Story
Briefly described, fretlook was created out of a love for good music mixed with a designer’s eye for that certain something. To put it simply: fretlook ensures that your guitar looks awesome. For the long version, you have to go a little further, because we have come a long way to get to the finished product. Year after year our know-how about guitars with all their peculiarities, about musicians and their requirements, but also about materials and their usability grew. Today we bundle all our experiences into a product that makes guitars as individual as the person who plays them – our fretlook inlay stickers. If you have one of our inlay stickers in your hand, you can feel the high demands that we place on our product, but also the requirement that it must be easy to use. If you open the packaging, you will find a few sheets with the stickers on them. They are applied like the old peel-off tattoos from the chewing gum packs of our childhood days. Quite simple, right? That’s how it should be. But what’s behind all that and why are fretlook inlay stickers more than just stickers? Learn more about us.
Briefly described, fretlook was created out of a love for good music mixed with a designer’s eye for that certain something. To put it simply: fretlook ensures that your guitar looks awesome. For the long version, you have to go a little further, because we have come a long way to get to the finished product. Year after year our know-how about guitars with all their peculiarities, about musicians and their requirements, but also about materials and their usability grew. Today we bundle all our experiences into a product that makes guitars as individual as the person who plays them – our fretlook inlay stickers. If you have one of our inlay stickers in your hand, you can feel the high demands that we place on our product, but also the requirement that it must be easy to use. If you open the packaging, you will find a few sheets with the stickers on them. They are applied like the old peel-off tattoos from the chewing gum packs of our childhood days. Quite simple, right? That’s how it should be. But what’s behind all that and why are fretlook inlay stickers more than just stickers? Learn more about us.
Music as a constant companion
My name is Rafael Gonzalez, I was born in 1985 and live in Germany. When I think back to my life so far, I can say that music has always played a big role. Perhaps less of the boring music lessons at school, because I couldn’t do much with notes, scales or semitones. So I was less of a “studied” musician than a “passionate” musician, always with a great admiration for guitars. As a child of the 80s, of course, I couldn’t get past the classic trash songs of the 90s and early 2000s. We all know that, don’t we? A video cassette in the recorder in the morning and MTV recorded all day long while we were in school. When we got home, we first checked what new songs were out. But slowly a pattern emerged: I only stopped and rewound songs like “Drive” by Incubus, “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed or “Blurry” by Puddle Of Mudd. So my life so far has always been accompanied by music in which Slash performed a solo, in which four octaves of Myles Kennedy could be heard or in which Tom Morello tortured his equipment.
Music as a constant companion
My name is Rafael Gonzalez, I was born in 1985 and live in Germany. When I think back to my life so far, I can say that music has always played a big role. Perhaps less of the boring music lessons at school, because I couldn’t do much with notes, scales or semitones. So I was less of a “studied” musician than a “passionate” musician, always with a great admiration for guitars. As a child of the 80s, of course, I couldn’t get past the classic trash songs of the 90s and early 2000s. We all know that, don’t we? A video cassette in the recorder in the morning and MTV recorded all day long while we were in school. When we got home, we first checked what new songs were out. But slowly a pattern emerged: I only stopped and rewound songs like “Drive” by Incubus, “With Arms Wide Open” by Creed or “Blurry” by Puddle Of Mudd. So my life so far has always been accompanied by music in which Slash performed a solo, in which four octaves of Myles Kennedy could be heard or in which Tom Morello tortured his equipment.
Fascination with the guitar
At university I finally picked up the guitar myself and learned to play – better late than never. Surrounded by many nice and musical people who inspired me in many ways, playing guitar became my everyday life – I started with a used would-be Les Paul guitar that a fellow student, including a Fame amplifier, sold for little money. I went to the hard school of playing guitar on YouTube. I didn’t really need notes, because tabs or explanation videos by Marty Schwartz were enough to quickly learn a few classics – but the simple beginner songs were quickly broken off, all sounded pretty much the same and couldn’t really inspire me anymore. So I started to dare to play bigger songs and in the same breath my interest in background knowledge about the songs, but also the guitars themselves, grew. How can it be that so many musicians keep writing successful and great songs with the same chords and pentatonic shapes? What kind of guitars and equipment do the guitarists use that excited me so much? To find the answers, I began taking lessons from an old school friend and musician.
