polvo Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 Picked up a dirt cheap bass that I want to start modding, but I hate having a website logo on the headstock so I managed to remove the decal. Now I want to stain the headstock to cover it completely. Any ideas? Bonus points if I can use tea or coffee or something I already have lying around the house! I might also just try to cover it up with some weird artistic decal, but haven't been able to find anything good online (most of my searches just show fake Fender decals!). So if you have any suggestions for online shops that do good ones, that would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) Decals... I used this fella for a custom take on Fender... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125604139563 who is @taddy on the forum... cheeky sod has also used it as an example in his listing! 😉 Quality Job... Sent a couple of colour and outline options. Edited February 7, 2023 by PaulThePlug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) Ebay have a few people who do Vinyl Stickers... Diesel is my Black Labrador... Edited February 7, 2023 by PaulThePlug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 To do a proper job of staining or spraying you would normally remove the tuners and ferrules, and the string tree. Any residual coating would be then sanded back (if not already done). I have had great results spraying shellac in such situations. It is very forgiving and the colour can be increased (i.e. to a darker shade) with each coat until you get to the desired shade. The benefit of shellac is it sticks to almost anything and can be over-coated with almost any of the more modern and robust transparent coatings. You can then choose matt, satin or gloss. The decal would be applied on a smooth surface, sealed with a thin coat of shellac, and then build up the transparent coats until the edges of the decal become invisible to the eye. Sounds involved, but it’s not that difficult to achieve professional results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 What colour do you want to stain it? I've had very good results with Fiebings Leather Dye...it's not very forgiving, so application with a Q-tip and mask off thoroughly. I stained the fingerboard of my Lull from a rosewood light brown to black with no issues (after it had dried, I used meths to wipe the excess off the dot inlays). I've seen a few aluminium headstock thingies pop up on Facebook (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DroplightIndustries?ref=l2-about-shopname) - it's customisable, 10 characters in a Fenderesque font. It might be a different alternative all these waterslide decals. You could just have Polvobass on it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 You can buy decal paper for inkjet printers. Microscale Micro Sol and Micro Set are really good when applying decals. https://www.amazon.co.uk/MicroScale-Industries-Decals-Setting-Solution/dp/B06XS3KWHK Or, it might be worth seeing if you know anyone that is into crafting. See if they have a Cricut, a Brother Scan & Cut or something similar. I am currently trying to decide on a design to cut out of vinyl with my wife’s Scan & Cut. Or you cut just get some of the vinyl and have at it with a craft knife or scalpel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polvo Posted February 7, 2023 Author Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: What colour do you want to stain it? I don't really have a colour in mind, just something that will cover up the white mark where the decal used to be. Lots of good decal suggestions in this thread, but I think I'd rather go with staining it if that's an option. Edited February 7, 2023 by polvo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) I think if you remove the hardware, and sand it a bit, it will get rid of the light area... You will prolly need to sand the surface finish off anyway for any stain to take... @TheGreek posted something a while back, wire wool in vinegar... maybe a bit of a faff n stinky! Sample size wood stain from the 'bay?.. Edited February 7, 2023 by PaulThePlug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) What colour is the body? You could always mask up the edges and go with a matt or satin black on the headstock face.. ya might have enough in a leftover rattle can kicking about... Edited February 7, 2023 by PaulThePlug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polvo Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share Posted February 8, 2023 16 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: I think if you remove the hardware, and sand it a bit, it will get rid of the light area... You will prolly need to sand the surface finish off anyway for any stain to take... Yeah this is a good point. Whether I stain it or do a decal I'll need to sand it down first, and that might be enough to solve the immediate problem anyway. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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