TDPRI 2010 $210 Tele build challenge - Sheoakaster

Ta daa

This is a close to finished mock up. I need to leave the lacquer to harden a bit more for a day or 2 then I will polish, assemble and play.

 

Thanks.

 

As far as I know the stamp is either silicone or rubber. Obviously a water based ink won't work so you need to use some form of permanent ink. My wife's bass she stamped with black "StazOn" ink. We tested a couple of colours on the headstock and decided that the silver stood out the best. I let it dry then locked it in place with the lacquer. Smudging could be a problem during application. My wife has steadier hands than me which is why she did it. We made 2 mistakes and I just wiped it off with the lacquer thinners and stamped again. It is definitely important to have a nice flat stamping surface to get sharp lines on the stamp edges. Stamping has it's pluses over decals but also some draw backs.

 

Cleaned the frets and temporarily installed the tuners.

I probably won't get to polish it up untill next Saturday. I have to go back to work this week.

 

Thanks, Tuuur.

 

Thanks, helectrix.

 

Hi IHateTeles, Thanks for the comments. If you look at the pics in post #177 it shows quite well the process my wife used to actually stamp the headstock. The stamp itself I designed on the computer at home and printed it on blank paper at the exact size I wanted. I took it to a local company that makes custom stamps from a supplied image, 2 day turn around for the finished product.
Stamping the headstock requires choosing an appropriate ink that will clearly and evenly stamp onto the lacquer. Trial and error showed what was appropriate.
The first pic shows my wife using a see through template with the stamped image on it, lining up where to put the stamp on the headstock.
Then she placed the black stampin majig aligned to the see through template to use as the guide for the actual stamp. She then inked up the stamp by placing it on the ink pad multiple times and visually checking whether there was an even spread of ink on the stamp. Then carefully she pushed the stamp onto the headstock. If you have more questions send me a PM.

 

Thanks all.