Custom Inlay Design

Chubby Dragon offers custom inlay design and the actual inlay itself at prices less than the cost of just the inlay from most craftspersons. We can do this in any of several ways, for example; let us say you are having a mandolin custom built for yourself and wish a custom design, perhaps something like you see below. Chubby dragon can, with a deposit, submit a design to you and, once accepted, execute the inlay. To insure absolute precision, the craftsperson building your mandolin would send us the pre-shaped ebony headstock veneer with tuner holes pre-drilled. We will return it with the inlaid design. On the other hand, if you were having a custom banjo built by us, we could install the custom design here. Below are some of the custom designs we made in the past, (for other designs - see the instrument artistry page - just click the bottom button on the left-side navigation dialog box).

1. Here is an example of a drawing-actual inlay of the drawing into a rectagular piece of ebony. Next view the headstock of a custom banjo using this inlay in the headstock.
2. Here is the actual headstock which originated from the drawing above when the rectangular piece was cut into the shape of the peg head. The rim to be used is a #3 Yosco from 1915.
3. Here is another example of a dragon inlay I designed for a banjo headstock. The inlay is executed in pearl, abalone and copper strips to acentuate the body-part divisions below the head. Flames are shown coming from the mouth of this somewhat fierce-looking dragon.
4. On the resonator of same banjo as shown in example #3, which by the way was made from the brakedrum of an auto (as were West Virginian Jenes Cotrell's banjos), a multi-pearl butterfly design is shown against an ebony and burl veneer background.
5. Florentine (F-model) mandolin headstocks offer an interesting shape upon which to create inlay designs. I have created at least two designs so far that fit this type non-symmetrical shaped headstock. This dragon-centered design features a more slender dragon grasping onto one of three stems coming from the flowerpot below. Another floral-centered design features A.C. Fairbanks-Vega inspired motifs that flow into the florentine shape headstock.
6. A slim Mandolin pickguard design mounts on the fingerboard side. Small, but nonetheless an effective "flow" occurs within this lion-vine design.