Been doing it for years with fluorescent tape and a hole puncher. Used to have a tiny box of spares for touring. It’s a great trick. Nice of you to share it broadly.
I work at a luxury private jet manufacturer, and part of our engineer designed process for installing stickers (warnings, flight control labels, etc.) is to wipe with isopropyl alcohol, and wait 15 minutes for it to air dry before sticker application.
They should probably start making them in fluorescent green and yellow that also glow in the dark, package them to the guitar market, and get em up on sweetwater stat lol.
This is fantastic. I just got some fluorescent yellow gaffer tape on Monday to use for this very purpose. These dots look like a really nice, precut option. I have a flat black Xiphos with luminlay side dots, and no fret board markers. I can charge them with a UV flashlight and they'll be good for a couple minutes but will go dim again. When they're not glowing, they're a gray/dark gray on a black guitar. My teacher told me having them charge in sunlight for a half hour will get them through a set, but sun is not the common this time of year in the PNW lol
Bruce, thank you for this. The last show I did it seemed every time I went to play a solo the stage went pitch black! So I absolutely need something like this. And neon green for me!
I use this same exact method for my Music Man JP15 and can vouche that It's a lifesaver for near-dark venues. I think I've had this current set on my guitars for the last 3 years and still just as vibrant. Cool to see others using this method.
I’ve never had any issues with luminlays not lasting a whole set or longer. They get recharged by stage lights in general. It’s wild that your experience with them is so different
A few years back my wife bought me the Fret Zealot LED fretboard system for my Les Paul. It was a great gift because my memory isn’t the greatest and I’m more of a visual person when it comes to learning guitar. It’s great. It had a huge library of chords, scales, Guitar Pro song files and custom lessons that all light up as you play along. The great thing is I can figure out my set beforehand and I can create a set list and simply activate it when I’m playing on stage. It will show me my chord and scale positions on demand so I know exactly where I am. Also if you’re after a cheap low cost solution, you could simply drill out your side dots and use some uv resin coloured with some glow in the dark pigment and fill in the holes with the coloured resin. Best of all you can just put your guitar in its case with a fluorescent handheld uv tube light you can buy off Amazon and it’ll work great when you’re doing your set. Or you could just use a UV lamp on stage. It will react with the glow in the dark pigment.
Really helpful idea, even for bedroom players who want to play at night in a dark room. I wonder how well these would stick on a finished and/or unfinished fretboard. Any chance you’d be able to test that out, Fluff? You may also want to reach out to the company to tell them about this particular use case. It might help a family-owned business with targeted advertising to people who play a variety of instruments, stringed or otherwise. Perhaps they’d even be willing to speak with gigging musicians so they can develop more useful stickers like smaller sized dots for narrower necks and other shaped stickers/labels that would help musicians mark and label cables, pedal boards, cases, etc. that are easier to see in the dark. I’m actually wondering how well these might work for my leather service dog harness to help increase his visibility at night when his clip-on LED lights get lost or go dead. Great find!
I'm still using the sight dot paint you recommended. I actually drill out my dots and fill them with super glue and sight paint, then Redrill and fill every few months.
As a side note, you can also get inlay stickers for the fretboard to dress up boring dot markers. A VIetnam veteran friend of mine has pretty serious eye issues and got some stick on PRS-style bird stickers for his rosewood fretboards and is has enabled him to keep playing as his glaucoma progresses.
Wow!!! Thanks for the tip. I ordered a box of silver dots because I had a roasted maple neck with black side dotes that were invisible. They work so well, I applying them to my other guitars!
I’m SO glad You posted this. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my roasted maple neck guitars. I can’t even use them anymore cause I can’t see the black inlay dots. Thank you. I’m ordering today!!!
I don't understand how we're in 2024 now and it isn't common for guitars to have LED side dots... It's such a better fix for this problem and you could do it in several different ways that shouldn't even be complicated to do.
Ordered these from Your link and got them the next day. Applied them last night to all three roasted Maple neck guitars I have and it’s like having a new guitar!!! I can see where I’m at now. Great idea!!! Thank you so much for making this video and I believe this is the answer when you can’t see your neck❤❤
Thanks for this. I almost did the same thing with the glow in the dark paint for gun sights. They don't last long and they don't take damage will. I'll definitely be giving these guys a shot. Thanks again
I love knowing this. I havent toured in decades, but I still occassionally do work on friends g(or students) guitars who do. The idea of large dots that only the player can see is brilliant. In the near future, I'm gonna order some !
