Decal for JM vintage modified?

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Danley
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Danley » Mon May 20, 2019 8:11 am

The fact they responded at all makes their customer service somewhat better in my eyes than many companies. To their credit I expect a lot of companies would look sideways at a request for decals in particular (even if it's a Squier, and even if you had a good reason to need it.) I don't expect a company to facilitate anyone seeking to mod their guitar really.

But it was def. worth a try.
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Wed May 22, 2019 3:23 am

Yes, the positive side it's they answered. The negative is that they don't supply something for the customer's needs.
I could agree when talking of fakes, but if a guitar it's original and for any reason I need a replacement, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be supplied. Otherwise they sell the hardware, so why not to sell decals as well?
Anyways I'm also to the point to have a decal. I checked the luthier shop but they're not accurate.
I'll keep you all posted.

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aliendawg
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by aliendawg » Wed May 22, 2019 4:47 am

"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Wed May 22, 2019 8:54 am

I saw that, Alien. Thank you.
However I solved. My kitty cat is checking if it's right 8)
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aliendawg
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by aliendawg » Wed May 22, 2019 1:28 pm

Cool! How did you do it?
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

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Telover
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Thu May 23, 2019 6:46 am

Well, I'm a photographer and graphic designer... 8)

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aliendawg
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by aliendawg » Thu May 23, 2019 7:30 am

That's cool! But how did you do it? ;)

I'm guessing you printed it on a waterslide paper but it doesn't seem like you painted it gold afterwards. Unless you're planning to do it on the last one
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Thu May 23, 2019 8:20 am

Actually it's not yet printed on waterslide. I just found the right tone of gold.

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Debaser
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Debaser » Tue Jun 04, 2019 12:37 pm

There is a reason decals aren't readily available or provided by the manufacturer, but I won't go on about it here. When I wanted to match my VMJM headstock, I just designed my own replication. The Squier vector was available online, and I designed the rest of the decal using images of vintage examples. This was done down to font types, patent numbers, etc. It's a fake Squier/AV '65 decal, no threat, but it's fake nonetheless.

After designing, I printed several copies on Testors water slide paper in reverse. Then I colored in the letter space fill by hand with metallic gold paint. That was a pain the ass, and I'm pretty handy with paint and details.

I applied it to the painted headstock, no sanding or leveling at all. I probably have some silvering around the decal edge because of it, you just can't see it because it's Oly white. I lightly clear coated it afterwards, and I did not bury it, it's a raised decal just like vintage models, but with extra protection.

You'll need the clear coat if you do this, because hand painting leaves a rough surface on the decal--it's not going to stick well. Painting on the non adhesive side also means the rest of the decal won't stick that well either. You could alleviate this by flipping the decal once, letting it dry, paint, then flipping it back, but that's delicate work. I think glue water was mentioned in some online instructions. Testors paper is super thin too, I broke numerous decals, and even the one that made it was chipped in parts. This experience swore me off this janky process. I get all my stuff custom printed by a local with a thermal printer with spot colors. I use my own logo to avoid any bullshit.

Trashy lettering, I've since banged up this guitar from use, so it matches.
Image

This is my better stuff, thermal printed, completely buried in lacquer:
Image
Last edited by Debaser on Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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aliendawg
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by aliendawg » Tue Jun 04, 2019 4:35 pm

That's an amazing work. The logo on my Squier is not that shiny. Although I agree it looks awesome, I don't understand why you guys are so picky about getting the gold lettering :wacko:
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

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Debaser
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Debaser » Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:07 am

aliendawg wrote:
Tue Jun 04, 2019 4:35 pm
That's an amazing work. The logo on my Squier is not that shiny. Although I agree it looks awesome, I don't understand why you guys are so picky about getting the gold lettering :wacko:
Thanks. When one is obsessing to the point of recreating/manipulating vintage Fender typeface, the metallic gold is just another tic that needs to be satiated. :blush:

To simplify, printing in black would make it really easy. Or use the yellowish fill tone shown above. Vinyl lettering would look cleaner, but for a glass smooth finish, you'd really have to pour the lacquer on and level and buff that out. Vinyl cutters have limits on how small of a line they can cut. Silk screening could be fun too.. :wacko:
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:04 am

Debaser wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:07 am
Thanks. When one is obsessing to the point of recreating/manipulating vintage Fender typeface, the metallic gold is just another tic that needs to be satiated. :blush:
;D lmao
Deb, I agree that Fender has to protect itself against fakes (...), but they say that if you need a decal which, for the record, it's supplied for free to the shop, you go to the shop with the instrument, take pics and so on to supply them. Then, they answered to me they don't supply decals.
I'm refinishing my own guitar, not building a fake. So.
Anyways nice job yours. I'm almost done with the paint and I'll start to apply the trasparent by tomorrow. I think I'll print the decal by tomorrow as well.
What is the font for the "Custom Telly"?
And yep, you have to chose if to put the decal on the headstock directly over the paint the apply the transparent, or between some transparent layers which to me it's better because it protects the decal itself.
In both cases better to spray some transparent nitro or poly on the decal to protect the ink.

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Telover
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:05 am

By the way with "transparent" I mean clear coat.

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Telover
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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:11 am

I forgot, as usual (my memory sucks big time). When applying decals, always use a softener so you won't have any risk to break the decal and it will stick much better on the surface.

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Re: Decal for JM vintage modified?

Post by Telover » Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:55 am

The colour is washed because of the pic taken with the phone.
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