I’m hoping to use some of the knowledge of all our wonderful instrument makers here:
I have a matte finish (if it’s even finished at all) new Fender Acoustic guitar. Got it while I’m in England away from my baby at home… But I’d like to have all of my awesome new friends here sign it. I thinking how to ensure that the signatures won’t rub off… So maybe some sort of light matte finish sprayed over the top of the writing? But would something like that ruin the acoustics of the wood? Art stores generally sell a ton of spray finishes/fixatives… The most important thing is not killing the sound of my guitar, so if I can’t so it, I can’t do it…
Or maybe just marker (I’m thinking about using an umber prismacolor art marker) will be permanent enough…
If you choose not to overspray it, that would be a good choice Joey, IMO. Overspraying it will ruin it in everyway. There’s a black felt perma marker pen that is erasable and probably won’t hurt the finish…if you ever decided to change your mind in the future.
The Beatles are reputed to have stripped the finish of their Epiphone semi-accoustics to improve the sound—allows them to bereathe was the phrase they used I think. I have an Epiphone Casino from that era but I’m not about to strip it to see if it improves the sound. Sounds just fine the way it is. Frankly, though, I’d be inclined not to tamper.
If you want their autographs to be permanent, go to a good tatooist and bring them along.
A cabinetmaker (or guitar repairman) could cut out a nice thin plate of wood, or why not plastic.
This you get signed.
Then you glue this board to your guitar with a mild wax-based glue, like those “repositionable” sprays used by layout artists. If the signature plank is thin and flat enough, it will hold well enough.
Else, do like Bo Diddley, go tacky! Tape on a big sticker! Last time I saw him on TV, the biggest, almost bumper-sticker size (and “style”…) said “Turbo 5-speed”
Don’t mess around here: Call Fender customer (tech) support and get them to tell you what you need to do - they know exactly what chemicals they are spraying on the guitar, how the finish is cured, and what will and won’t work for what you want to do. With some finishes if you use a standard “permanent” type marker the signatures will start to “bleed” into the surrounding finish over time and you can end up with something far different than what you intended. Call Fender, hear me now and believe me later
Joey, the more I think about it the more inclined I am to suggest you not do this. At the very least, follow Loren’s advice and ring Fender. But I’d be cautious even about advice I got from them. If you don’t already pretty much know what kind of answer to expect, you can be seriously misled by jokers in tech departments. If you get onto the wrong person—someone who doesn’t really know but wants to sound like he does—you’ll lose that instrument or, at the very least, have a tiresome and messy stripping job in front of you.
Fender make a lot of different guitars ranging from ‘entry level’ numbers that they should probably be ashamed of to very fine guitars, although I’m a fan of their electrics, not their accoustics. Sure, I’m a hardliner, but I simply wouldn’t even consider doing what you were planning to a musical instrument I wanted to play, ever. I’d never tamper with an instrument except to improve the sound, and only then if I knew exactly what I was doing. If this guitar were for hanging on the wall, it would be different, but you wouldn’t have started this thread would you?
On an accoustic guitar, the soundbox is exactly that. It’s vital to the sound you are getting. If you think you get a really nice sound out of it now, ask yourself this. Would it be a good idea to invite your friends around, who aren’t mechanics, to add their own personal touches to the engine of your new BMW? What do you think they’d tell you if you rang BMW to ask if it were a good idea?
Ok, so two days ago one of my good friends from Spain left to go back home, and I went ahead and got the first signature. No time to call Fender although thanks for that really good idea - I’m still gonna give them a ring.
Wombat, thanks for the concern. The guitar in question is a Fender DG-14, which may classify as one of Fender’s el-cheapos, but it was never intended to be my primary guitar. Just something to keep me occupied while I’m in a different country than my wonderful Epiphone (I really got a gem with that one). Anyways, I was planning on selling this Fender before I left the country, but figured maybe it could serve an interesting purchase by having my new friends here all sign it, since we and this cheap guitar already have some pretty cool memories together…
That said, if possible, I’d prefer to keep it playable, of course…
Point, Stuart. I just figured there are plenty of people here who work with wooden instruments that it might be worthwhile to at least throw the question out there. Thanks all.
I was teasing those guys for posting things as though the finish on a guitar were sacred. Or that guitars were sacred. You know, since it’s a whistle board. No no, your question is appropriate and I think (hidden in the dogma) you got some appropriate answers.
Imagine the responses we’d get if either of us posted a whistle question on a guitar chat board . . . heh.
Shoot, I thought my joke was clear. I guess not. Sorry. Perhaps I should just go back over to the flute board where I belong?