Bassist friend of mine uses two strips of that blue painters tape on the back of the neck. One by the 5th fret, the other probly 7th... then you just slide up till you feel it. Works in absolute darkness.
Good recommendation!! Luminlay on the neck of my guitar is pointless after 5 mins, I’ve been painting dots on them with Posca paint pens but those wear off pretty quick
This is funny coincidence cause I just played a gig last weekend on a dark stage and complained how I couldn’t see anything! Thanks for the recommendation!
You're doin' the Lord's work, Fluff. My Ibanez 1005SMS has those pesky dots and I don't ever expect to play out with anything that could charge them so they're nearly impossible to see in a dark office while I pretend to be a rock star in the evenings. I wish they made itty bitty 1/8" dots since 1/4" is a bit big in my opinion.
Gonna pick up a box of the fluorescent red ones for my RG550 in road flare red, I think I'll actually put these over the original black dots on the front of the fretboard to add a little more pizzazz.
Felt like i was back in elementary school XD Explaining how to stick a sticker onto something. The stickers look solid i have tiny ones from aliexpress XD If we can get them here without tons of shipping cost ill get some :) thanks for the vid.
exactly my problem. i have a guitar i can't use live because it's too different to other guitars and i over or under shoot for landing on the right fret.
Woohoo - looks like I can get them via Amazon all the way to Australia too. Supporting a small business is a great bonus. Great tip on getting the neck very clean and then using tweezers to apply. 1000 dots ought to last me for a while ..............
Amazon automatically takes 50% of money from sales, so if you're able to order direct from the company it's always the better option, helps support the little guy.
Glow in the Dark vinyl wrap and a 1/4" hole punch. The vinyl sticks way better than these stickers which fall off or come off with very little friction.
Can only get them in red in the UK! But it's a real problem - played a gig a couple of weeks ago at a new place and for a lot of the time I was just guessing where I was on the fretboard. Frightening!!!!
I bought these and put them on a bunch of my guitars. But the color came off after a couple hours of playing. Stickers still there, but lost all color.
Hey Fluff, I have the same kind of neck on my JP15 and I used glow-on and nail polish per your older video. It works pretty good, but I had to put another layer of glow-on over the nail polish and it’s created some tiny abrasive humps. I’d like to remove them and go this route with the stickers. Do you have any advice on removing the glow-on inlays?
i have left quite a few of my instruments oiutside then it rained….it also rained on 2 of my tube amps…luckily all was fine..I got lucky…My PA systen has been rained on 5-7 time…those PA speakers are fricken Tanks
I tried these and they did not work for me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they didn't stay put. I had cleaned my guitar prior to application but they still slid around. Secondly, they don't really work as fret markers for me. In a dark room/stage, you can't see them at all. I think lumen dots would be better even if they do run out of juice because these have zero juice to begin with. So light coloured lumen dots would give you the same as these in a semi dark environment but would also give you the luminescence when it's really dark. Finally, didn't really like the green aesthetic either. Gotta try or you'll never know though. I guess I now have around 988 green dots should I ever need that
I'm shocked no one has used tritium in side dots yet. Firearm companies have been using tritium in night sights for years. Watch companies use it as well. It glows without ever needing to be charged, and it has a half-life of 12 years, so it will continue to glow for a very long time.
Yeah, Warwick basses have LED lights too. one concern for me is I would want to use a resistor and run them at a lower voltage so they are not as bright.
@@raytorvalds3699 honestly I'm not sure. Did a quick Google but couldn't find an answer. Probably worth asking Framus/Warwick before buying. I imagine there'd be some way to replace them
I bought a roll and they are total crap. I think maybe he knows this is a Mom and Pop company because it's his Mom and Pop. A waste of time and money. I guess it's time to try Luminlays.
Way to promote a mom and pop company I hope they get a lot of more business because of it.
Thanks, Joshua! I love rooting for small businesses too!
-Andrew
Ah man, thanks so much. I’ve been trying other dots and they just don’t stay on maybe a couple of weeks.
I’ll definitely try these.
Mediumers... I am the type of settler settling for the mediumiest sized corporations... Hi Yaw!
