H's TL-1Q, first build.

[Andy40]

two things Howard,

1. Did you skip the intensifier coat?

2. You can put DT over decals just fine. If I were you I'd layer up a number of finals though over the decal before any sanding....I think i did 6 the first time....but i can't remember....

[UpperCaseH]

Short answer is no, I didn't skip any intensifier.

I'm doing the body and neck separately because I wanted the neck to be colourless - the neck had 2 coats of DT neck stain, and now has the first coat of DT neck "final". Plan is to get 2-3 more final coats on.

The body currently has 2 coats of DT Karijini Red stain. It's going to get continued with once the neck and headstock back/sides are done since I want to do the headstock front in body colour and it makes more sense to me to do that at the same time as the body.

Thinking about it, I should have left the body entirely alone until I was ready to do the headstock front, but... eh.

Thanks for the decal advice - I was planning to layer, but was thinking 3-4 coats. I'll definitely consider doing more though.

[Andy40]

Ah right, the neck. good stuff H

[UpperCaseH]

Found some cheap decal paper on ebay, hopefully my printer doesn't crap out on it like it does semi-regularly on everything else.

It'll be a while before I'm up to that stage, but is there any need for a decal fixative when applying to wood, or do I just slide it on, wait for it to dry, then clear coat over it?

[pablopepper]

No extra adhesive is needed. Just make sure you give the sheet a spray with clear after it comes out of the printer otherwise tge ink will break down in the water.

[wazkelly]

Pabs is right in that by using White Knight clear acrylic sprayed lightly over the decal once printed it helps to seal in the ink otherwise the water goes a murky looking colour when you try soften it up before applying to the headstock.

I used ink jet decal paper on all of my builds and the process worked very easy. In fact, using an ink jet printer also allowed me to use colour whereas most laser printers are monochrome, unless you already have a colour laser printer.

Only downside is that at certain angles you can see the edges of the decal transfer, no matter how many top coat layers you put down.

[stan]

Wouldn't worry too much about seeing the edges, take a closer look at most Fenders, seems good enough for their QC....

[wazkelly]

Good point.

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks for the advice! Like Stan said, I can see the decal edge on my Fender p-bass (if I look closely and get it at the right angle) so... yeah, I guess that's gonna happen. I'll just trim it as close as I can to the edge of the graphic and hope for the best.

Still lots of stuff to do before I can even think about actually applying a decal. I have no idea where I'm getting the patience for waiting for stuff to cure, I'm generally not a patient person. I guess while I wait I'll try to think of something cool to put on there and also brush up on my incredibly rusty Illustrator/Photoshop skills. Or order another kit...

[UpperCaseH]

The first neck clear coat has cured. It's fine on the neck itself, but the back of the headstock (where I started, and where I think I had too much DT on the cloth) is a little bit... lumpy might be the best way to describe it. It was smooth as before application, so I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the clear coat and not the wood.

I guess I lightly sand back the affected area with 320 before the next coat? Or should I do that across the whole neck?