauge, it looks to be no thicker then .020.
At this point, I'm thinking if I push on them, or even try to sand, they will crack.

I was thinking of heating, or maybe steaming them loose, but I am no inlay artist, and don't have the tools nor the experience to cut new ones.
Although I would like to learn.

What do you think?

I assume that's at the outside edge? That'd mean the blank was about 0.05" unless they had curved shell inlays for some reason, so you can try and make a decision on which to press down and which might need to come out based on that.

_________________
Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Thank you bigtime for all the help with this Bob.
What is the best way to get the inlays out?

Also, if I happen to mess one up, do you know of a good source for replacement?

This isn't guitar related, but I would really love KennyD's username if the last was only a few more letters down the line.

Inlay problem fixed with the help of Sully on JCF.
I pulled the frets, took it over to Sully's, and he fixed it right up.
The glue had failed, and some of the inlays lifted right out.
He cleaned out the glue and deepened the pockets, glued them back in with CA, filled with ebony dust/CA, and sanded them flush.
Learned a few new things. This was much simpler than I thought.

Time for me to get to work. New frets .110/.053, and new nut.
Then I will have to make a decision.
Gold hardware/creme pups, or black hardware/black pups.

Plug
http://www.youtube.com/user/jsullysix#p/a