I’m born and raised here in Kansas and it’s so awesome seeing a local shop get this recognition
Heeeey neighbor! Stop by and see us in St. Marys some time! And get lunch at Sugar Creek. 😋
-Andrew
Been doing it for years with fluorescent tape and a hole puncher. Used to have a tiny box of spares for touring. It’s a great trick. Nice of you to share it broadly.
I work at a luxury private jet manufacturer, and part of our engineer designed process for installing stickers (warnings, flight control labels, etc.) is to wipe with isopropyl alcohol, and wait 15 minutes for it to air dry before sticker application.
Perfect solution!
I hate to admit it, but I need these. Getting old sucks.
Haha You are old.
They should probably start making them in fluorescent green and yellow that also glow in the dark, package them to the guitar market, and get em up on sweetwater stat lol.
The blacklights at most venues would do that. At least for the punks.
This is fantastic. I just got some fluorescent yellow gaffer tape on Monday to use for this very purpose. These dots look like a really nice, precut option. I have a flat black Xiphos with luminlay side dots, and no fret board markers. I can charge them with a UV flashlight and they'll be good for a couple minutes but will go dim again. When they're not glowing, they're a gray/dark gray on a black guitar. My teacher told me having them charge in sunlight for a half hour will get them through a set, but sun is not the common this time of year in the PNW lol
Thats a great idea. I have used bright gaff tape to mark starting positions at last minute gigs.
Bruce, thank you for this. The last show I did it seemed every time I went to play a solo the stage went pitch black! So I absolutely need something like this. And neon green for me!
I use this same exact method for my Music Man JP15 and can vouche that It's a lifesaver for near-dark venues. I think I've had this current set on my guitars for the last 3 years and still just as vibrant. Cool to see others using this method.
I did this on all my guitars and basses after your first video that mentioned them. Love them!
I’ve never had any issues with luminlays not lasting a whole set or longer. They get recharged by stage lights in general. It’s wild that your experience with them is so different
A few years back my wife bought me the Fret Zealot LED fretboard system for my Les Paul. It was a great gift because my memory isn’t the greatest and I’m more of a visual person when it comes to learning guitar. It’s great. It had a huge library of chords, scales, Guitar Pro song files and custom lessons that all light up as you play along. The great thing is I can figure out my set beforehand and I can create a set list and simply activate it when I’m playing on stage. It will show me my chord and scale positions on demand so I know exactly where I am. Also if you’re after a cheap low cost solution, you could simply drill out your side dots and use some uv resin coloured with some glow in the dark pigment and fill in the holes with the coloured resin. Best of all you can just put your guitar in its case with a fluorescent handheld uv tube light you can buy off Amazon and it’ll work great when you’re doing your set. Or you could just use a UV lamp on stage. It will react with the glow in the dark pigment.
Really helpful idea, even for bedroom players who want to play at night in a dark room. I wonder how well these would stick on a finished and/or unfinished fretboard. Any chance you’d be able to test that out, Fluff?
You may also want to reach out to the company to tell them about this particular use case. It might help a family-owned business with targeted advertising to people who play a variety of instruments, stringed or otherwise. Perhaps they’d even be willing to speak with gigging musicians so they can develop more useful stickers like smaller sized dots for narrower necks and other shaped stickers/labels that would help musicians mark and label cables, pedal boards, cases, etc. that are easier to see in the dark.
I’m actually wondering how well these might work for my leather service dog harness to help increase his visibility at night when his clip-on LED lights get lost or go dead.
Great find!
I'm still using the sight dot paint you recommended. I actually drill out my dots and fill them with super glue and sight paint, then Redrill and fill every few months.
As a side note, you can also get inlay stickers for the fretboard to dress up boring dot markers. A VIetnam veteran friend of mine has pretty serious eye issues and got some stick on PRS-style bird stickers for his rosewood fretboards and is has enabled him to keep playing as his glaucoma progresses.
Oh that’s rad I love that
Yes, that’s me too. Glaucoma is in later stage and it’s getting so hard to see my side dots on my guitars. This will help so much!
Thanks dad! I love all your videos, but this is most handy info. Rad share!
I just ordered this and whamm! It arrived lighting fast. Thanks brother Fluff
Great to hear!
Wow!!! Thanks for the tip. I ordered a box of silver dots because I had a roasted maple neck with black side dotes that were invisible. They work so well, I applying them to my other guitars!
I’m SO glad
You posted this. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my roasted maple neck guitars. I can’t even use them anymore cause I can’t see the black inlay dots. Thank you. I’m ordering today!!!
