First Build!! Two DC Juniors

[rockdog]

Queston:

I shot the last clear coat using thinner to lacquer about 2:1 as I've seen others do. The idea is that it melts in better, which it looks like it did but... it also looks dryer. A bit less shiny. I'm sure it'll buff nicely but just checking, Is that normal when using this method?

I also sprayed highly thinned down lacquer coats as final layers and mine turned out very glossy
But the color looks very nice, not too lemon yellow for my taste

 

[dickjonesify]

I also sprayed highly thinned down lacquer coats as final layers and mine turned out very glossy
But the color looks very nice, not too lemon yellow for my taste

Interesting. Something may have been up with my gun settings and whatnot. Felt like I just pulverized it with air. At any rate, I'm confident there's enough lacquer on it, just an odd final coat

 

[dickjonesify]

Dangit Martha!

So, it took forever but I designed the decal, got it sized and printed up...

Looks good but when I started to apply it, I realized it's almost completely see-through!

What the heck?!?! I can't even see it over a black headstock. What am I missing here?

 

[dickjonesify]

Reading some more about it....I guess this is how it's supposed to work. Only good for putting dark colored decals on light surfaces. What a waste!

How do other peoples' water slide decals work?

 

[LtDave32]

Dick, quit kicking yourself man.. It looks superb!

If you're after a specific micro-shade of color, you will nit-pick yourself to death. Be happy with what you have, because it looks great. Just the way it is.

I went through this. I rubbed off a color that I wasn't totally convinced of, three times. Went through a gallon of lacquer thinner in the process. Used up a ton of expensive finish materials in the process.

Take heart in this; Last year on a fact-finding mission, I examined up-close somewhere between 15 and 20 vintage TV yellow Gibsons. You know what I came away with? No two were exactly alike. Some were almost white. Some were bright yellow. Some were damn near brown.

Here's a tip when working with trans-tint dyes: on a bare, sealed guitar, the first three passes will show a light color; doing this with red dye makes the guitar a "champagne". Everything after that will get progressively darker with each pass. Two more coats on that "champange" guitar rendered it really deep red. Same goes for yellow or amber. If you've got a color coat that is very pale yellow, and you wish to richen it up some, you add a few drops of amber to the clear coat, and it will richen up and get darker. Then you quit with that batch. Pour it in a jar and save it for something else. Start with a fresh batch of untinted clear and coat the rest of your yellow job with that.

What I did to get my yellow was to add color-tone white pigment (opaque) to clear lacquer, then in a separate cup of clear (16 oz), add yellow (9 drops)and brown (two drops) for a dark, "mustard-ish" yellow. Then I gradually, very gradually, added that to the white.

the last TV yellow job I did had wood with very shallow grain. More shallow than any other mahogany I've worked with, so the grain didn't really show through so much for filling. The next one I do, I'm going to use the above color formula, seal it, then wipe grain-filler in, clean off the excess, then clear-coat.

 

[LtDave32]

Small update:
I decided to try and sand back a coat or two of the yellowness. I wet sanded with 400 which leveled it nicely and did dull down the yellow a bit. I just sprayed a very mellow tint coat over it and I think I'm happy...

I think I'm ready for clearcoats. Except for a logo which I'm hunting down some waterslide decal paper as we speak.

So what do you think?

Amended from my last post:

Dick, that looks fantastic!

You are right in the ballpark with the yellow.

Lots of clear, and block-sanding ahead. You will do well.

And stay of them corners when sanding, dammit. If you have to, use your finger and some 600 really lightly on the round-overs. Just lightly kiss the orange-peel off the clear on those edges.

 

[dickjonesify]

Dick, quit kicking yourself man.. It looks superb!

If you're after a specific micro-shade of color, you will nit-pick yourself to death. Be happy with what you have, because it looks great. Just the way it is.

Thanks
I am happy with it now. After sanding back the added yellowy coats it was lighter but still too yellow. I mixed up a tint coat that was very mellow. It was french vanilla cappuccino with a touch of yellow. After one coat of that, I went back to clear and I'm good to go!

Know anything about water slide decals? Were the ones you got opaque? How do you that??

 

[LtDave32]

Thanks
I am happy with it now. After sanding back the added yellowy coats it was lighter but still too yellow. I mixed up a tint coat that was very mellow. It was french vanilla cappuccino with a touch of yellow. After one coat of that, I went back to clear and I'm good to go!

Know anything about water slide decals? Were the ones you got opaque? How do you that??

Dick, I got my waterslides from George Charles. I've got his email addy around here somewhere. I'll find it tomorrow.

They were clear decals, and I put them on over a single coat of clear lacquer, then built-up several coats over them to bury them, then sanded everything flat, then another clear coat.

 

[loveboat]

Yeah, ordernary home printers can only print for white backgrounds.

I have made the same mistake, and realization as you on my build

You have a couple of options;
1. Get it printed at a print shop. I think they should be able to get "real gold" color on to your paper.
2. Print it with outlines, outside of the font. Fill with gold paint/gold marker. Then proceed as usual with clear coat on the sticker etc.

I haven't tested option 2 yet, but I am about to. Either that or I'm gonna make a logo in iron and brand mark the head stock Like they do with cows.

 

[LtDave32]

Know anything about water slide decals? Were the ones you got opaque? How do you that??

