September 2013 Guitar of the Month

[stan]

top work Andy, that finish is awesome and super glossy.
Love the detail of the custom logo

[wokkaboy]

that is a beautiful build Andy, well done, looks like a Les Paul from the factory, other than your headstock logo.
Nice work on the burst, this will be a serious contender for September GOTM for sure !

[Gavin1393]

Andy, I'm sure there are a number of looking at the 'les paul' scrip and the logo on your headstock and going "How did he do that?" It is so crisp and clear. Can you share?

Is it something you did yourself?
If not where did you get it from?
Is it Mother Of Pearl, a decal, etc?

Best headstock I have ever seen completed.

[axeman]

loving the lp andy, great work on the paint and detail headstock ,, love feedback on how --like gavin1393 said !!! are you a sign writer or lashout on some decal stickers ,, I've seen make your own head stock decals on ebay ,, very interesting to know what you done ??

[Andyport]

To answer your questions regarding the headstock decals, yes I did them myself.

I have a small signwriting and graphic art business with all the necessary equipment and computer programs, etc. at my fingertips to make it possible. I gave it a fair bit of thought, and this is how I tackled it.

Printed the whole thing as a single decal, my logo and Les Paul lettering on a black background, just slightly oversized for the headstock. Applied it and then trimmed it to shape once on.
Most of the work was in vectorizing the "Les Paul" lettering. By using vector graphics you get a really sharp image, no matter what size you're working in, no loss of clarity.
For the mother of pearl in my logo, (knew that would trick a few of you), I grabbed a photo of MOP texture, and placed that within the letters EA..."tricks of the trade".
Once applied and trimmed, I sprayed clear lacquer coats over the decal to get the glassy finish.

I used our wide format solvent printer, which gives a great print and can take lacquer over it.

There you go...the secret has been revealed!

[Gavin1393]

Awesome, reckon there are a few amongst us who would hire those services!

[keloooe]

yeah, that decal is great!

[adam]

Just a quick note on Trademark decals. Legally, it is absolutely fine for anyone to make a guitar (kit or scratch) and put any trademark logo on it, as long as it is for your own personal use and you are not selling the guitar.

It is covered under fair use of trademark for "fan use".

However, if we (Pit Bull Guitars) show off your guitar (on Facebook or our site) we prefer to play it safe and black out any trademarks. So, please don't be offended if we do this.

[stan]

^^ True Adam. You don't want the big guitar company's legal gurus chasing after our hobby in the name of trademark infractions.

I do love the logo though...

[Fretworn]

Quote from adam on August 12, 2013, 18:21
Just a quick note on Trademark decals. Legally, it is absolutely fine for anyone to make a guitar (kit or scratch) and put any trademark logo on it, as long as it is for your own personal use and you are not selling the guitar.

It is covered under fair use of trademark for "fan use".

However, if we (Pit Bull Guitars) show off your guitar (on Facebook or our site) we prefer to play it safe and black out any trademarks. So, please don't be offended if we do this.

And seeing as Gibson has forced Warmoth to stop making anything that looks like one of their guitars, I think Adam would like to avoid contact with their legal team