iamadoorknob
May 13th, 2007, 01:51 PM
So you want to make your own custom headstock logo. The possiblities are limitless, like my doorknob strat with fender style text:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/iamadoorknob/stratheadstockcustom.jpg
What you will need:
Glossy (preferred) waterslide paper (available at any arts & crafts store)
A computer with an inkjet (prefered) or a laser printer
Finshing spray (acrylic, lacquer, enamel, urethane, or varish will work)
A pair of scissors
A cup of water
Sandpaper (optional)
Your guitar
First choose which guitar you want to customize and pick a place where you want to put the logo. If your guitar already has a logo on it, take some sandpaper and sand it off (don't worry about the finish, you'll re-finish it later). Make sure you clean off the area so the logo will stay.
Now you want to design the logo. Any graphic design program or word processor will work. I used Microsoft Word, pretty basic. Other programs I reccomend are Works and Powerpoint. The exact font Fender uses isnt available, but a really close font is Brush Script. You can use any font you want however. For my acoustic I used Inkpen2 Chords;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/iamadoorknob/acousticheadstockcustom.jpg
Inkpen2 chords changes the characters a little, you'll notice that the B in doorknob is a flat symbol. There are also other chord style fonts.
Now print out your logo on normal paper and cut it out to see how it will fit on your headstock. Print out several different ones and keep resizing and changing until it's just how you want it.
Next it's time to print on your waterslide paper. Make sure that you print on the glossy side (on most printers this means loading the paper into the tray glossy side down). Take all the normal printer paper out of the tray when you are doing this. Also, make sure that the loading tray is not dusty. Set your printer to print on either medium or best and set the paper setting to photo paper or type II transparency.
Okay, next choose a finishing spray from the list above and spray it on your paper until it is glossy. Give it a little bit to dry, and then cut the logo out. Hold it up to the headstock to make sure it will fit.
Now place your logo into a cup of water for 50 seconds or until the backing starts to peel off. Slide the finished part of the decal onto the desired place on the headstock and throw away the backing. Now slide the logo around until its in the right place and dry your hands. Press down on the logo to get rid of air bubbles, but don't move it. If the air bubbles wont go away you can poke them with a pin to let the air out.
Now let your logo dry for a half hour. Afterwards, spray it with another fininishing spray. Urethane will work for any of the other finishes, otherwise just use the same finish you used originally. Spray until glossy.
And now you have your own custom headstock logo that says whatever you want!
Now cut out your logo and hold it up to the headstock to make sure it will fit.
Also check out the original acoustic project:
http://jsguitarforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67109
And the original electric project:
http://jsguitarforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67116
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/iamadoorknob/stratheadstockcustom.jpg
What you will need:
Glossy (preferred) waterslide paper (available at any arts & crafts store)
A computer with an inkjet (prefered) or a laser printer
Finshing spray (acrylic, lacquer, enamel, urethane, or varish will work)
A pair of scissors
A cup of water
Sandpaper (optional)
Your guitar
First choose which guitar you want to customize and pick a place where you want to put the logo. If your guitar already has a logo on it, take some sandpaper and sand it off (don't worry about the finish, you'll re-finish it later). Make sure you clean off the area so the logo will stay.
Now you want to design the logo. Any graphic design program or word processor will work. I used Microsoft Word, pretty basic. Other programs I reccomend are Works and Powerpoint. The exact font Fender uses isnt available, but a really close font is Brush Script. You can use any font you want however. For my acoustic I used Inkpen2 Chords;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/iamadoorknob/acousticheadstockcustom.jpg
Inkpen2 chords changes the characters a little, you'll notice that the B in doorknob is a flat symbol. There are also other chord style fonts.
Now print out your logo on normal paper and cut it out to see how it will fit on your headstock. Print out several different ones and keep resizing and changing until it's just how you want it.
Next it's time to print on your waterslide paper. Make sure that you print on the glossy side (on most printers this means loading the paper into the tray glossy side down). Take all the normal printer paper out of the tray when you are doing this. Also, make sure that the loading tray is not dusty. Set your printer to print on either medium or best and set the paper setting to photo paper or type II transparency.
Okay, next choose a finishing spray from the list above and spray it on your paper until it is glossy. Give it a little bit to dry, and then cut the logo out. Hold it up to the headstock to make sure it will fit.
Now place your logo into a cup of water for 50 seconds or until the backing starts to peel off. Slide the finished part of the decal onto the desired place on the headstock and throw away the backing. Now slide the logo around until its in the right place and dry your hands. Press down on the logo to get rid of air bubbles, but don't move it. If the air bubbles wont go away you can poke them with a pin to let the air out.
Now let your logo dry for a half hour. Afterwards, spray it with another fininishing spray. Urethane will work for any of the other finishes, otherwise just use the same finish you used originally. Spray until glossy.
And now you have your own custom headstock logo that says whatever you want!
Now cut out your logo and hold it up to the headstock to make sure it will fit.
Also check out the original acoustic project:
http://jsguitarforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67109
And the original electric project:
http://jsguitarforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67116