Hey Dick, this guy here:

gcharles@hvc.rr.com

George Charles. He can do anything in the Gibson-style font. He did the decal I used for Leumas' build, "Cassidy", which I know you've seen. I wrote him if he could do anything in that font, and he wrote back saying "give me the font page", which I did, and now he has it for all names in that font.

His products are superior. He's well-known on many forums, very reliable, been at it for years, and he's quite affordable. You also get more for your money; a set of three gold names and three gold sigs (be sure to specifiy Les Paul TV Model, Les Paul junior, etc), all for a mere $25.00. He only does business via email, but like I said, he's a straight shooter and he's quick about it. 3 day turnaround for my decals.

If you go that route, I'll walk you through the process. PM me and I'll give you my phone number..

I'll add that his decals are a rich, lusterous gold, and I can't tell them from silk-screens. Very satisfied, as were the guys I built guitars for.

 

[cain61]

I'm worried that you might spend too much time obsessing over the decal and forget to post a video so we know what it sounds like!

 

[dickjonesify]

2. Print it with outlines, outside of the font. Fill with gold paint/gold marker. Then proceed as usual with clear coat on the sticker etc.

Thinking about this...

a video

Looks good (except it needs more lacquer). Any idea what kind of pens to use?

Hey Dick, this guy here:

gcharles@hvc.rr.com

George Charles. He can do anything in the Gibson-style font. He did the decal I used for Leumas' build, "Cassidy", which I know you've seen. I wrote him if he could do anything in that font, and he wrote back saying "give me the font page", which I did, and now he has it for all names in that font.

His products are superior. He's well-known on many forums, very reliable, been at it for years, and he's quite affordable. You also get more for your money; a set of three gold names and three gold sigs (be sure to specifiy Les Paul TV Model, Les Paul junior, etc), all for a mere $25.00. He only does business via email, but like I said, he's a straight shooter and he's quick about it. 3 day turnaround for my decals.

If you go that route, I'll walk you through the process. PM me and I'll give you my phone number..

I'll add that his decals are a rich, lusterous gold, and I can't tell them from silk-screens. Very satisfied, as were the guys I built guitars for.

Thanks Dave. I have a quote from him. They certainly look great I'm sure I'll get some but I want to try to use what I have and see if it works since I already spent the dough!

I'm worried that you might spend too much time obsessing over the decal and forget to post a video so we know what it sounds like!

We'll see..........

...............................and why can't I embed a video?

 

[umangu]

On the decal issue, I had the exact same problem last month!! Such deja vu reading your thread.

I made my own decal - laser printed yellow ink. But when I put it on the headstock, I could barely see it.

Flirted with the idea of silkscreening it or making a stencil and spraying yellow lacquer.

In the end I went with George's decals and they came out really well. He charged me for 1 page and I got enough logos (with spares) to keep me going for 3 more guitars!!!

 

[dickjonesify]

On the decal issue, I had the exact same problem last month!! Such deja vu reading your thread.

I made my own decal - laser printed yellow ink. But when I put it on the headstock, I could barely see it.

Flirted with the idea of silkscreening it or making a stencil and spraying yellow lacquer.

In the end I went with George's decals and they came out really well. He charged me for 1 page and I got enough logos (with spares) to keep me going for 3 more guitars!!!

Thanks Umangu. I will surely do business with this George fellow sometime soon. But....

Since I already spent my little bit of extra money I decided to try the gold paint pen for $4. Here's me messing with it...

You can tell by the blobs of gold all over the place that this pen is lame. But I keep trying anyway and ended up with one or two good ones.
In the bowl...

and on the guitar after a little wet sand...

and another in the bowl...

and another on the guitar... (minus the "L", used a different one)

Starting to look like something

Getting her ready for some more clear...

I think they'll blend in nicely. What do you think?

 

[loveboat]

Awesome!
Really cool that it worked out. If it's hard to get clean lines you could perhaps print thicker black outlines.

 

[dickjonesify]

Ya but I'd still have to paint on top of them. The pen worked ok right at first but then it would go from not writing to dropping blobs of paint! Ruined a few logos to get these.
Maybe I just got a bad one.

 

[GreaseBox]

The Testor's diy decal set is really only good for this use if you are doing black decals, or using color over a white finish. The issue is this, laser and inkjet printers use the white of the paper to compensate for the white in the print color mix. These printers do not have white ink. That said when you print a gold (has white in it) on the decal it looks great until you take away the white backing paper and all you are left with is trans yellow. I have had great success with color decals on a white guitar. If you want to print a true gold decal you will need something like an Alps printer that prints with a color film.

 

[dickjonesify]

Thanks Grease. Was looking at some of those. Some aren't terribly expensive I'm Surprised more people here don't have one. Aside from the "Les Paul" being a touch thick, I do like the way it looks, though

 

[cain61]

Nicely done. They'd go real nice with a goldtop, too!

 

[djrussell]

I've looked into all sorts of things, ink pads, spray templates, decals, individual letter stickers, even dog plates lol So the plate is actually custom engraved and screwed onto the headstock instead of a decal... and its always hardest with a black headstock. Some guys have had awesome jobs done with ink pads, which I think is the best way to go -- but it can be expensive to get a custom logo printed onto an ink pad. But probably worth it in the long run.