AntonFury Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I am a photographer and a guitar player. I would like to finish the entire front of a guitar with one of my photos. I have never attempted anything like this before. so I am not sure if it's possible, or how to start. I have considered having my tattoo artist airbrush it, but it kind of defetes the purpose. I have tried to find info online, and here's what I've found: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/logo.htm If the entire front on the guitar is the transparency, how does that effect the clear coat, being such a big area? My plan is to strip the guitar, prime, color, apply picture, clear coat. Does anyone have any experience doing something like this? I'm open to other ideas. Thanks, Anton Fury Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 You can do this....you will have to apply the photo and then seal .Take a junk piece of wood and a throw away pic and test your process.Just know applying a full body top pic will be hard. You will need to treat the photo like a piece of lam. ,curves and cut outs have to be factored in. It can be done , just not as simple as it sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 If you have a hard time with a photo, you can transfer a photo to cloth and mount it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonFury Posted June 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 You can do this....you will have to apply the photo and then seal .Take a junk piece of wood and a throw away pic and test your process.Just know applying a full body top pic will be hard. You will need to treat the photo like a piece of lam. ,curves and cut outs have to be factored in. It can be done , just not as simple as it sounds. What is lam? I am planning the photo to be the size of the face of the guitar... in this case, an Epiphone LP Junior that I bought cheap, just to try this... I will cut the photo to the shape of the guitar, about 3/8 in. smaller, so the edge of the guitar will create a border. Do I need to strip the body down to the wood, or just sand it down to the color layer. Currently, it is sunburst on the front. It's black on the back, which is what I want, so no need to repaint it. In fact, is it possible to only sand the front, glue on the photo, layer the front with clear and feather it? I appreciate your help, Anton Fury If you have a hard time with a photo, you can transfer a photo to cloth and mount it that way. Cloth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Lam. Is short for laminate , a very thin wood. Cloth , like a tee shirt ,or material . You probably can mount the picture on the body as is ,if the top is in good shape....and clear it . You really need to practice on some scrap first .You don't want the picture to wrinkle ,and this takes practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Test clear too. Im not sure if the ink from a picture would smear under a lacquer or clear coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonFury Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Test clear too. Im not sure if the ink from a picture would smear under a lacquer or clear coat. My intention is to print the pic backwards, so the print is under the transparency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 The decal paper as used in the tutorial linked may be too fragile or inadequate for such a large scale print. Water slides like that also require the ink to be sealed with lacquer before application, and over such a large area it will prove difficult to maintain consistency without unsealed areas or smudges from heavy application. Perhaps. My wife and I had one of our wedding photos printed onto some very expensive professional photo paper which can be wiped clean with water and whose inks are guaranteed fade-proof for longer than we'll be alive. The image reproduction quality and colour is fantastic, and I presume that this would be a very durable material for applying to a heavy flat substrate like a guitar face. I am unsure of the physical durability in a guitar application or compatibility with clearcoats, but I am sure that the ink manufacturer could provide advise in this regard. Maybe pinging an email to a professional wedding photography company? As for final finish, the edges may be a little problematic what with the roundover on the body tearing the edge of the paper through the photo. Often, people who apply fabric finishes to instruments disguise the edge with a dark burst. These are certainly good projects to research techniques for your own work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 There are places that sell guitar "skins" that allow you to send in an image and they'll print it as a sticker, then you just clear over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Good call. I wonder what resolution and colour consistency they have on those. Reason for asking these questions is that in general, photographers tend to have higher standards for photo reproduction. I guess this totally depends on Anton's requirements for the end product, whether a high-quality bespoke process (and associated experimentation/proof of concept with materials) or a simpler end-to-end process (perhaps with less exacting results) would satisfy the project remit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 Many sign shops have digital printers that can print photo quality resolutions (from 720x720 dpi to 1200x1200 dpi) on adhesive backed vinyl and then overlaminate that with a clear laminate. The laminate will protect the ink from your clear coat. It can be stretched and applied to carved tops as well as flat tops. It is the same materials used for the vehicle wraps you see everywhere these days. JohnnyForeigner did this in a thread last year I believe. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 I wouldn't. Strip the guitar most of your factory finishes these days are so bullet proof your better off using it for a base just scuff it down with some 800 grit and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 I'm actually in the middle of doing something similar, though I decided to take a different route - I ordered online a jigsaw puzzle with the photo I wanted and epoxied that to the guitar body. Didnt bother stripping the factory finish (just wetsanded it with P800), in fact it was already in the color I wanted as background. I'm getting ready to clearcoat it now. Time will tell if this idea made any sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhell Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) You can find a reprographics shop that has something like this: http://www.oceusa.co...845524441901408 They can print directly on your guitar body. Just draw up (or scan) your image and they can print out of Photoshop or Illustrator or whatever. We have one of these machines at work but I've never had them print on a guitar body for me... yet anyway... Just had them cut out templates with their CNC cutter. It prints with 6 or 8 colors (if I remember) and can even print white. The ink is pretty durable from what Ive seen but I'd probaby still coat it in poly or whatever finish is compatible. Heres one printing on a door: Interesting that most people don't even know machines like this exist... They are super expensive and kind of a niche market I guess... Edited October 23, 2012 by samhell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 That's a flatbed inkjet printer and most of them won't print on a substrate over an inch thick. And they need a flat surface to print on, contours would cause distortions and misregistration in the print. A roll to roll version of this is what prints the decals I referred to earlier.....4 months earlier perhaps. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhell Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) The one we have can print on things a few inches thick. Not sure about printing on non-flat surfaces... We we have the solvient and vinyl printers / cutters too (some as big as a pickup truck) but when we first got this machine the first thing that came to mind was printing on guitar bodies... The guys said it could to that but I haven't tried it yet. I was more impressed with this too because the "ink" is more of a paint rather than that oily dye or pigment stuff inkjets usually use (we also have a bunch of those... z6xxx hp's and a huge lx600) I don't actually operate the machines, I just do all the networking to ensure they communicate correctly... When I get the chance I go over to that shop and drool on the CNC machine and these big printers... Edited October 24, 2012 by samhell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Sounds like we're in the same business. There are definitely some cool toys involved. We've got a TurboJet that looks like a desktop printer....only like you say with the footprint of a 1 ton pickup. I keep thinking I'm going to do some floor graphics like the top of a king size desk to install around it. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I am a photographer and a guitar player. I would like to finish the entire front of a guitar with one of my photos. I have never attempted anything like this before. so I am not sure if it's possible, or how to start. I have considered having my tattoo artist airbrush it, but it kind of defetes the purpose. I have tried to find info online, and here's what I've found: http://www.projectgu...om/tut/logo.htm If the entire front on the guitar is the transparency, how does that effect the clear coat, being such a big area? My plan is to strip the guitar, prime, color, apply picture, clear coat. Does anyone have any experience doing something like this? I'm open to other ideas. Thanks, Anton Fury http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=43080&hl=comicaster&st=0 That's a link to a guitar I built that's kind of how you describe. I used a poster instead of a picture though. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. It is do-able though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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