I don't understand how we're in 2024 now and it isn't common for guitars to have LED side dots... It's such a better fix for this problem and you could do it in several different ways that shouldn't even be complicated to do.
Ordered these from
Your link and got them the next day. Applied them last night to all three roasted Maple neck guitars I have and it’s like having a new guitar!!! I can see where I’m at now. Great idea!!! Thank you so much for making this video and I believe this is the answer when you can’t see your neck❤❤
I definitely need these. The Luminlays on my LTDs are like Fruit Stripe gum: They only last two seconds and then they’re flat.
Thanks for this. I almost did the same thing with the glow in the dark paint for gun sights. They don't last long and they don't take damage will. I'll definitely be giving these guys a shot. Thanks again
I love knowing this. I havent toured in decades, but I still occassionally do work on friends g(or students) guitars who do. The idea of large dots that only the player can see is brilliant. In the near future, I'm gonna order some !
Thank you so much! I've been painting dots with Whiteout...
F Me!!! I just started looking for something like these For my QX 52/54 and here you are! Thank You sooo much! Best Regards and Best Wishes!
Bassist friend of mine uses two strips of that blue painters tape on the back of the neck. One by the 5th fret, the other probly 7th... then you just slide up till you feel it. Works in absolute darkness.
just ordered! thanks fluff!
Beauty in simplicity
This idea actually works very nicely. Thanks!
Excellent. I am particularly going to lime them for when I’m playing slide. Thanks for the heads up.
Nice tip, thanks for sharing. Lots of older guitars don't have luminlays so having an option like this is really useful.
I can’t wait to try these! I’ve been using cheap ones from staples.
Need this, I’ve got a guitar with flame maple neck binding and they made the interesting decision to put mother of pearl side dots in 🙃
Great! I always wanted to have "glow in the dark" side dots... I'm really happy that you made this video. I will order these dots. 🤗🤘
I use craft vinyl sheets and a hole punch, I've had mine on for years.
Good recommendation!! Luminlay on the neck of my guitar is pointless after 5 mins, I’ve been painting dots on them with Posca paint pens but those wear off pretty quick
This is funny coincidence cause I just played a gig last weekend on a dark stage and complained how I couldn’t see anything! Thanks for the recommendation!
You're doin' the Lord's work, Fluff.
My Ibanez 1005SMS has those pesky dots and I don't ever expect to play out with anything that could charge them so they're nearly impossible to see in a dark office while I pretend to be a rock star in the evenings.
I wish they made itty bitty 1/8" dots since 1/4" is a bit big in my opinion.
This is the exact solution I’ve been looking for. I have the same issues with my stingrays. Now we need a tutorial video of how you apply them!😂
Gonna pick up a box of the fluorescent red ones for my RG550 in road flare red, I think I'll actually put these over the original black dots on the front of the fretboard to add a little more pizzazz.
Need this! Thanks for the heads-up. Just ordered a roll.
Thanks, Mark!
Thanks so much!
Thanks! often play in dark settings, I don't tend to watch the fretboard when I play, but i get lost sometimes ....
Felt like i was back in elementary school XD
Explaining how to stick a sticker onto something.
The stickers look solid i have tiny ones from aliexpress XD
If we can get them here without tons of shipping cost ill get some :) thanks for the vid.
That guitar looks so cool with the roasted maple and green body!
Ordered using your link. Let's give it a try.
Definitely getting a pink set for my yellow kitty Stratocaster
That being said, do you think there is a market for luminlay products?
These looks amazing! Any availability for the UK?
I'll be buying them for my gordon smith, tried many different stickers that all fell off - cool
Good to know I'm not the only one using giant stickers on my guitar so I can see on dark stages!
Just bought a bass and did not think about black side dots on a roasted flame maple either so now I'm here 😅😅
I bought some of those in the office supply section of Staples. Lol
First time a guitar UA-cam vid has had me immediately checking amazon, unfortunately they’re not super available over here in the UK 😭
exactly my problem. i have a guitar i can't use live because it's too different to other guitars and i over or under shoot for landing on the right fret.
Just ordered a box off Amazon be here 3-22-24.
IMO (used this technique with other things) Clean the area with rubbing alcohol. Get all the hand gunk off before placing.
Outstanding! Let's hope that you've just caused that little company to scramble to fill orders! Mine will be one of them
Woohoo - looks like I can get them via Amazon all the way to Australia too.
