Sticker

[corduroyhorn]

this might sounds stupid, but im used to sounding stupid... I want to put a sticker on the back of the headstock on one of my guitars...now i want it to look like it "belongs" there and not just like a stupid sticker.....(its a little pig btw) is there any way i cud "age" it or vanish over it do you think? if so what sorta of vanish cud i use?

[guitarist21]

I would get a muddy rag and rub the sticker for three weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, I have no idea what you could do here; though I've done a lot of weird projects over the years, I've never had to age any part of a guitar. I'm interested to see people's thoughts!

 

Ellen

[DeepEnd]

If the sticker is porous, wet a sponge with tea and blot the sticker with it, then let it dry. It should take on a nice aged, sepia quality. Kids can do this to create fake parchment. That's how I learned about it.

Home repair stores sell touch up pens for furniture, essentially markers filled with stain. That might work too.

Or you could rub it with shoe polish (preferably brown). It might be enough to darken the sticker somewhat without obscuring it completely.

[Cripes]

There's a product call Decal-It. I don't know if it's still around but a good art store might carry it. First, the artwork has to be on paper - not a vinyl pressure-sensitive label or other plastic transfer. It works like this:

 

1. Part of the process is to paint several coats of this clear acrylic varnish over the artwork letting each coat dry in-between.

 

2. Soak the artwork in paper until the paper can be lightly rubbed off beneath the acrylic coating. This will leave the image but the paper is gone and the image now remains a decal.

 

3. Using one coat of the same acrylic varnish on the back side attach the image to the selected object and let dry. This will result in the image attached to the object with the clear areas allowing the wood to show through.

 

Now, there's another product by the same manufacturer called Crackle-It. This is a clear varnish that shrinks and leaves cracks in its finish.

 

1. Put one medium-heavy coat of Crackle-It over the attached image and let dry completely.

 

2. Using a dark acrylic artist paint - Burnt Umber is best - lightly wipe the color over the cracked clear coat to leave the image visible but the color embedded in the cracks. The end results leave the image with the look of a centuries-old oil painting.

 

The above describes how prints of old Masters can be made to look like miniature originals. I've done it several times with good results. I have transfered images to prepared wood plaques such as family Coat-Of-Arms as enlarged and reproduced on lazer printers at Kinkos. They looked pretty daggone good when finished.

[Tony Burns]

What about those small press on letters - you buy in a sheet ? id try it on a piece of scrap , then put some water based varnish on it and see if it still sticks ( thou i have a feeling it might not ) ivee seen this finish where they sell craft paints for a few dollars in the Craft section at the W place. Personnally I like the Pearl plate with my name engraved in it - ( I had that done on one of mine )