This post is the partner to my video about a nerve-wracking little mod on my Epiphone B.B. King Lucille: I drilled out the stock fretboard inlays and replaced them with real mother-of-pearl. In the 13-minute video below, you can watch the full mod, step by step, and see the finished fretboard.

Why do this?

The short answer is that I wanted real pearl in my Lucille. The stock inlays were perfectly fine — straight, functional, nothing wrong with them. But a Lucille with real mother-of-pearl inlays is a beautiful thing, and I kept picturing how much nicer the fretboard would look with genuine pearl catching the light. There was no tonal reason and no playability reason. This was purely cosmetic, purely because I wanted it. That is the whole truth of it.

Watch the video demo

The process

First I drilled out one of the stock inlays. That is the point of no return — once the first inlay is out, you are committed, and there is no putting things back the way they were. After that, the rest of the inlays had to come out too. The new mother-of-pearl inlays then had to be radiused to match the curve of the fretboard so they would sit flush. I glued them in with fish glue, cleaned everything up, and that was it — a whole new look for the fretboard.

The result

The finished fretboard looks great. Real pearl has a depth and shimmer the stock inlays did not have, and it suits the Lucille. It was scary drilling into a perfectly good neck, and if you do not like that kind of risk, that is a fair reason to leave yours alone. But I am happy I did it — and with steady hands and some patience, it is a mod I would do again.

More guitars like this

Watch the full Epiphone B.B. King Lucille mother-of-pearl inlay mod on YouTube, and keep exploring with two more Epiphone posts: the Epiphone Firebird Review & Demo and the Epiphone Prophecy SG. You can also browse every review in the Guitar Reviews hub.