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Post by John E. on Sept 22, 2021 13:00:27 GMT -7
I had posted a few weeks ago about selling my partscaster, but I've since fixed it up and have fallen back in love with it. It's a mahogany Tele body, Maple/Goncalo Alves Warmoth neck, Gibson humbucker sized P90's, affectionately named Boss Hogg (cause mahogany).
Anyways, the headstock is painfully blank. I used to have a pick that I caught from EVH at my first concert taped to the headstock, but decided that I wanted to hand draw my own logo. I've been working on designs, but I have no clue what type of ink/paint to use. It's a Pre-CBS style headstock so I've got plenty of room to work with, and I've looked into doing a custom waterslide decal but I don't want the regular Fender style decal. I'd like to find some sort of wood paint pen or something like that, but I'm not sure what type would work. At one point I had drawn a logo with a fine point sharpie, but it smudged so I took it off. Tried with a regular paint pen but it looked horrible, so I took it off. So, anyone able to help me out??
Cheers!
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Post by pcns on Sept 23, 2021 10:09:35 GMT -7
maybe contact a local body shop and see if they have someone can does pin strip work on cars? I bet they could do a nice job.
If you have your logo done may get a vinyl graphic made
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Post by GuitarZ on Sept 23, 2021 10:25:31 GMT -7
I'm checking with a Graphics Artist friend that has also done some design customization on his guitars. We'll see. I haven't seen him do a custom headstock design, but I figured I'd ask.
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Post by GuitarZ on Sept 23, 2021 13:09:01 GMT -7
Per Larry, my guitar playing, keyboard playing, graphic artist friend, here are his thoughts:
Hard to tell without seeing the guitar - If the neck already has a finish - it will need to be sanded a bit with an extra-fine grit and then he can use a water-slide decal, or draw and paint with an acrylic paint to put a logo or art on the surface. The sanding prep is to give the pre-painted surface "tooth" for a decal or paint to adhere. Any art or hobby store should have paint that is for permanent application - for example sign-painter paint or Liquitex acrylics that are in jars (not the tubes which have a thicker mixture for paintings) What he needs is paint that is opaque, brushable, and doesn't wash away with water when dry.
Then it has to be protected by a few coats of clear spray paint, probably a non-lacquer/acrylic-based semi-gloss (Rustoleum is a common brand) if a newer guitar. There should be many light coats to get a nice smooth look. The clear coats should disguise the sanding marks if they aren't too coarse in the prep step. Sometimes you don't need to follow up with a polish sanding if you paint following the recommended time between coats, temps and humidity on the can.
I don't recommend a permanent marker, it would take many applications, since the ink is pretty transparent. Plus the marker might bleed into the sanded more porous surface and not give a crisp edge to the artwork.
Thank You Larry! He has a cool tele where he took a Captain Crunch Box and underlaid it beneath a clear pick guard.
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Post by John E. on Sept 24, 2021 13:46:16 GMT -7
Per Larry, my guitar playing, keyboard playing, graphic artist friend, here are his thoughts: Hard to tell without seeing the guitar - If the neck already has a finish - it will need to be sanded a bit with an extra-fine grit and then he can use a water-slide decal, or draw and paint with an acrylic paint to put a logo or art on the surface. The sanding prep is to give the pre-painted surface "tooth" for a decal or paint to adhere. Any art or hobby store should have paint that is for permanent application - for example sign-painter paint or Liquitex acrylics that are in jars (not the tubes which have a thicker mixture for paintings) What he needs is paint that is opaque, brushable, and doesn't wash away with water when dry. Then it has to be protected by a few coats of clear spray paint, probably a non-lacquer/acrylic-based semi-gloss (Rustoleum is a common brand) if a newer guitar. There should be many light coats to get a nice smooth look. The clear coats should disguise the sanding marks if they aren't too coarse in the prep step. Sometimes you don't need to follow up with a polish sanding if you paint following the recommended time between coats, temps and humidity on the can. I don't recommend a permanent marker, it would take many applications, since the ink is pretty transparent. Plus the marker might bleed into the sanded more porous surface and not give a crisp edge to the artwork. Thank You Larry! He has a cool tele where he took a Captain Crunch Box and underlaid it beneath a clear pick guard. That's extremely helpful! Thank you! Luckily the neck doesn't have any sort of gloss finish that would need to be stripped. I'll look into the sign-painter paint!
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Oct 4, 2021 9:19:14 GMT -7
You can buy water slide printer decal sheets. I bought mine a long time ago when I built my Jazzmaster, but I'm sure you still get them. I had a friend who does graphic design change the original Fender logo to my last name that also starts with "F". It came out really nice and wasn't too hard. I could have probably done a little better job on sealing the front side of the head stock, but with that project I had learned to leave good enough alone by then. A decade or so later and it still looks good.
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Post by GuitarZ on Oct 4, 2021 10:40:35 GMT -7
You can buy water slide printer decal sheets. I bought mine a long time ago when I built my Jazzmaster, but I'm sure you still get them. I had a friend who does graphic design change the original Fender logo to my last name that also starts with "F". It came out really nice and wasn't too hard. I could have probably done a little better job on sealing the front side of the head stock, but with that project I had learned to leave good enough alone by then. A decade or so later and it still looks good. Matthew has a good idea. Plus, I was thinking, this is the age of the internet, and you can probably order custom decals. I did a simple search on "custom guitar headstock decals" and waa laa! I just clicked on the first option which was: www.rothkoandfrost.com/guitar-making-supplies-c83/headstock-decals-c1 The prices seem reasonable. Maybe you can find a design you like and customize it for yourself.
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