Fascination with the guitar
At university I finally picked up the guitar myself and learned to play – better late than never. Surrounded by many nice and musical people who inspired me in many ways, playing guitar became my everyday life – I started with a used would-be Les Paul guitar that a fellow student, including a Fame amplifier, sold for little money. I went to the hard school of playing guitar on YouTube. I didn’t really need notes, because tabs or explanation videos by Marty Schwartz were enough to quickly learn a few classics – but the simple beginner songs were quickly broken off, all sounded pretty much the same and couldn’t really inspire me anymore. So I started to dare to play bigger songs and in the same breath my interest in background knowledge about the songs, but also the guitars themselves, grew. How can it be that so many musicians keep writing successful and great songs with the same chords and pentatonic shapes? What kind of guitars and equipment do the guitarists use that excited me so much? To find the answers, I began taking lessons from an old school friend and musician.
Make a lot out of a little
Over time my skills got better and better, but I was still bobbing around with the same old equipment. In addition to the sounds, I was always enthusiastic about the look of the guitars of my role models – like Mark Tremonti’s PRS, of course Slash’s Gibson Les Paul or the real acoustic eye-catchers from Taylor. But one thing was certain: As a student, I didn’t have much money left to buy one of these models. So I started to research. Was there anything that made my guitar look amazing even if it didn’t cost a bunch of money? The idea of upgrading my inexpensive guitar with a cool look never let me go. And since then, fretlook (for the amazing look of your frets) has become an integral part of my life. Some research has shown that there are products from the Far East, but these are 1: 1 copies of the inlays from the major manufacturers. There were also other important arguments: The installation was very time-consuming and required the strings to be removed. The stickers are partly torn before sticking them on. On top of that there are enormous shipping costs and customs duties. I can do better – and my business idea was born.
Make a lot out of a little
Over time my skills got better and better, but I was still bobbing around with the same old equipment. In addition to the sounds, I was always enthusiastic about the look of the guitars of my role models – like Mark Tremonti’s PRS, of course Slash’s Gibson Les Paul or the real acoustic eye-catchers from Taylor. But one thing was certain: As a student, I didn’t have much money left to buy one of these models. So I started to research. Was there anything that made my guitar look amazing even if it didn’t cost a bunch of money? The idea of upgrading my inexpensive guitar with a cool look never let me go. And since then, fretlook (for the amazing look of your frets) has become an integral part of my life. Some research has shown that there are products from the Far East, but these are 1: 1 copies of the inlays from the major manufacturers. There were also other important arguments: The installation was very time-consuming and required the strings to be removed. The stickers are partly torn before sticking them on. On top of that there are enormous shipping costs and customs duties. I can do better – and my business idea was born.
Passion becomes a profession
Therefore the mission was clear: A well-engineered product must be created that will give all guitarists – beginners, hobby players, but also professionals – long-term pleasure and meet their qualitative expectations. Installation and removing must be easy and the product must never have a negative impact on playing. In addition, it should be about new, cool designs that also like to break with the norm. Then everything should be produced sustainably and underpinned with an expressive brand name. But just because you have a good idea doesn’t mean you have that idea in your hands. The idea now had to be put into practice. So I started looking for a partner who could realize my ideas. After a few attempts and setbacks, he was found – my partner, a professional with many years of experience in his field, who plays also guitar and is enthusiastic about my project. From then on, a wonderful cooperation began, which we maintain on both sides to this day and which enables us to manufacture products 100% according to our and your ideas. In addition, it is possible for us to use chrome-free materials in production that come from a sustainable supply chain.
Passion becomes a profession
Therefore the mission was clear: A well-engineered product must be created that will give all guitarists – beginners, hobby players, but also professionals – long-term pleasure and meet their qualitative expectations. Installation and removing must be easy and the product must never have a negative impact on playing. In addition, it should be about new, cool designs that also like to break with the norm. Then everything should be produced sustainably and underpinned with an expressive brand name. But just because you have a good idea doesn’t mean you have that idea in your hands. The idea now had to be put into practice. So I started looking for a partner who could realize my ideas. After a few attempts and setbacks, he was found – my partner, a professional with many years of experience in his field, who plays also guitar and is enthusiastic about my project. From then on, a wonderful cooperation began, which we maintain on both sides to this day and which enables us to manufacture products 100% according to our and your ideas. In addition, it is possible for us to use chrome-free materials in production that come from a sustainable supply chain.
fretlook as a synthesis of arts
A lot has changed from then to now and it was a very exciting journey with ups and downs. In the end, however, one thing remains the same: the team of people who have always believed in the idea and have given me vigorous support. Even if fretlook is still a one person company, there are many creative minds behind the brand and the products, whom I would like to thank. Also in their interest, I wish you a lot of fun with our inlay stickers!
fretlook as a synthesis of arts
A lot has changed from then to now and it was a very exciting journey with ups and downs. In the end, however, one thing remains the same: the team of people who have always believed in the idea and have given me vigorous support. Even if fretlook is still a one person company, there are many creative minds behind the brand and the products, whom I would like to thank. Also in their interest, I wish you a lot of fun with our inlay stickers!
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