Supporting a small business is a great bonus.
Great tip on getting the neck very clean and then using tweezers to apply.
1000 dots ought to last me for a while ..............
Amazon automatically takes 50% of money from sales, so if you're able to order direct from the company it's always the better option, helps support the little guy.
@@mr.giggles4995 I'll see if they can do direct to Aus shipping. Happy to try and do the best thing for a family company.
I use a tiny dots of white latex paint. Getting old sucks.
Glow in the Dark vinyl wrap and a 1/4" hole punch. The vinyl sticks way better than these stickers which fall off or come off with very little friction.
Update: I bought those. They rock!
Can only get them in red in the UK!
But it's a real problem - played a gig a couple of weeks ago at a new place and for a lot of the time I was just guessing where I was on the fretboard. Frightening!!!!
Any alternatives available for us europeans?
I've been wanting to ask Fluff what are those dots. What size are the ones you're usinf Fluff .25 inch ??
I bought these and put them on a bunch of my guitars. But the color came off after a couple hours of playing. Stickers still there, but lost all color.
Hey Fluff, I have the same kind of neck on my JP15 and I used glow-on and nail polish per your older video. It works pretty good, but I had to put another layer of glow-on over the nail polish and it’s created some tiny abrasive humps. I’d like to remove them and go this route with the stickers. Do you have any advice on removing the glow-on inlays?
I used a fresh razor blade
They should give you an endorsement deal. I’m going to get a pack right now.
I thought I was the only one crazy!
i have left quite a few of my instruments oiutside then it rained….it also rained on 2 of my tube amps…luckily all was fine..I got lucky…My PA systen has been rained on 5-7 time…those PA speakers are fricken Tanks
I tried these and they did not work for me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they didn't stay put. I had cleaned my guitar prior to application but they still slid around. Secondly, they don't really work as fret markers for me. In a dark room/stage, you can't see them at all. I think lumen dots would be better even if they do run out of juice because these have zero juice to begin with. So light coloured lumen dots would give you the same as these in a semi dark environment but would also give you the luminescence when it's really dark. Finally, didn't really like the green aesthetic either. Gotta try or you'll never know though. I guess I now have around 988 green dots should I ever need that
I use large kid-colored numbers on each fret.
I love my 62 jazzmaster but clay dots are only visible under nuclear flare
Thanks Uncle Fluff
Damn I was hoping we could hear them in a mix 😂
so are you saying they dont glow? you can just see em in the dark?
Has anyone get a UK link?
Wear a head lamp! 🤪
I'm shocked no one has used tritium in side dots yet. Firearm companies have been using tritium in night sights for years. Watch companies use it as well. It glows without ever needing to be charged, and it has a half-life of 12 years, so it will continue to glow for a very long time.
I was just thinking of that. Buy a few tritium vials, drill out the dots and stick em in.
I bought these and can’t see them at all in the dark. Am I doing something wrong?
Somebody needs to make some tritium markers
I found smaller ones on Amazon same company
Just drooling over your guitar’s neck this whole video 🤤
I put stickers on every fret
I love Devin Townsend's solution to this - on his Framus signature the dots are LED lights. Of course, more expensive, but hella cool
Yeah, Warwick basses have LED lights too. one concern for me is I would want to use a resistor and run them at a lower voltage so they are not as bright.
What if one breaks? Can you replace them?
@@raytorvalds3699 honestly I'm not sure. Did a quick Google but couldn't find an answer. Probably worth asking Framus/Warwick before buying. I imagine there'd be some way to replace them
Are these good for impaired vision? Basically, could I see these without my glasses on? :p
For the visually impaired player this is a great idea
Bought this and can't see them. And I know that they are not glow in the dark. But I really don't see the difference.
Currently unavailable
This is the most ghetto, but greatest solution ever.
Do I see Seymour Duncan pickups? 👀
im just going to wait for AR to show exactly how to play everything instead
I made the mistake of glow In the dark side markers. Visible for about 3 minutes.big mistake.
Do they smell like anything ?
Are they safe on nitro finish long term?
First world problems video 😂
I bought a roll and they are total crap. I think maybe he knows this is a Mom and Pop company because it's his Mom and Pop. A waste of time and money. I guess it's time to try Luminlays.
NOBODY calls you Side-Dots.
When your personality as a middle aged man is your beard..