Strat Avenger
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Is there a company that can make me a custom water-slide decal with the Fender font? I don't want it to say "Fender"; I just want the font.
Any recommendations?
Any recommendations?
Another Decal Question...
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stratamania
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This is a good supplier that can do decals in similar scripts.
http://shop.rothkoandfrost.co.uk/waterslide-decals-and-transfers-s/114.htm
http://shop.rothkoandfrost.co.uk/waterslide-decals-and-transfers-s/114.htm
Tony Ounsworth
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I can vouch for Rothko and Frost. Excellent quality.
Planning on doing my own water-slide decal with a "fender" font whenever my Warmoth neck shows up. Still need to buy the water-slide paper, but I 'm handy with Illustrator and graphic design. Although I haven't been able to find the real "fender" font (other than some posts about it being removed at the request of Fender), I found something similar. Attached is an example I did. If you strike out elsewhere, drop me a note and maybe we can work something out.
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Strat Avenger
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Tom said:
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
Thanks for all the other replies as well. 'Much appreciated.
Strat Avenger
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ORCRiST said:
Should I order the decal with or without a coating? Contour Cut?
I plan to clear-coat over it.
ORCRiST
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Street Avenger said:
I never had to chose from those options. The decals I received were on a piece of waterslide decal paper, I used scissors to cut out the actual decal
(making sure to leave a border of the clear around the actual print). I then lightly sanded the face of the headstock so the decal would stick better - and not to
the wood mind you (just roughed up the surface of the nitro finish from Warmoth). Then I applied the decal to the desired position(*), dried the water/removed air
bubbles and let it dry for 24hrs. Got some nitrocelluous clear in a rattle-can from Stew Mac, sprayed about 5 thin coats with roughly 10-12 hours of drying time
between. Then wet-sanded to remove the orange peel and polished for a custom-shop finish.
ORCRiST
(*) I actually went through about 6 decals I think. I just couldn't get them placed properly without something going wrong. I ripped several trying to
get them dry or to stick...and I've been applying decals to models and miniatures since I was a kid. Granted, these were a lot bigger and I never tried
to put decals on wood before. Suffice to say I figured it out, and the end result looks like it came from a factory. They're perfect!
So question to you guys who have dealt with Rothko & Frost ... they quote £9.99 for the headstock decal. Can anyone tell me if that is the price for a single sticker, or if that's a sheet of the same sticker (and if so, how many stickers per sheet)? I have no reply from them via email.
Strat Avenger
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That is one decal.
Cagey
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If you have access to a laser printer, you can buy blank waterslide decal paper and print your own. 25 8.5"x11" sheets runs about $23, and you can make decals until hell won't have it. The same thing can be had that will work with inkjet printers, but the ink doesn't bond on that stuff as well, and may bleed/run/cause problems if you try to finish over it. Laser is the way to go.
Cool thing is, you can get ultra-custom with your design. Downside is, most laser printers aren't color so you have to be satisfied with a monochrome design.
Cool thing is, you can get ultra-custom with your design. Downside is, most laser printers aren't color so you have to be satisfied with a monochrome design.
Was planning on doing my own with laser jet (I have colour laser) ... but Rothko & Frost use the ALPS printers, which are the only thing that can spot-print in opaque metallic ink. Unfortunately ALPS went out of business in 2010, so these printers (and the decals they produce) are sky-rocketing in price. Probably need to do a few of my own to see what the result is like, and then bite the £9.99 bullet if they look like crap. Orcrist said he went through 6 of them ... that's like £60.00 
I've also been seeing some techniques for running the decal on the laser printer and just doing the black outline of the text (leaving the fill blank), then you can use a metallic paint on the back-side of the decal to fill it in... although I'm stills scratching my head on how that works.
I've also been seeing some techniques for running the decal on the laser printer and just doing the black outline of the text (leaving the fill blank), then you can use a metallic paint on the back-side of the decal to fill it in... although I'm stills scratching my head on how that works.
Cagey
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I'd be scratching my head, too. You'd have to wet it to activate the adhesive to slide it off the release paper, then let it dry before you could coat it with anything, at which point it would probably curl up. Then, if you coat the back, you mask the adhesive so it won't stick and will likely bubble. That can't be good. I can't see that working out well.
Jumble Jumble
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I've had decals from both Rothko and Frost and guitardecals.co.uk - both great, both really nice metallic inks.
Stretching this out (sorry) ... but follow-up question for bonus points :
Once you apply the water-slide decal and you want to take the next step and spray a gloss coat on the headstock to immortalize the decal and eliminate the decal edges (Nitrocellulous for example), do you have to let it dry for weeks on end before you install the tuners? I'm thinking that if not properly hardened the tuner nuts / washer could burry into the soft lacquer and either damage it, or end up getting set in place?
Once you apply the water-slide decal and you want to take the next step and spray a gloss coat on the headstock to immortalize the decal and eliminate the decal edges (Nitrocellulous for example), do you have to let it dry for weeks on end before you install the tuners? I'm thinking that if not properly hardened the tuner nuts / washer could burry into the soft lacquer and either damage it, or end up getting set in place?
Day-mun
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I'm gonna say "yes", partly from experience, and partly from an explanation from KG in a different thread a while ago. If he went into detail, I don't recall, but I do seem to remember being corrected about the technical difference between "drying" and "curing", and that" molecules are doing things and they need their privacy"...
Experience taught me that the private things that the molecules are doing take a while. -Like weeks. -But the results are worth the waiting.
Experience taught me that the private things that the molecules are doing take a while. -Like weeks. -But the results are worth the waiting.
