OT - Guitar Inlay Help Needed

[Joe Hart]

The trapezoid inlays on my Epi Les Paul are lifting (it's about 13 years old). I tried super glue with a syringe and it helped for a few weeks. Any ideas? Thanks.
-Joe Hart

[Ansil]

remove them joe.   and do some light sanding to remove any residue left over.  adn then apply 5 minute epoxy and lampblack to fill in the edges.  apply clamp  the gutiar neck kind.

thats what the pros do

[Travis]

This generally happens one of two ways:

the inlays curl
or
the glue loses purchase and the inlay comes off at an angle.

From your first post, it seems that you did not use a clamp.  If you can still push the inlay flush with the fretboard, just use your CA syringe, wipe overflow, and clamp the neck.

If not:

If it is curling, then you will probably have to use epoxy.  If it is straight, or somewhat flexible, CA is definitely easier on both the guitar and on you.  It is much easier to remove a bad CA job than a bad epoxy job.

Remove the inlay, and sand the old glue from both the inlay and the cutout.  This may, in itself be more than you want to do to save the inlay.
After preparing the surfaces, you will want to make a caul of some sort to ensure that the inlay is clamped flush to the fretboard.  Glue, clamp, and LEAVE IT ALONE.  That is really the most important step.

If you have any more problems with it, try the mimf forum.  They can occasionally be a bit brusque, but are a very good resource.

http://www.mimf.com/